President Maithripala Sirisena will recommended to the Constitutional Council the appointment of Attorney General Jayantha Jayasuriya as the new Chief Justice. The present incumbent Priyasath Dep retires next month.
Arrangements are in place for the long-awaited arrest of Sri Lanka’s senior-most military officer in connection with an extortion racket and the horrific murder of 11 young men, official sources said. The Colombo Fort magistrate on Wednesday ordered the arrest of Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne after the CID said it had evidence of him shielding the …
It was a lavish, fairy-tale wedding for more than 1,500 guests at one of Sri Lanka’s best known addresses on Thursday (Aug 30) Chatura, the son of Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne, and a parliamentarian himself was given in marriage by his father Rajitha Senaratne at a gala wedding ceremony at ‘Temple Trees’ – the official …
(Excerpted from the “Sunday Times”Political Column of September 2nd 2018) Wednesday’s protest rally by the ‘Joint Opposition’ has come under heavy focus of leaders of the ruling coalition. Whilst the ‘JO’ wants to induct large crowds, coalition leaders want to do just the opposite — prevent as many from taking part. Indications of who will …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake Public interest in the handling of fraud and crime that prevailed under the Rajapaksa Regime shows a new interest with the action by the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar over two key figures in the past regime. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Defence Secretary, and six others, were noticed to …
Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, yesterday, issued a statement urging people to join the planned Joint Opposition protest in Colombo on Sept 5. Alleging that there are also dangerous and concerted efforts to compromise peace and reconciliation in the pursuit of personal political interests, the war veteran said that it was evident in the ongoing …
By Chitra Weerarathne The Court of Appeal yesterday refused Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara thera, leave to appeal to the Supreme Court against the recent judgment of the Court, which convicted him of contempt of court and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for six years. The Court of Appeal recently convicted the Venerable Galagodaatte Gnanasara thera of …
By Kaushi Sendanayake It is not a matter of whether Mahinda Rajapaksa can contest for the Presidency once again or not, as long as whoever becomes the President at the next election forms a Government with him (Mahinda) as the Prime Minister, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said. He was responding media queries after appearing …
A 25-year-old Sri-Lankan named M. Nizamdeen was arrested over suspected terror-related offences in Australia. The Australian law enforcement authorities said he was in Sydney on a student visa, and was arrested after finding “symbolic locations within Sydney” listed as possible targets in his notebook Officers from NSW’s Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) arrested Mohamed Nizamdeen …
speaking in Sinhala in Galle All the problems of Tamil People won’t b solved by a new Constitution, but a new Constitution is fundamental. Without this, no issue an be addressed, said TNA Spokesman M. A. Sumanthiran speaking in Sinhala an an event in Galle on Constitutional Reform.
Indian politician Dr. Subramanian Swamy said former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa should be given the Bharat Ratna award for freeing Sri Lanka and India from the LTTE terrorism. “Just as we have awarded Bharat Ratna to Mandela for freeing his people we should award MR for freeing his people and Bharatiyas from LTTE terror,” …
By B Sivakumar and D Govardan No other political prince in India would have waited so long for the coronation. And when it happened on Tuesday, 21 days after his father M Karunanidhi passed away, Stalin sought to accept the DMK crown with humility and hope, promise and poise. Elected unopposed as DMK president at …
By Anbarasan Ethirajan of BBC News in Mannar Experts in northern Sri Lanka are trying to identify the remains of dozens of bodies in a mass grave in the country’s former war zone. So far the skeletal remains of more than 90 people have been unearthed in the north-western town of Mannar. The mass grave …
(text of a Press Release Issued by the Tamil National Alliance Media Office on 28.08.2018) The Meeting of the Presidential Task Force on the Development of the North and East took place yesterday (27.08.2018) at the Presidential Secretariat. The meeting was presided over by His Excellency the President. Several ministers and government members of Parliament …
By The Sunday Observer” Political Editor It came like a bolt from the blue. All of a sudden, the concerted preoccupation of the Rajapaksa proxy Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and Joint Opposition camp is to push the theory that the former President, twice elected and once defeated in presidential elections over a decade, can …
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lankan authorities have excavated nearly 100 skeletons at a mass grave in Mannar, located in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, where state armed forces and Tamil rebels clashed in a 30-year civil war. According to local media reports, some locals living in the Tamil-majority province, whose relatives went missing during and after …
By P.K.Balachandran The port town of Trincomalee in Eastern Sri Lanka is known for its scenic beauty eminently qualified to be featured in the National Geographic Channel. But historically,it has been noted for something very different – its strategic value as a naval base. Trincomalee’s military value had been grasped by world powers from the …
China, through top level diplomatic channels, has asked from the Sri Lankan government if a “discomforted neighbour” was behind the protests in Jaffna against the housing project funded by Beijing, Asian Mirror learns. This comes in the wake of the public resistance to the Chinese-funded project to build 40,000 houses in the Jaffna district.
By Manopriya Gunasekara The Special High Court yesterday issued summons to Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and five others to appear before the Court on 10 September over misappropriation of funds to erect the D. A. Rajapaksa statue in Weeraketiya, Madamulana. The case, heard as the second in the Special High Court,was filed under the …
By Dr Reeza Hameed The Nineteenth Amendment has once again become the subject of controversy, and its current focus concerns the provision in the Nineteenth Amendment that disqualifies the same person from being elected as President for more than two terms. The two-term limit is not a constitutional innovation. A provision imposing a term limit …
By P.K.Balachandran The United States and Japan have both cast their eyes on the Eastern Sri Lankan port of Trincomalee to counterbalance the presence of the Chinese in Hambantota in the South and Colombo in the West and its growing clout around the Bay of Bengal. The Trincomalee harbor was meant to be a major …
Senior Army officer Major General (retired) Chagie Gallage had revealed that it was former Army Commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka who ordered to take the LTTE uniform off Velupillai Prabhakaran’s dead body. Prabhakaran’s dead body was found from the Nandikadal area on the morning of May 19, 2009, following heavy gunfire. Gallage was a Brigade …
No ‘politics’ was discussed at the meeting between President Maithripala Sirisena and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the latter’s residence in Medamula this morning, a highly placed source close to the former President told Asian Mirror. The discussion took place afer Sirisena paid last respect to the former President’s deceased brother, Chandra Rajapaksa, at the …
President Maithripala Sirisena visited the Medamulana residence of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa this morning to pay last respect to Chadra Tudor Rajapaksa, the younger brother of the former President. Sirisena was first greeted by former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa. Then former President Mahinda Rajapaksa also joined him.
By Lakmal Sooriyagoda The Attorney General (AG) yesterday filed indictments in the Permanent High Court-at-Bar against former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and six others including former Chairman and members of the director board of the Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (LRDC). This is in connection an incident that the D.A. Rajapaksa Museum and Memorial in …
Sri Lanka’s government may have set a record in the history of Westminster parliamentary system by voting Friday to defeat a crucial de-limitation report it had commissioned and introduced in the House. Minister Faiszer Musthapha also voted against the “Report of the Delimitation Committee for the Delimitation of electorates in Provincial Councils” which he himself …
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on Thursday turned down Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran’s request to boycott the meeting of the Presidential Special Task Force on Northern Development which is scheduled to be held on August 27. TNA Parliamentarians at a meeting held at the Opposition Leader’s office under the patronage of TNA leader …
by Saman Indrajith Minister Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka railed against police Special Task Force (STF) Commandant Senior DIG M.R. Latheef making a controversial statement in Parliament yesterday. The minister used the time allocated to him in the Parliamentary debate to speak on the recent arrests of his political supporters, trying hard to convince that those …
By Saman Indrajith Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama informed Parliament that the Attorney General had said that there was no need to present the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement to Parliament. The Minister said so when Ministers Lakshman Kiriella and Arjuna Ranatunga contradicted each other in Parliament yesterday while speaking on …
By Kavindya Perera Colombo Chief Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake yesterday recalled the notice issued on former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who had been ordered to appear before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court on 7 September, as a suspect in the case where he is alleged to have misappropriated State funds to the tune of Rs. 90 …
Former Chief Justice Sarath Silva may have openly violated constitution by presenting himself as legal counsel for ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa who was questioned by police in connection with the abduction of journalist Keith Noyahr. Official sources noted that the police Criminal Investigation Department (CID informed the Mount Lavinia Magistrate that Silva was present as part …
by Lakdev Liyanagama Three and a half years after he was ousted from power, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the focus of attention last week. Although some of the reasons for the publicity Rajapaksa generated may not have been to his liking, other events may have reignited presidential ambitions for the country’s fifth Executive President. …
Plans are afoot to start a United National Party breakaway party under the leadership of the party’s former General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, Asian Mirror reliably learns. Although the new party will not align itself with the SLFP or the Joint Opposition, it will pressurise the government to protect the interests of the UNPers. “It is …
By Colonel R Hariharan The passing away of Muthuvel Karunanidhi, 94, last of the leaders groomed in the Dravidian stable of rationalist godfather “Periyar” EV Ramasamy Naicker, leaves a huge void in Tamil Nadu politics. The leader, endearingly called Kalaignar (pronounced kalainyar, meaning gifted scholar) by his party cadres, was a man for all seasons. …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene The three years during which Sri Lanka breathed (or was it gasped?) in freedom’ seems to be the rather messily translated refrain which the United National Party at least is trumpeting to all and sundry as this month (August 2018) notes three years of the National Unity government being voted into …
(Text of Editorial Appearing in “The Island” of August 21st 2018 Under the Heading “Why this hullabaloo?) Mahinda has set the cat among the pigeons, as is his wont. He has got his backers in the Joint Opposition (JO) to say he can run for President again. This argument is not of recent origin, though. …
In a letter to President Maitripala Sirisena with regard to the imprisonment of Bodu Bala Sena general secretary Ven. Galagodaathte Gnanasara Thera, the Mahayanayake of the Kotte chapter of the Siyam Nikaya, the Most Ven. Ittapane Dhammalankara Thera has highlighted several points including the one that if monks who speak on behalf of the people …
By Manopriya Gunasekera The Presidential Commission to inquire into allegations of large scale frauds and malpractices in SriLankan Airlines, SriLankan Catering Ltd and Mihin Lanka (Pvt) Ltd has issued notices to four persons including former Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and former SriLankan Airlines Chairman Nishantha Wickremesinghe to appear before it.
By Shamindra Ferdinando Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Chairman Prof. G. L. Peiris will soon move the District Court, seeking a clarification as regards President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s eligibility to contest the 2019 presidential election. Prof. Peiris revealed his party’s plan, yesterday, at a media briefing at the Nelum Mawatha Office of former President Rajapaksa. Former …
By Shavini Madhara Making a statement on the abduction and assault on Nation Newspaper Deputy Editor Keith Noyarh in 2008, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa informed the CID that he could not remember if there was a journalist called Keith Noyarh at the time of the alleged assault incident, the prosecution informed court yesterday. Senior State …
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who served two consecutive terms in office from 2005 to 2015, appears keen on a third, despite a legislation barring him from contesting. “There is an opinion that I can contest again, we need to find out if I am eligible,” he told reporters, on the …
By Shamindra Ferdinando The Northern Province Governor Reginald Cooray has denied allegations that he was planning to construct two Buddhist temples in one-time LTTE stronghold Kilinochchi soon after the dissolution of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) run Northern Provincial Council later this year. Cooray, a former MP said so in response to Northern Chief Minister …
By Amali Mallawaarachchi Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is not qualified to contest the upcoming Presidential election, Higher Education Minister Wijeyedasa Rajapakshe said yesterday. He said that according to the provisions of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, a former President is barred from contesting any Presidential election. The provisions stipulate that no President can hold …
Prof. G.L.Peiris, a former Sri Lankan Minister for Constitutional Affairs who is currently one of the leaders of the Joint Opposition (JO), has said that there is no constitutional bar against any person being President of Sri Lanka more than twice, even though the 19 th.Amendment (19A) enacted in 2015 says that a person cannot …
by Jayadeva Uyangoda Political discussions in the country at present are largely dominated by questions around two themes: which individual will win the next presidential election and which political party will win the next parliamentary election. These are no doubt important questions, but there is a more serious political question about what will happen to …
By Spectator The General Secretary and de facto head of the radical nationalist organisation, Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), Galagoda-aththe Gnanasara thero was recently sentenced to nineteen years imprisonment by the Court of Appeal, to be completed in six years. This follows a previous six-month prison term imposed on him by the Homagama Magistrate’s Court. While …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene Core elements of the fifty-six page decision handed down by the Court of Appeal this week sentencing General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara to six years rigorous imprisonment for contempt ‘in the face of the court’ constitute a stern warning to unruly individuals (monks or laymen) …
by Anurangi Singh Prosecutors are mulling leading evidence from journalist Keith Noyahr who was abducted and tortured in May 2008 via video conference, under provisions of the Witness and Victims Protection Act, Sunday Observer reliably learns. As the investigation into Noyahr’s abduction allegedly by a military intelligence group led by Major Bulathwatte nears conclusion, and …
By Zhang Kun/China Daily Archaeologists from the Shanghai Museum embarked on a 40-day excavation mission to Sri Lanka on Monday. The group will be working in ancient ruins in Jaffna alongside representatives from the Central Cultural Fund and a local university in Sri Lanka. Chen Jie, head of the archaeological team from the Shanghai Museum, …
Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa told the CID Friday that he was unable to recall two crucial telephone calls which investigators link him to the abductors of news editor Keith Noyahr 10 years ago. The former leader was questioned for the first time in connection with the May 2008 abduction and torture of Noyahr, a news …
By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham The government will complete three years in office today (17), marking a milestone of sorts when the two traditionally rival political parties, the United National Party (UNP) and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), set aside their differences and came together to form the National Unity Government. There was plenty of goodwill on …
By Bindu Shajan Perapaddan Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the only non-Congress leader to have completed a full term as Prime Minister, breathed his last at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences on Thursday evening. The 12-time Parliamentarian was 93. “Unfortunately, his condition deteriorated over the last 36 hours and he was put on life support systems. …
By Kelum Bandara Some legal experts are of the opinion that there former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is not debarred from contesting the Presidential Election for the third time, it is learnt. These legal experts believe though the 19th Amendment barred anyone from seeking the Presidency for the third time, it did not have retrospective effect.
Sri Lanka’s chief of defence staff Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne gave half a million rupees in cash to help the main suspect in the abduction and murder of 11 children escape arrest, the Colombo magistrate was told Wednesday. Colombo Fort Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne ordered the bank of Ceylon to provide details of a navy account …
Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s youngest son Rohitha travelled from Tangalle to Tanzania to propose marriage to his sweetheart on top of snow-covered Kilimanjaro, another sibling said. Second son Yoshitha was the first to announce the engagement yesterday atop the highly romantic setting on the highest mountain in the African continent.
by D.B.S. Jeyaraj Sri Lanka’s finest Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was assassinated in Colombo by a suspected sniper of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) a decade ago. His death was mourned by the nation at large as a tremendous loss to the country. The void caused in Sri Lanka’s foreign affairs sphere after …
Continue reading ‘Life and Times of Lanka’s Finest Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar’ »
Novelist Sir VS Naipaul, who won the Nobel Prize in literature, has died aged 85, his family have said. Sir Vidia, who was born in rural Trinidad in 1932, wrote more than 30 books including A Bend in the River and his masterpiece, A House for Mr Biswas. His wife Lady Naipaul called him a …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake There is diversion in the politics of the Joint Opposition, moving away from the defeat of the Yahapalana coalition and plans for the coming presidential and general elections, to the demand for the office of Leader of the Opposition. The big debate in parliament this week was over declaring the JO’s leading …
By Saman Indrajith Speaker Karu Jayasuriya yesterday said the status quo would remain as regards the post of the Opposition Leader in Parliament. It is currently held by TNA Leader R Sampanthan. Making a special announcement at the commencement of sittings yesterday, the Speaker said that his final decision was that the constitutionality and Parliament …
By Gopalkrishna Gandhi (Author,Scholar and Diplomat Gopalkrishna Gandhi who served as India’s High Commissioner in India is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and Rajaji) “Jakkirathaiya irunga,” he said in Tamil, over which his command was legendary. “Take care” is how the phrase would translate. But in the way he said it, laying stress on the …
by K. Venkataramanan It is the misfortune of some leaders that public perception, based on their recent actions and political positions, tends to overshadow their long history of engagement with an issue. It is so with M. Karunanidhi, who was an outspoken champion of the cause of the Sri Lankan Tamils for five decades, but …
By S.S.Selvanayagam Firebrand Buddhist monk Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, known for his hard-line approach, was jailed yesterday for six years after being found guilty of contempt of court over his conduct during a court hearing regarding the case of missing journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda. Gnanasara Thero, the Secretary General of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS),was found …
By Dharani Thangavelu Muthuvel Karunanidhi, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president, is dead, the Kauvery Hospital in Chennai announced today. “With deep anguish, we announce the demise of our beloved Kalaignar Dr M. Karunanidhi on 7. 8. 2018 at 6.10 pm. Despite the best possible efforts by our …
By A.S.Panneerselvan (This Article originally published in “Frontline Magazine”was Reproduced on this Blog on June 9th 2017.It is Being posted again due to its current timeliness) THE 1957 elections to Parliament and the State Assemblies constituted a defining moment. It established the democratic credentials of a country newly liberated from colonial rule; it was the …
by Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka In a speech to the Inter-Religious Forum on the 35th anniversary of the anti-Tamil violence of Black July ’83, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga made an impassioned plea for either a new Constitution or a Constitutional Amendment to resolve the long-standing ethno-national question. The enterprise is flawed and fraught. 1. Even if …
By Camelia Nathaniel The Cabinet has approved a proposal made by President Maithripala Sirisena to declare the holy shrine of Our Lady of Madhu a sacred area. The President visited the Madhu Shrine on Sunday. This is a most welcome measure for Roman Catholics in the country. Madhu is a mystic jungle shrine dedicated to …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Here’s a news flash; the political solution to the Tamil question exists and has been around for a while. Thousands died in two civil wars to proclaim and defend that solution. Vijaya Kumaratunga and K Pathmanabha were martyrs to that cause. And yet, those who should cherish the cause they were martyred …
By Pramod De Silva It is now exactly 31 years since the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was signed in Colombo on July 29, 1987, between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene amidst political turmoil in Colombo and military advances in the North. The Accord was signed “Attaching utmost importance to …
By Frances Bulathsinghala The July 1983 anti-Tamil riots is a watershed in the recent history of this country, and 35 years later, with a three-decade war over and thousands killed, we are still left asking ‘Quo Vadis Lanka?’ This writer was seven years old when Colombo went up in flames on a seemingly ordinary July …
By Vishwamithra 1984 “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.” ~Aung San Suu Kyi Ceylon Civil Service, later transformed into Sri Lanka Administrative Service, has been a dignified public service. ‘It …
By Amali Mallawaarachchi The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna has no future other than relying upon the Rajapaksas, Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure Minister Harin Fernando said yesterday. Fernando expressed his disappointment over the political sycophancy displayed by the Pohottuwa party towards the Rajapaksa family. Minister Fernando also criticised former Minister Basil Rajapaksa for saying that they …
DMK chief M Karunanidhi, being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection, was shifted to a private hospital from his residence here early today (28) due to dip in blood pressure and is now stable, the hospital said. The 94-year-old leader was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Kauvery Hospital around 1:30 am. …
(Former Cabinet Minister and Sri Lanka Podu Jana Party Chairman Prof.G.L.Peiris has written a letter to the External Resources Division of Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry Seeking Factual Information About the Moragahakanda Kaluganga Multi-purpose Development Project.The full text of the letter is as follows) The Director General, Department of External Resources, Secretariat Building, Colombo 01 Dear …
By Meera Srinivasan The geopolitical contest between India and China in Sri Lanka is no secret, but it has never been as blatant as was seen in developments last week. Cabinet spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne, in a recent media briefing, spoke of Sri Lanka having to “balance” the two powers, in the context of China holding …
By Steve James Britain’s House of Commons Standards Committee has suspended Ian Paisley, Jr., Member of Parliament for the North Antrim constituency in Northern Ireland, for 30 days from September 4. Paisley was found to have committed “serious misconduct” by actions “of a nature to bring the House of Commons into disrepute.” Paisley is only …
By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham Many articles appeared in the newspapers week to mark the 35th anniversary of the communal pogrom of July 1983 in Sri Lanka, commonly known as’ Black July’ riots. It was the illustrious editor and political analyst of international fame, the late Mervyn de Silva who coined the term ‘Black July’ in his …
By Daniel Alphonsus MYTH 1: Chinese lending is commercial. FACT:Since 2012 most Chinese lending is concessionary. In the last five years Sri Lanka’s loans from China EXIM Bank, amounting to 3.1 billion dollars, were all concessionary – fixed at 2%.Sri Lanka also borrowed 400 million dollars from China Development Bank in 2014 at near commercial …
by Shamindra Ferdinando Wartime Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on Thursday (July 26) told Colombo-based senior Tamil print and electronic journalists that countrywide economic empowerment was the key to post-war stability. Rajapaksa stressed the pivotal importance of economic empowerment of all communities, particularly those who had been denied of opportunities due to the conflict. Chairman of …
By Sarath de Alwis “When words lose their meaning and their capacity to bind those who use them, neither democracy nor the rule of law can long survive.” ― Jurisprudence scholar Austin Sarat This essay is about the exposure in the New York Times and the two responses from former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Prime …
by Anurangi Singh The case filed regarding two attempts to assassinate Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian, M.A. Sumanthiran will be taken up tomorrow, July 30 at the Colombo High Court to serve indictments on the suspects. In January 2017, Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) reported to the Killinochchi Magistrate’s court that they had apprehended five suspects …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene There is little doubt that the findings of United Nations Special Rapportuer on Countering Terrorism, Ben Emmerson on the sorry fate of Sri Lanka’s justice system, particularly in regard to the continuance of a ‘culture of impunity’ are significantly troubling. ‘A fate worse than death’ Reporting to the Human Rights Council …
By Javid Yusuf For a considerable period of time, the world associated Sri Lanka with tea. After the advent of Sirimavo Bandaranaike as the world’s first woman Prime Minister, Sri Lanka was identified with the Bandaranaike name. From 1996, when the country won the Cricket World Cup, Sri Lanka has been synonymous with its achievements …
Continue reading ‘Urgent Need to Restore State of Cricket To Its Former Glory in Sri Lanka.’ »
A Kuwaiti woman bit a woman customs officer and assaulted four others at the Bandaranaike international airport Friday when she was prevented from smuggling in a pet dog without quarantine. The 32-year-old woman and her 29-year-old male partner went on the rampage attacking customs agents after they were told that their dog could not enter …
By S.Venkat Narayan Political leaders cutting across party lines made a beeline on Friday for the residence of Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the 94-year-old ailing patriarch of the Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Chennai, the party’s working chief and his son M.K. Stalin said his father’s condition is improving.
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka “That is my inspiration, that Pakistan should have that kind of humanitarian state, where we take responsibility for our weaker classes. The weak are dying of hunger. I will try my best – all of my policies will be made to raise our weaker classes, for our labourers … for our poor …
By the Avocado Collective Corruption is a luxury cruiser sailing exclusively outside Europe and non-Anglo waters, it seems, somehow finding safe harbour only in our parts of the world. So it’s no surprise the recent New York Times (NYT) article, ‘How China Got Sri Lanka to Cough up a Port,’ muddies four distinct issues: Mahinda …
By Dimuthu Attanayake TNA Legislator M.A. Sumanthiran, recalls being 19 years old when communal violence rocked the capital city in July 1983. Packed off to Jaffna where the Government thought Tamil families residing in Colombo and other parts of the south would be safer, he recalls an arduous four-day journey in a small cargo ship, …
By P.K.Balachandran Over the past year, as India kept making a bid to acquire the Mattala airport in South Sri Lanka, which is universally derided as the “World’s Emptiest Airport” with little or no traffic, many have wondered why New Delhi wants to buy into a failed enterprise with little or no perceivable prospect of …
By Dr.Sudharshan Seneviratne (Text of Speech delivered by Sudharshan Seneviratne (Emeritus Professor. University of Peradeniya) at the 58th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Library Association. Colombo on June 29th 2018) Thank you for extending an invitation to share quality time with custodians of knowledge and information to our nation. It is also my …
By Jayatilleke de Silva Last week was one of hope and despair. Hope because a group of academics came out boldly in defence of the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) who was unjustly accused of being “an agent of the Tamil Diaspora”, “an LTTE agent” and ‘a traitor”. Despair was …
By Dr.Nirmala Chandrahasan The speech by the former State Minister of Children’s Affairs Vijayakala Maheswaran has been magnified in the media as a call by her for the return of an LTTE administration to maintain law and order and secure the safety of women in the North. I have used the term outburst because the …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Sri Lanka won the cricket World Cup once, but never again. We started down the slippery slope almost the morning after we had reached the zenith of achievement. That was because we dismantled the winning combination which included Ana Punchihewa and Davnell Whatmore. The most crucial mistake we made was in the …
By Namini Wijedasa The Human Rights Commission’s (HRC) Chair Deepika Udagama this week denounced what she said were sinister efforts to interfere with the work of her institution and to bully it into adopting specific positions. In recent weeks, the HRC–and, in particular, its Chair–was targeted by nationalist politicians. The attacks were so inflammatory that …
By Mark Townsend The UN has been sending alleged war criminals to act as peacekeepers in conflict zones, a confidential report claims. The document, seen by the Observer, and sent to the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations last month, claims that senior Sri Lankan officers accused of war crimes have been deployed to UN operations …
By M.A. Sumanthiran (This article is an excerpt of a keynote speech on April 3, 2018 at the Research Congress, Inaugural session of the Post Graduate Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Peradeniya) The topic given to me is about constitutional reforms and the constitution making exercise from a Northern perspective, and looking …
Sri Lanka is firm on executing convicted drug dealers, and will brook no opposition President Maithripala Sirisena said as civil liberties groups and several European countries warned against resuming hangings. The work on resuming the death penalty will go ahead whatever the opposition there is, a statement from President’s office quoted him as saying. A …
By Ajita Kadirgamar Cities are home to all citizens — men, women, children, the elderly and the differently- abled. This past week I attended a presentation and panel discussion on ‘Women-Friendly Cities Challenge’ hosted by the National Chamber of Commerce and World University Service Canada (WUSC) with support from the newly- formed non-profit Stand By …
Continue reading ‘Can The Cities In Sri Lanka Be Regarded as “Women -Friendly” Cities?’ »
By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana UNESCO has warned that it will remove the world heritage status given to Sinharaja, Dambulla and Galle Fort if they are not preserved properly, National Heritage Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told Parliament. The minister made this statement during a heated argument on the proposed demolition of the Mahinda Rajapaksa pavilion …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene The fact that the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) had accepted sponsorship from tainted primary dealer Perpetual Treasuries for the holding of the 2016 Law Asia conference led to incredulous responses in some quarters when this fact was initially disclosed some weeks ago. Before long however and in the nature …
By Namini Wijedasa A year-long effort by the Airline Pilots Guild of Sri Lanka (APGSL) to secure details of salaries, allowances and other benefits of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Head of Human Resources and the Chief Commercial Officer of SriLankan has borne fruit, with the details being released to the Right to Information …
By M.A.Sumanthiran (Text of Speech by M A Sumanthiran, MP in Parliament on 20th July 2018 in Response to recent allegations made regarding Experts Panel Report of Constitutional Assembly Steering Committee) I have obtained permission to make a personal explanation in view of certain statements made in this House yesterday while I was not here, …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake There were no Members of Parliament from the Medamulana Raja Pavula when the New York Times report of China funding the last Mahinda Rajapaksa presidential poll was debated in Parliament this week. The quorum bell had a weird and crooked ring when it failed to gather enough members to continue the debate …
(Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, who has been nominated as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Russia, participated as a panelist at the international conference on “21st Century, Towards the New Humanism” on 23rd January 2012 at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture.Dr. Jayatilleka’s speech was delivered during the first session chaired by Mr. Hans d’Orville (Assistant Director-General …
A Sri Lankan deported by Australia even though his partner had refugee status there was charged upon his return with illegally leaving his home country. Thileepan Gnaneswaran, who was separated from his wife and 11-month-old daughter, arrived in Colombo Tuesday along with another 17 who had also their asylum applications rejected by Australia. “They were …
By P.K.Balachandran Sri Lanka’s Tamil leaders are pulling in different directions on crucial issues of common concern to the Tamils of the island. The Chief Minister of the Tamil majority Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, is stubbornly adhering to his position that a political solution of the Tamil question should precede economic development. Giving priority to economic …
Debunking what seems to be fake news circulating in social media, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had not issued any statement on the Joint Opposition’s Presidential candidate for 2020.
Amidst continuing controversy over the proposed implementation of capital punishment to curb the narcotic trade, the Catholic Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has said that the resumption of judicial execution should be the last option, if at all. The Sri Lankan Church Leader said that the Holy Father Pope Francis has not accepted the …
A Democratic Unionist MP in the UK is facing calls to quit after a watchdog recommended his suspension from the House of Commons for failing to register two family holidays funded by the Sri Lankan government. Ian Paisley had already apologised for what he said was his “unintentional failure” to register the hospitality, which he …
(Text of a Press Release issued by the Media office of the Tamil National Alliance) The Visiting Belgium-Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Group met with the Leader of the Opposition and the Tamil National Alliance today at the office of the Leader of the opposition in parliament. Briefing the delegation MrSampanthan highlighted that the present Sri …
A British legislator faced suspension Wednesday for failing to disclose free luxury holidays he and his family received from the then government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in exchange for backing Colombo at the human rights council. Ian Paisley Jr of the Democratic Unionist Party was suspended from 30 sittings of the House of Commons, or …
By S .S. Selvanayagam The Court of Appeal yesterday reserved for 8 August its judgment on the alleged offence of Contempt of Court against Ven. Gnanasara Thero. The Bench comprised Justices P. Padman Surasena (President/CA) and Arjuna Obeysekera. Senior Counsel Manohara de Silva with Anusha Perusinghe appeared for Ven. Gnanasara Thero. Deputy Solicitor General Rohantha …