By C.A.Chandraprema The nomination of C.V. Wigneswaran to the position of TNA chief ministerial candidate, is in many ways reminiscent of the appointment of M.Tiruchelvam to be the minister of the Ilangei Tamil Arasu Kachchi in the Dudley Senanayake led government of 1965. At that time Tiruchelvam, a retired Solicitor General, was appointed to the …
By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya It is with a sense of disillusionment that many in the South will observe the final stages of the first ever Northern Provincial Council election process as the results start coming in today. Moderates and progressive minded sections in civil society, as well as those in government ranks such as the Left …
Continue reading ‘Will TNA’s election mandate promote Northern Tamils’, or Diaspora’s agenda?’ »
By N.Sathiya Moorthy The much-awaited Northern Provincial Council (NPC) polls have come and gone. Much was said, over-said and unsaid when the Province was on campaign-mode. It is thus time that the Government at the Centre and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) revived the relative congeniality and mutual comfort that had marked their forgotten post-war …
by DR DAYAN JAYATILLEKA The TNA victory has shown that Sri Lanka remains a functioning democracy; that it functions when there is competition; and that with or without the 17th amendment and even under the tightest military supervision, the government can be electorally defeated. Having won the war, the Government has lost the peace in …
By Vishnuguptha “If I advocate cautious optimism it is not because I do not have faith in the future but because I do not want to encourage blind faith.” ~Aung San Suu Kyi Chandrasiri is a retired electrician. He obtained employment with the advent of the J R Jayewardene Government in 1977. Born and bred …
By Gibson Bateman and Rathika Innasimuttu Introduction United National High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay recently concluded her visit to Sri Lanka. It’s hard to imagine a High Commissioner delivering a tougher statement than the one she gave on August 31 in Colombo. A hard-hitting update later this month will be followed by a …
By Izeth Hussain Bravo Rauf Hakeem! Bravo Rishad Bathiudin! Bravo the SLMC! Bravo the Sri Lanka Muslim Council! And Bravo all the Muslims who gave vent to the widespread sense of outrage felt by most Muslims over certain statements made by the Defence Secretary! Unfortunately other Muslim politicians, who were splendidly outspoken on the anti-Muslim …
By Dr Nirmala Chandrahasan The recently announced TNA manifesto has caused a lot of debate and trepidation among some sections. Hence it would be useful to look at the document to see whether there is any cause for such trepidation and what the provincial Council once it is constituted will be in a position to …
By Dharisha Bastians in Jaffna On the eve of Sri Lanka’s most crucial post war election for the island’s minority Tamil population, the capital of the Northern Province is a strangely quiet place. Jaffna saw a violent surge in the wee hours of election eve, with the attack on the home of a prominent Tamil …
Continue reading ‘Northerners Get Ready to Vote in a Provincial Poll After 25 Years’ »
By Dharisha Bastians in Jaffna Historic elections in the Northern Province took a vicious turn 24 hours after campaigning ended, when the Jaffna home of the Tamil National Alliance candidate Ananthi Sasitharan was besieged and her supporters and a local election monitor assaulted early last morning. Sasitharan had noticed uniformed personnel outside her home out …
By Chen Shaua Fui KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 19): Human rights activist Lena Hendry claimed trial today to a charge of screening a documentary without approval from the Film Censorship Board. She was released on a RM1,000 bail and a surety by the magistrate’s court here today. Judge Ashraf Rezal Abd Manan fixed Oct 21 for …
By Padma Rao Sundarji (Full text of HT’s exclusive interview given by Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Padma Rao Sundarji, published in the Hindustan Times of September 17, 2013) HT: Mr. Rajapaksa, in May 2009, your government and army managed to do something all previous governments in Sri Lanka had failed to do: end the …
By Meera Srinivasan Vasanthakumar Thiruchelvi does not, even for a second, take her eyes off her two children. Even as she summons her daughter who is jumping over sand and cement heaped around their soon-to-be home, her son threatens to lift the tiles stacked nearby. “Now come here, it might fall on your leg,” she …
Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai reporting from Koovil, Jaffna District Gnansakthy Sritharan is a former politician and an ex cadre of Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (Pathmanabha Wing), and is currently contesting in Jaffna District under the United People’s Freedom Alliance banner in the forthcoming Provincial Council Elections in the North of Sri Lanka. Gnanasakthy Sritharan in Koovil …
Continue reading ‘“I want to serve my people because I feel their pain”~ Gnanasakthy Sritharan’ »
Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai reporting from Chulipuram, Jaffna District Tamil National Alliance’s Jaffna District candidate Ananthy Sasitharan’s posters in Chulipuram Ananthy Sasitharan is the wife of Ezhilan (Sinnaththurai Sasitharan), former Trincomalee District’s Political Wing Leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. He surrendered along with many other senior combatants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam …
By Dr.Vickramabahu Karunaratne Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa speaking on behalf the government said that the TNA was attempting to push Tamils in the North to spread racism and separatism. According to him, the appeal to vote for the new manifesto amounted to that and nothing less. The minister further said that it was crystal …
By Sathya Liyanasuriya The forty third Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake appeared in the Colombo Magistrate’s court this week when a case filed against her by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption was called for hearing in an unprecedented event in the annals of justice in the country. Declining any special privileges, Bandaranayake …
By Vishnuguptha “Science is not, despite how it is often portrayed, about absolute truths. It is about developing an understanding of the world, making predictions, and then testing these predictions.” – ~Brian Schmidt The much awaited elections for the trio of Provincial Councils, Wayamba, Central and North are upon us. In the next forty eight …
(TEXT OF PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE EMBASSY OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA TO BELGIUM, LUXEMBOURG AND THE EUROPEAN UNION) Sri Lanka’s Head of Mission to the European Union, Ambassador P.M. Amza, addressing the Meeting of the European Parliament’s Delegation for the Relations with the Countries in South Asia, (DSAS), on 17 …
by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka The men of the Sri Lankan armed forces did not die, lose their limbs, their eyesight, their futures, so that the fascist separatist Prabhakaran could be openly hailed as a great hero, his photographs distributed, his songs sung and his organisation sanitised in the same battlefields. The revivalism that we have …
By Susitha R. Fernando With the campaigns for three Provincial Council elections heating up and the government busily getting ready for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the Daily Mirror spoke to main opposition, the United National Party to clarify its stance on various issues especially the recent meeting with UN Human Rights High …
by Taylor Dibbert On foreign affairs, the US is looking somewhat irrelevant these days. Regarding Syria’s chemical weapons, it looks like a “deal” has been reached, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. Now, it’s not clear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent (and ridiculous) New York Times op-ed helped facilitate anything, …
Continue reading ‘Obama Happens to be a President but he most certainly is not a Leader’ »
(Text of a press communique issued by the Ministry of Traditional Industries and small Enterprise Development) Hon. Basil Rajapakse, Minister of Economic Development , addressing several political rallies held in Chunnakam, Araly and Velanai electorates in Jaffna district on the 10th and 11th of September 2013, said that massive development projects at a cost of …
by D.B.S.Jeyaraj Thirteenth Death Anniversary of Legendary Muslim Congress Leader THE tragedy of September 16 2000 involving an MI-17 helicopter of the Sri Lanka Air Force above the Urakanda mountain range in the Aranayaka area in Kegalle district of Sabaragamuwa province resulted in the death of a dynamic political leader of the island – Cabinet …
by N Sathiya Moorthy Tamil National Alliance (TNA) chief ministerial candidate for the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) elections in Sri Lanka, Justice C V Wigneswaran, could not have said it more candidly and categorically. It is a strong and unwavering indictment of the Tamil Nadu political class, who have often been accused of indulging in …
By Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka The TNA manifesto is not secessionist. It does however unlock the door and keep it ajar for secessionism. I do not know whether Mr Sumanthiran ever bowled spin for my father’s old school, Royal College, but he is certainly doing so for his party the TNA and the Tamil nationalist project. …
By Dilrukshi Handunnetti Among the most historic monuments found in Jaffna is a ravaged fortress with pockmarks, still standing as living evidence of Dutch rule and its influence in Sri Lanka’s North. Initially built as a small garrison in Jaffna by the Portuguese after they invaded the North in 1618, the Dutch captured it in …
Part IV: Discovering Social Divide and Desert Transitioning to Oceans and Beaches by Harrish Thirukumaran Mural Symbolism Painting, had been another relevant project that asked for our contributions as well. This opportunity was required for the entire group to equally participate in as part of a running tradition by the Brock University abroad program. It …
By Vishnuguptha “Up the hill-side; and now ’tis buried deep In the next valley-glades: Was it a vision, or a waking dream? Fled is that music:—do I wake or sleep?” ~ John Keats– Ode to a Nightingale Death is the greatest equalizer that ever paraded among mankind. With its enormous power and in the most …
by N.Sathiya Moorthy By coming up with a controversial election manifesto when none was required to win the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) polls of September 21, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) may have put the cart before the horse, and advanced excuses well before time. This could lead to the party losing the confidence of …
By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya As the Northern Provincial Council election draws nearer many contradictions appear in the heavy rhetoric used by major players in the campaign, in relation to the circumstances they refer to. The TNA is seen as the frontrunner in the five Northern districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya and Mannar, having presented a …
Continue reading ‘Northern election, Nationalist rhetoric and the threat to Communal harmony’ »
By Sujeeva Nivunhella in London Tamil Eelam lobbyists suffered a setback when a ruse to project the LTTE flag as the official symbol representing the Tamil language on two websites was spotted by the Sri Lankan High Commission in London, which lodged a strong protest resulting in the immediate deletion of the material by the …
Malaysia Tamil tycoon billionaire T. Ananda Krishnan, of Sri Lankan descent, recently visited his only son Ven Ajahn Siripanyo, a Buddhist monk, who is at a meditation retreat in Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera), reported by local Chinese daily Kwong Wah Yit Poh. Clad in t-shirt and jeans, the 74-year-old tycoon was spotted arriving at the …
By Somapala Gunadheera When Justice Wigneswaran was selected to be the Chief Ministerial Candidate for the North, I breathed a sigh of relief. Here was a man with so much in common with the two communities and personally known to me as an independent, impartial and intrepid judge, selected for a post that could have …
by Greg Sheridan Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Selvarasa Pathmanathan used to be the deadliest of enemies. Now they have the same message. I meet the two within a period of 24 hours in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s largest city.
by DR DAYAN JAYATILLEKA PORTAL, PRECIPICE OR POLITICAL SUICIDE BOMB? “The Tamil Tigers…were the most supremely deadly and effective terrorist group to emerge at any time in the second half of the 20th century…There is no overall moral equivalence between the government of Sri Lanka and the Tigers.”– Greg Sheridan, Foreign Editor, The Australian, ‘Sri …
by M.A.Sumanthiran M.P The NPC Election Campaign took a new turn last week with the government and many of its hard line allies protesting against the TNA Election ‘Manifesto’ released in Jaffna on 3rd Sept 2013. This is a new trend that commenced with the government ‘s disapproval of the TNA’s Chief Ministerial choice. It …
(Text of Media statement issued by Karu Jayasuriya -United National Party Member of Parliament – 13-09-2013) The recent escalation of religious tensions in the country has given rise to a deep sense of foreboding and a profound sadness for myself, and others in the United National Party. Our regret is shared by the vast majority …
By Meera Srinivasan Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has a crucial role in addressing the issue of Indian fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan waters, according to C.V. Wigneswaran, the Tamil National Alliance’s (TNA) Chief Ministerial candidate contesting the Northern Provincial Council elections. Fishermen in Karainagar with damaged nets-pic by: Meera Srinivasan Indian fishermen using big …
Steve Biko was an anti-apartheid activist during the 1960s and 1970s and founder of the Black Conscious Movement that empowered and mobilised the South Africa’s black population to fight against minority rule.
By Ranga Jayasuriya This writer is by no means an apologist of the militarization of the country; however, for once, he could not help but agree with some salient points that the powerful Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the chief protagonist of the militarization, had raised during his address at the Defence Seminar held last week. …
by Meera Srinivasan Tamil Nadu politicians use the Sri Lankan Tamils’ issue for their own gains, much to the detriment of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, said Justice C.V. Wigneswaran, the chief ministerial candidate of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in the upcoming Northern Provincial Council elections. Speaking to The Hindu in the midst of …
by Sulochana Ramiah Mohan Governor of the Northern Province, Maj. Gen. G.A. Chandrasiri, maintained he has the right to be in any part of Sri Lanka as he is representing President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and he is not concerned about the allegations that he is participating in election propaganda for the ruling party in the Northern …
by Alan Keenan Concluding her recent fact-finding trip to Sri Lanka, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay warned that President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government was “heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction… despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing state”. Pillay’s statement cited a long and …
By Taylor Dibbert I’m not a warmonger, but there are times when there’s no substitute for decisive military action. And while there’s a lot that I don’t like about President Barack Obama, it’s his indecision that tops the list. (Unbridled arrogance and professorial aloofness are tied for second). After seeing the way events have unfolded …
by Austin Fernando The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has launched its Manifesto for the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Elections. I am reminded of a former Prime Minster commenting on election Manifestoes as publications facilitating electoral victory and nothing more! If the TNA was of the same frame of mind and mood, it must be happy …
Continue reading ‘TNA Manifesto-For Power Sharing or Separation?’ »
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “ The war will stop only after all the enemies who acted to the detriment of their motherland were brought to book irrespective of whether they were local or international”. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (Indian Express – 11.8.2009). If the LTTE wanted what the TNA is asking for, the Eelam War would have ended …
By M. S. Shah Jahan “Feet stumbling in the pitch darkness over the uneven ground we make our way with a group of women to one of the bathrooms in the Zaatari camp. There is no light, if we come in here there could be a guy hiding or something,” one woman said. What she …
Continue reading ‘Teenage Brides Are For Sale in Syrian Refugee Camp in Jordan!’ »
By Latheef Farook Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s statement on what he described as the “emergence of Muslim extremism” has shocked and dismayed the island’s besieged and helpless Muslim community. Addressing a defense seminar at Galadari Hotel on Tuesday 3 September Mr.Gotabaya Rajapaksa stated that the country was faced with an uphill task of tackling Sinhala …
by Tudor Wijenayake A seminar was held recently at the Mahatma Gandhi Centre at Kirulapone for the reawakening of the long-delayed ‘A River for Jaffna’ project. The Chief Spokesperson at the seminar was Dr. D.L.O. Mendis, who briefly outlined the project followed by a discussion and the seminar was attended by numbers of senior engineers. …
By Vishnuguptha “Now I know what a ghost is. Unfinished business, that’s what.” ~ Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses The regime has made a very serious error; an error in judgment, an error in governance and this time an error in politics too. But this is a regime that is known to be well-versed in …
Continue reading ‘Govt Blunders Badly by Overestimating Itself and Underestimating Navi Pillay’ »
by Parvathi Menon Faced with protests and threats of disruption by Sri Lankan Tamil groups, three major cinema companies in the U.K. have decided not to screen Madras Café in their theatres. The political action thriller directed by Shoojit Sircar — and set in the background of the civil war in Sri Lanka in the …
by Deepika Muralidharan Popular film personalities and people from different walks of life paid rich tributes to legendary music composer M. S. Viswanathan, popularly known as MSV, at a function organised by Kalai Peravai at the National College grounds here on Saturday evening. The function was brought up in recognition of MSV’s yeoman service in …
By Sathya Liyanasuriya This week saw the death of Sunila Abeysekera, arguably Sri Lanka’s best known human rights activist. Abeysekera, 61, died at a private hospital in Colombo after a long battle with cancer. Growing up in Colombo, Sunila Abeysekera’s interest in human rights began four decades ago, when it was not fashionable to dabble …
by N Sathiya Moorthy With four candidates in the fray, Maldives has voted on expected lines, in the first round of the presidential polls on Saturday, Sep 7. Translated, the Indian Ocean archipelago would go in for a second, run-off round for deciding the next president. It was so even in the first ever multi-party …
Continue reading ‘First Round of Presidential Poll Shows Democracy has come to Stay in Maldives.’ »
By Dharisha Bastians Earlier this week, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa made what was possibly the most remarkable ruling party promise yet during its electioneering in the Northern Province. Thus far, UPFA election speeches have been confined to pleas of gratitude for liberation from the LTTE and post-war reconstruction, coupled with dire warnings about the …
By Stanley Samarasinghe General Secretary of the Sinhala Jathika Peramuna, Jayantha Liyanage, of Kurunegala yesterday filed a Writ Application in the Court of Appeal, seeking an Interim Order to suspend the Provincial Council election in the North. The petitioner cited the Commissioner of Elections and the returning officers in the North as respondents. The petitioner …
Missing Person Details Name: Mrs. Chitra Karunaratne Age: 69 Gender: Female Physical aspects: Height 5’2”, Weight 40 Kg, Lean build, Brown skin, Dark brown eyes. Address: 38/1 Manthrimulla Road, Attidiya. Dehiwala
by Dr.Vickramabahu Karunaratne The HR Commissioner spoke about an authoritarian state developing in this country; there is a debate as to what she meant by that. Did she mean a developing military dictatorship or something else? On the other hand President Rajapaksa ridiculed this idea, “A dictator is a ruler who does not hold elections,” …
(Text of a Media Communiqué issued by the Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development -Media Unit) Hon. Douglas Devananda, Minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development, addressing the public rallies held in Kattupulam, Ponnalai, Chullipuram, Chettiamadam and Araly on the 2nd of September 2013 for obtaining support for victory of the UPFA …
by Upul Joseph Fernando When former Supreme Court Judge, C.V. Wigneswaran, was first chosen by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) as its chief ministerial candidate for the Northern Provincial Council, which is soon to be established, the Tamil Tiger Diaspora levelled serious criticisms against him. The Tamilnet website, the mouthpiece of the Tamil Tigers, expressed …
by S.L.Gunasekara I am not, and never was an admirer/supporter of the synthetic `doctor’ Mervyn Silva and never thought the occasion would ever arise for me to say a good word about him or any of his acts, however, that occasion has now arisen. Amid the welter of voices expressing various views about or relating …
By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan The Student Movement of Tamil Nadu yesterday threatened to unmask former Supreme Court Justice, C.V. Wigneswaran, soon. “He is joining the Sri Lankan Government to set up a united Sri Lanka, whereas the Tamils want an Eelam,” one of the students told Ceylon Today. The Students Movement also alleged, the man …
By Shamindra Ferdinando The TNA’s controversial manifesto calling for self-governance in a re-merged North-Eastern Province was just propaganda meant to draw voters as all those contesting the first Northern PC polls, on the TNA ticket, had furnished a letter each to the Elections Secretariat reiterating their commitment to the unitary status of the country in …
By Ravinatha P.Aryasinha (Text of Statement by Ravinatha P. Aryasinha, Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva and Leader of the Sri Lanka Delegation at the 24th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), in response to the statement by the High Commissioner for Human …
Continue reading ‘Govt of Sri Lanka is Fully Committed to Protecting Human Rights Defenders’ »
By Dr.Ameer Ali Sri Lanka’s Muslims are at an unprecedented and ominous crossroads. The community there is faced with an existential threat at the hands of an increasingly militant Buddhist minority, while the nation’s Muslim parliamentarians appear to be more powerless and mute than at any time since 1947. This impotence is startling because the …
(Text of letter sent by Tamil National Alliance Parliamentary Group Pleader Rajavarothayam Sampanthan to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa) 9th September 2013 HE Mahinda Rajapakshe, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, President’s House, Colombo 1. Your Excellency, Provincial Council Elections to the Northern Province I write with reference to the above Elections …
Mourning Tireless Rights Advocate Sunila Abeyesekera Human Rights Watch on Loss of Leading Voice for Rights in Sri Lanka’s Deadly Conflict (New York, September 10, 2013) – Human Rights Watch mourns the death of Sunila Abeysekera, a prominent and highly respected Sri Lankan activist who spent more than two decades documenting human rights violations in …
Continue reading ‘Sunila Abeyesekera the Tireless Human Rights Advocate of Sri Lanka Passes Away’ »
By Shamindra Ferdinando President of Sri Lanka-India Friendship Society, attorney-at-law Kandiah Neelakandan has called for Indian intervention to save the civil society here. The top lawyer was making an unscheduled speech at the annual gathering at the rooftop of the Taj Samudra on Saturday night to celebrate India’s Independence Day. Indian High Commissioner Y. S. …
by Mano Ratwatte I know it is not fashionable to talk or mention ex-Presidents or political leaders of the past when it comes to matters of importance in Sri Lanka because the very same people who curry favor and act as sycophants are usually the first to abandon and deny the leaders (faster than Peter) …
(Text of Opening Address by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms.Navanethem Pillay at the 24th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva) Mr. President, Distinguished Members of the Human Rights Council, Excellencies and Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you for this opportunity to address you. In September two years ago, when …
by Ranga Jayasuriya The Liberian flagged container vessel, MV Northern Power, left the Pakistani port of Karachi on 17 June. Five days later, the ship arrived at the Colombo Port. The ship, 264 metres in length and 32 metres in width, had a gross tonnage of 47,855 tonnes. Tucked away among its thousands of containers …
By Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha M.P. I noted earlier that the visit of Navanethem Pillay should be seen as an opportunity by the Sri Lankan government, and the way the visit went, as well as the statement she made, confirms this view. Of course we had to contend with the fact that not all the advice …
BY DR DAYAN JAYATILLEKA “…The recent visit to Sri Lanka by the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner is another instance of this attention. This has been accomplished mostly by the actions of the LTTE linked groups, which have many trained LTTE cadres and operatives who are now fully engaged in propaganda activities.” – Mr Gotabhaya …
by Tisaranee Gunasekara “In other countries who (sic) are successful, they were successful because immediately one person he takes the decisions. In Sri Lanka, the main problem is that that is not there, more decisions have to be centralized” Basil Rajapaksa (Sydney Morning Herald – 19.11.2012) The Minority Conundrum In his review of Hannah K, …
By Meera Srinivasan Niranjana is the only student in her batch at the fine arts department of Jaffna University who is currently training to play the violin. “How do we oscillate the note ga in the ragam Mohanam without showing the ma ? Isn’t it wrong if the ma is heard?” — When the petite …
By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya A look at the manifesto of the Tamil National Alliance for the upcoming Northern Provincial Council election, released this week, shows that the positions adopted by the alliance have hardly changed, in spite of the other variables having altered significantly. The demands of the TNA reflect an unwillingness to adapt to their …
By Dilrukshi Handunnetti United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, is expected to highlight the possibility of reprisals and attacks on human rights defenders, journalists and communities she met up with during her recent visit to Sri Lanka, when she makes the opening statement at the 24th Session of the United Nations Human …
by N. Sathiya Moorthy At the end of the day, the much-publicised and equally important week-long visit of UNHRC chief Navaneetham Pillay to Sri Lanka will be remembered for two wrong reasons. One is for Navi Pillay’s observation that Sri Lanka is moving increasingly towards ‘authoritarianism’. Coming from a senior UN diplomat, it is bad …
by Gamini Weerakoon Navi Pillay got the goat of most Sri Lankans last week during her visit here but did she deserve the mass hysteria that broke out – particularly in the media? President Mahinda Rajapaksa met Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at Temple Trees on Aug 30-pic by: Sudath …
By Vishnuguptha “Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.” ~Bertrand Russell Never was there a time in Sri Lanka’s post-independence history like this. There was never a time when hypocrisy on the part of politicians has been so rampant, from the …
Text and pix by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai Divine view of Nallur Kanthaswamy Temple mp3:Thirupugazh~Thullumathavedkai~Nadhaswaram Instrumental~Rendered by Sheik Chinnamoulana
By Zacki Jabbar Sri Lanka Cricket Vice President K. Mathivanan resigned from his post after receiving a “call” in connection with his candidacy for the Presidency of a leading Colombo Cricket Club, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday. Speaking during a ceremony to mark the 67th anniversary of the founding of the UNP, at ‘Srikotha’, …
by Hafeel Farisz Sri Lanka Cricket Vice President K. Mathiavanan resigned from his post in a shock move, that could create ripples in the cricketing fraternity after he was compelled to withdraw from a contest with SLC Secretary Nishantha Ranathungafor the Presidency of leading Cricket Club- Colts today. Speaking to the Daily Mirror Mathiavanan said …
By Izeth Hussain There should be a broad consensus in Sri Lanka that something effective should be done to halt the anti-Muslim campaign that has become what looks like a permanent feature of our political landscape. There have been statements against it by a wide range of civil society institutions, by our political parties, and …
Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen issued the following statement yesterday: “The All Ceylon Muslim Congress deplores the statement made by Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa alleging Muslim extremism in the country at a security conference held in Colombo attended by representatives of countries across the globe. The statement seemingly gives credentials to the false …
By Shamindra Ferdinando Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday reiterated that extremism posed a severe threat not only to post-war Sri Lanka but many countries in the region as well as the industrialised world. The war veteran was responding to a statement issued by Justice Minister Hakeem, who is also the SLMC leader, in the wake …
By Rauff Hakeem (Text of Statement by Minister of Justice and Leader of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Rauff Hakeem to the Secretary of Defence, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, in reaction to his key-note address at Defence Seminar on the theme ‘Post Conflict Sri Lanka: Challenges and Regional Stability’) I make the following statement on behalf of the …
by Ranga Jayasuriya Sadly though, the government returned to its old habits soon after the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, left the country after her official tour. All the hard work the government had done to put on its best face for Pillay were soon to be dwarfed by its usual paranoid …
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “If the King destroys a man, that’s proof to the King that it must have been a bad man….” Robert Bolt (A Man for All Seasons) Where would all the fairy tales be without the monsters? How does a hero escape irrelevance, once the last monster is slain? Can a king muster …
Continue reading ‘Rajapaksa Regime Needs Suitable Enemies Just as Living Beings Need Oxygen’ »
By Vishnuguptha “What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other’s folly – that is the first law of nature.” ~Voltaire Navi Pillay’s statement on her findings at the end of her recent visit to Sri Lanka has succeeded, if not …
By Dharisha Bastians Rajeswari Ganesan, mother of a 28-year-old Vavuniya prison inmate who died under suspicious circumstances in June last year, sobbed out her grief to visiting UN Human Rights Commissioner Navanethem Pillay in the North last Tuesday. This past year, Rajeswari’s grief over the death of her only son, who authorities claim died of …
By Dr.Vickramabahu Karunaratne The UN Human Rights Commissioner came and went. Those who expected a dramatic exposure from her were disappointed. The war was a tragedy, not only for the Tamil people but also for the people in the South. It enhanced the path of enslavement to the global powers. It was an aggression and …
By Paramu Thirugnanasambanthar The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka condemns the war plans by the US and its allies against Syria. The SEP calls on workers, youth and the oppressed masses in South Asia, including Sri Lanka and India, and around the world to oppose the planned US military attack on this small, …
Continue reading ‘HANDS OFF SYRIA!Socialist Equality Party in Sri Lanka Denounces US War Threat.’ »
By Taylor Dibbert Barack Obama’s aversion to using military force or projecting American power in any form is well-known. Now with his most recent foreign policy decision, he appears to have taken his propensity for dithering and incredible reluctance to lead to a new level. The fact of the matter is that Mr. Obama doesn’t …
By Dharisha Bastians The Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay broke its silence yesterday over Government claims that she had attempted to a pay floral tribute where LTTE Leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran had been killed, saying the allegations were a ‘gross misrepresentation’. Spokesman for the High Commissioner Rupert Colville told the Daily …
An Interview with The Social Architects of Sri Lanka by John Lyman For those that follow developments in Sri Lanka over the past several years invariably the Sri Lankan Civil War comes to mind. The Sri Lankan Civil War began back in July of 1983, and was fought between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam …
by DR DAYAN JAYATILLEKA To go by its election manifesto the TNA seems completely unmindful of the massive effort that had to be made for the Provincial Council system to be set up in 1987-88, for the 13th amendment to be preserved in 2013 and the PC election in the North to be held under …
BY TILAKA WIJESOORIYA AND DHAMMIKA NAMAL KORALA It is reported that the statue of Goddess Sri Badhrakali has been destroyed by dashing it on a flat stone used for washing clothes, consequent to it being removed from the kovil at the Dambulla sacred area. It was also revealed the statue was destroyed in the vicinity …
By Neil Corcoran In 2009, as part of the extensive celebrations in Ireland for his 70th birthday, RTÉ broadcast a documentary about Seamus Heaney. Towards its close, Heaney, who has died aged 74, was asked whether anything in his work seemed appropriate to him as an epitaph. He demurred at first but, when gently prodded, …
By Gotabhaya Rajapaksa ( Full Text of the Keynote address delivered by Secretary of Defence and Urban Development Gotabhaya Rajapksa at the ‘Defence Seminar 2013’ held on 03rd September 2013 at the Galadari Hotel in Colombo) It gives me great pleasure to deliver the keynote address this morning, at the 3rd Annual Defence Seminar organised …
By Fred Abrahams – Human Rights Watch The paradox could not be starker. The world’s attention is focused on Syria – did President Bashar al-Assad use chemical weapons? Should outside powers use military force? Yet states are not offering enough aid to stem the suffering of the millions of Syrians caught in the conflict. Today …
(Text of Statement and Manifesto Issued by the The Tamil National Alliance for the Northern Provincial Council Election – 2013) THE MANDATE GIVEN TO THE TAMIL NATIONAL ALLIANCE (TNA) The Tamil People overwhelmingly gave the TNA a mandate at the General Election held in April 2010. The TNA has continued to act in accordance with …
By Dharisha Bastians (UN Human Rights Chief slams Sri Lankan Government critics and propagandists, saying abuse directed at her on the basis of her Indian Tamil heritage was both wildly inaccurate and deeply offensive, condemned the LTTE as a murderous organisation and urged the Diaspora not to glorify the defeated terrorist group. Journalists in Sri …
by Col R Hariharan Introduction The growing presence of the Chinese in Sri Lanka, when India-Sri Lanka relations are under stress, has disturbing strategic connotations for national security. Chinese actions are closely related to the domestic and external policy dispensations of the new Chinese leadership under Xi Jingping as well as China’s desire to takeover …
By Shamindra Ferdinando Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has told United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay that the United States of America had no moral right to move a resolution targeting Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) in Geneva. The Defence Secretary pointed out the irrationality in the US action in …
(Text of Press release issued by the Department of Government Information) pic: Defence.lk The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms Navanetham Pillay was on a week-long visit to Sri Lanka on an invitation extended by the Government of Sri Lanka in April 2011. This invitation is a part of Sri Lanka’s consistent engagement with …
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “…superficial unity, which is the result of the denial or the sacrifice of differences”. Tagore (The One Nationalist Party) The regime reverted to business-as-usual literally on the day Navi Pillay left Sri Lanka. The first salvo of lies against the UN High Commissioner Human Rights was fired, predictably, by the state-owned Sunday …
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(Opening remarks by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay at a press conference in Colombo held on August 31st during her mission to Sri Lanka) Good morning, and thank you for coming. As is customary at the end of official missions such as this, I would like to makesome observations concerning the human …
by N.Sathiya Moorthy President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s belated decision to create a Ministry for Internal Law & Order should be welcomed for more reasons than one. Ceremony held at the Ministry premises in Chatham Street with the participation of distinguished gathering and Major General (Rtd) Mallawarachchi recently-pic: Defence.lk The appointment of a veteran top-soldier, former Army …
By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema The past week has been a nightmare. Apart from the trauma experienced by my family and myself due to the pre-dawn break in at our residence on Saturday (24), the biggest disappointment has been the actions of certain sections of the media and their false reportage of the incident.