(Text of a media releae issued on behalf of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa by his media secretary Rohan Welivita on July 18th 2018 under the heading “Alert regarding false Media Release”) It has come to our notice that a forged document purporting to be a media release issued by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka The recent ‘Friday Forum’ statement signed by distinguished scholars and retired civil servants, condemns “…a personal attack by retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara on Dr. Deepika Udagama, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL)…Weerasekara denounced Dr. Udagama as an LTTE supporter and a traitor to this country, with the …
Sri Lanka’s police Tuesday arrested a man for sharing a bottle of beer with his one-year-old son and detained three others for filming what police consider to be cruelty to a child and releasing it on Facebook. Spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said police carried out investigations following the viral video made at the village of Meehalewa …
by Cyril Wimalasurendre The Anglican Church of Ceylon has taken exception to the government’s decision to resume judicial executions of repeat drug offenders. A joint statement issued by the Bishop of Colombo Rt. Rev. Dhiloraj Canagasabey and the Bishop of Kurnegala Rt. Rev. Keerthi Fernando says, ‘The Church of Ceylon (Anglican Church) cannot, in any …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Dr. Deepika Udagama’s father, Dr. Premadasa Udagama, and my uncle, Prof Ebert Fernando, were not only neighbors but much more importantly, the core members of the pro-SLFP, pro-Left caucus of academics at Peradeniya in the run-up to the 1970s elections. Dr. Udagama, an educationist, became the Secretary to the Ministry of Education …
Thirty-seven civil society organisations and 170 individuals yesterday released a statement condemning the threats against Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Chairperson Dr. Deepika Udagama. Given below is the full statement: We are appalled at statements akin to death threats, violence and hate speech against the Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka …
(Text of a press release issued by Finance and Media minister Mangala Samaraweera) In response to a question on the restoration of Capital Punishment for drug dealers at a press conference last week, while reiterating my opposition to Capital Punishment, I said that certain individuals connected to the drug trade try to cover their sins …
By Ajita Kadirgamar Long before the advent of the internet, social media and professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, Sri Lankans were masters of the networking game. Networking, whether social or professional is basically, ‘the exchange of information and ideas among individuals or groups that share a common interest’. It has evolved into an art, …
By Gangani Weerakoon President Maithripala Sirisena, last week, said that he would sign required orders to execute capital punishment for convicted drug traffickers who carry out large scale drug smuggling operations while in detention. The President’s office quoted the President as saying that although there are certain opinions regarding capital punishment in a Buddhist society, …
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka’s prison authorities will soon call for applications to fill a long-time vacancy — they need two hangmen. The requirement arose after President Maithripala Sirisena recently said he might sign orders on the execution of convicted drug peddlers currently in prison. Though Sri Lankan courts continue to impose the death penalty …
By Sharmini Serasinghe President, Maithripala Sirisena dropped a bombshell out of the blues last week, sans all ‘maître’ (loving-kindness) when he launched a coup de mainon drug offenders. He threatened to use his powers to place his signature to execute the death sentence on those sentenced for drug offenses. Drug trafficking carries the death penalty …
By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya While much ink has already been spilled over The New York Times’ recent piece on Chinese bribes allegedly given to the Rajapaksa camp ahead of the 2015 presidential election, some interesting questions remain to be addressed. Setting aside, for now, the report’s inaccuracies (such as describing the Port City project as a …
by C.A.Chandraprema Last Thursday, the Professionals’ National Front (PNF) which brings together professionals from the medical, engineering, banking, IT, architectural, and many other spheres held a seminar to a packed audience at the Sri Sambuddhathwa Jayanthi Mandiraya in Thunmulla on the SL-Singapore Free Trade Agreement ahead of the debate in parliament on the same matter …
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed — and thus clamorous to be led to safety — by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” H.L. Mencken (In Defence of Women). Julampitiye Amare is now a forgotten man. Not so just six …
Sri Lanka’s top drug dealers are not languishing in jails, but holding high posts in social services organisations such as Lions, Rotary and some Buddhist charities, Finance minister Mangala Samaraweera said. The outspoken minister noted corruption involving law enforcement as well as the criminal justice system and said what was needed was better enforcement of …
(Excerpted From the “Sunday Times” Political Column) The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has started investigations into allegations in The New York Times report that China’s state owned China Harbour Engineering Company paid at least US$ 7.6 million from its account at the Standard Chartered Bank to affiliates of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidential election campaign. The focus, …
By Kishali Pinto Jayewardene Curiously, each time that Sri Lanka announces that it would put an end to the country’s more than thirty years moratorium on implementation of the death penalty, an immediate practical problem surfaces for the administration of Colombo’s Welikada Prisons. The grisly realities of the job This is the insuperable difficulty of …
Continue reading ‘Links of Politicians to the Drug Mafia and Underworld is an Accepted Fact’ »
By THE FRIDAY FORUM The recent public statements by Rev Vendaruwe Upali Thero, Anunayake of the Asgiriya Chapter at a celebration of Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s birthday, Ms Vijayakala Maheswaran, former State minister at a public meeting in Jaffna, and a personal attack by retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara on Dr Deepika Udagama, Chairperson of the …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake There are new employment opportunities opening in the country – for hangmen. The prison authorities are already calling for applications for two hangmen. Why stop at two? There are so many persons involved in drug trafficking in our prisons, engaged in a fruitful business from within those walls. Why not many more …
By Austin Fernando Born on 12th June 1942, having had my primary education at Hikkaduwa Sinhala School, post-primary education at Richmond College, Galle, I was admitted to University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in July 1960. As a young graduate I entered the teaching profession in May 1963 and joined the Ceylon Administrative Service (CAS) in October …
By Lakmal Sooriyagoda The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court yesterday issued an order directing the Department of Official Languages to provide the Sinhala and Tamil transcripts of the video footage pertaining to the alleged offensive statement made by former State Minister Vijayakala Maheshwaran regarding the resurgence of the LTTE at a public gathering held in Jaffna. …
By Charumini de Silva * Dismisses allegations made by former President and Finance Minister on fuel pricing formula and Govt. revenue *Reiterates economy progressive and despite latest revision fuel prices still lower than MR era *Recalls how Rajapaksa exercised executive powers to disregard SC ruling for lowering fuel prices *Challenges MR to a public debate …
Colombo International Container Terminals Limited (CICT), in a statement issued yesterday said that Rs.19,410,000/- (equivalent to US$150,000) had been donated in 2012 to the Pushpa Rajapaksa Foundation, in good faith, for the construction of houses for the less privileged. The statement was issued in the wake of New York Times allegations that President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s …
(Text of Press release issued by Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa under the heading “Fleecing the public through fuel price manipulation”) Fuel prices have been increased yet again within a period of about eight weeks – a situation we have never experienced earlier. Now the price of petrol is Rs. 145 and diesel Rs. 118 while …
The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil majority Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, has opted out of the Presidential Task Force on economic development of the Tamil-speaking Northern and Eastern Provinces, saying that the Tamils need a political solution for their long-standing problems before they embark on economic development. In a letter to Sri Lankan President Maithripala …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara writes that “After the 2015 Presidential elections, for reasons better known to DJ, he approached GR and joined Viyath Maga.” That’s a blatant lie. As Dullas Alahapperuma and Matale mayor Mohammed Hilmy will attest, “After the 2015 presidential election” I met ex-President Rajapaksa at Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa’s residence …
by Rear Admiral (Retd) Dr Sarath Weerasekera VSV RWP USP There was a swollen headed Brahmin called “Akkosha Bharadvaja” who, after studying a few Vedic stanzas and theories, thought that he was the only brilliant intellect in the country. This man, festered with venom and ill will, once unleashed his wrath on the Buddha. Buddha …
By Sasanka Perera Reading Ms Vijayakala Maheswaran’s statement at a public meeting in Jaffna on 2nd July 2018 reminded me of two popular aphorisms on history and the past. They deal with humanity’s propensity to not learn from the past. In the first of these, Margaret MacMillan observes, “we can learn from history, but we …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka ‘Every Picture Tells a Story’ was the title of the best Rod Stewart album! The landmark Viyath Maga event at the Shangri-La Hotel opened with the image in the very first slide, which showed Gotabaya Rajapaksa with only one other person in the frame, leaning over the shoulder of the seated GR. …
By Prof. Carlo Fonseka In 1989, the year in which the events portrayed in this film took place in Sri Lanka, the country became literally the bloodiest place on earth. Its estimated murder rate was over 100 per 100,000 of its population. The rage for murder was generated and fueled by several interrelated conflicts. There …
By Ranga Jayasuriya State Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Vijayakala Maheswaran has called for the resurrection of the LTTE to give dignity and order to Tamils. “All of you know how our people lived before 2009-05-19. When comparing with today’s situation, it seems the LTTE should be revived. If our children and women are …
By Meera Srinivasan After Sinhalese mobs carried out a spate of attacks targeting Muslim eateries and shops in Ampara in the Eastern province, in February, Kandy in the Central province saw violence too. A vandalised mosque in Digana, located between Kandy and Teldeniya. After Sinhalese mobs carried out a spate of attacks targeting Muslim eateries …
Army commander Mahesh Senanayake has ordered his troops not to allow any individual, including retired officers, who are actively engaged in sabotaging the country’s ethnic reconciliation efforts. In a directive to all units of the Sri Lanka army, Lieutenant General Senanayake said the military condemned attempts to obstruct ongoing moves to build bridges between different …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene When mad dogs bark at the moon, the wise would probably advocate just a shrug and a sigh. However in a country where those who have lost their senses to all intents and purposes capture the public space so belligerently, shrugging and sighing may not suffice. The tide of insanity is …
By Gagani Weerakoon Barely two weeks into Oddusudan Police arresting two suspects with a pressure mine, two remote control devices and some other weapons, a uniform, a flag, bombs and several military types of equipment belonging to the LTTE while they were being transported in a three-wheeler at Peraru Junction, Oddusudan, Mullaitivu, an ill-timed, misjudged …
Over the past two decades Sri Lanka has proffered a mere two films to the Academy Awards. In the hopes of getting a prestigious Oscar nomination, The Road from Elephant Pass (2008) and Mansion By The Lake (2002) were submitted to the Best Foreign Language Film Category. Ten years later, Sri Lanka makes a daring …
By Alison Flood Twenty six years ago, the panel of judges were so unsure who should win the Man Booker in 1992 that they ended up with a tie: Michael Ondaatje and Barry Unsworth. But on Sunday evening Ondaatje edged ahead, with his bestselling novel The English Patient being named the best winner of the …
By the “Sunday Observer”News Desk Allegations have resurfaced regarding large payouts to the former ruling family by another Chinese ports company, after Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake, who is becoming a lone crusader against corruption, revealed a copy of a cheque to the tune of Rs. 19.41 million made out to the Pushpa Rajapaksa Foundation in …
By Sarath de Alwis The phrase ‘Cough up a Port’ held the essence of the New York Times story. It compacted the global perception of the Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port and its progression to date, into the finite space of the simple phrase – Sri Lanka coughed up a port to China. The ‘cough’ metaphor …
By Jayadeva Uyangoda There are two new developments in Sri Lanka’s contemporary politics which is getting crystalized and clearer these days. They are: (a) the consolidation of a hard right-wing alternative to a weak and shaky democratic regime option, and (b) the projection of an ex-military officer as the embodiment of the new right-wing agenda. …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake Let’s all Hail Vijayakala”, shouted the Pohottuva Team in the current political circus. “Come on, don’t you think it must be Hail Gota, our own Dahami Sinhala Hitler?” asked some members. “No. No. Hail Vijayakala… just think of what she has done to help Mahinda Mama. She has pushed the New York …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake The threat of fascism has taken a new twist with UNP State Minister for Child Affairs Vijayakala Maheswaran taking the focus away from the religious and pious advise to Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to live up to the Hitler name that he is associated with. It has also pushed aside to some extent the …
(The full text of an English Translation of the speech made in Tamil by State minister for women and children’s affairs Vijayakala Maheswaran at Veerasingham Hall Jaffna on 2018-07-02 is Reproduced here) ”The presence of home affairs minister Vajira Abeywardena at this event is highly appreciated by me and I thank him on behalf of …
Dismissing the controversial statement made by State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran as emotional and immature, National Integration, Reconciliation and Official Languages Minister Mano Ganesan yesterday urged focus on the real issue of the increasing lawlessness in the North. “What we should be doing now is not discussing Vijayakala Maheswaran’s statement but the total breakdown of law …
By Susirith Mendis The common story on the death of Hitler is that, on 30 April 1945, he killed himself with his own gun while biting on a cyanide capsule, in his Führerbunker in Berlin. In accordance with Hitler’s prior written and verbal instructions, that afternoon his remains and those of Eva Braun were carried …
(Text of a Press Release Issued by the Tamil National Alliance(TNA_ Media Office) The outgoing United States Ambassador His Excellency Atul Keshap paid a courtesy call on the Leader of the Opposition and the Tamil National Alliance Mr Sampanthan today at the office of the Leader of the Opposition in Colombo. Expressing his views on …
by Zacki Jabbar State Minister of Child Affairs Vijayakala Maheshwaran yesterday quit her portfolio, pending government and UNP inquiries into her remarks praising the LTTE , during a Presidential Mobile Service event in Jaffna on Monday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, at meeting with Vijayakala, on Wednesday, had called for her explanation, saying that the government …
By A.J. Abeynayake Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda yesterday told the Fort Magistrate court that Perpetual Treasuries subsidiary, W. M. Mendis and Company had paid Rs. 5mn to a company owned by UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake in 2017. Making submissions before Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne on behalf of the Attorney General, Kodagoda said that a …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka “And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?’ – WB Yeats, The Second Coming Though that may change, this island has so far produced only one movement which qualifies as Fascist by international standards. When the LTTE was decisively defeated in May 2009, the …
By Chitra Weerarathne The Court of Appeal yesterday stayed the proceedings in the Magistrate Court against petitioner, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, in respect of the Avant Garde issue until the revision application filed by him is heard and finally determined by the superior court. The Court of Appeal issued notice on the respondents the Bribery Commission and …
Child Affairs State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran says she has decided to resign from her ministerial position. This comes in the wake of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe requesting President Maithripala Sirisena to remove Maheswaran from the ministerial position pending investigations.
By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana The Government had already decided on the action that was to be taken against State Minister Vijeyakala Maheswaran, who had called for the resurgence of LTTE, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament yesterday. “The belief of the Government is that LTTE, which is an organization that is banned internationally, …
(Text of a Press Release Issued by the Tamil National Alliance(TNA) Media office on July 4th 2018 regarding an Adjournment Motion To be moved by Hon M A Sumanthiran MP on 06/07/ 2018) Adjournment Motion – To be moved by Hon M A Sumanthiran on 06/07/ 2018 Whereas the terms of office of 3 Provincial …
By Chaturanga Samarawickrama State Minister of Child Affairs Vijayakala Maheswaran said she had not made any statement with the intention of bringing the LTTE back to life and said that it was a slip of the tongue. She expressed these views during a telephone conversation with the Social Empowerment Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayaka who called …
By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has asked the Attorney General whether State Minister Vijayakala Mahsewaran’s controversial statement calling for the resurgence of the LTTE violates the Constitution or any other laws of the country and if so to take appropriate action against her. “A question has arisen as to the type …
Rising crime in Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province, ranging from armed robbery to rape and murder, coupled with a perceived unwillingness or inability of the police and the military to act, made Vijayakala Maheswaran, the Sri Lankan State Minister of Women and Child Affairs, call for the return of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Mexico is an important country. It is not only the neighbor of the USA, it is a large and populous nation with a political history that has had an impact on the whole of Latin America. Just as the Right was cheering the receding of the “Pink Tide” that had swept Latin …
A legislator in Sri Lanka has reportedly expressed a preference for feared Tamil Tiger leader Vellupillai Pirabharan who ruled a part of northern Sri Lanka by the gun, shortly after a southern monk called for rule by Hitler, in the latest twist in a country where authoritarianism is worshipped by sections of society. Vijayakala Maheswaran, …
The LTTE had to be revived if the Tamils in the North and East were to live without fear, State Minister of Child Affairs, Vijayakala Maheswaran said, yesterday at the 8th Presidential Public Service programme held at the Weerasingham Hall, Jaffna. “A lot of Northern women face grave difficulties now. A six-year-old girl was killed …
By Romesh Madushanka It is seen that there is a huge need of reorganization of the LTTE in the North and East, State Minister of Child Affairs Vijayakala Maheswaran claimed today addressing the ‘Janapathi Nila Mehewara’ event at the Weerasingham Hall in Jaffna. She said that reports relating to traces of LTTE reorganizing are heard …
(Text of a Media Release Issued By Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa Refuting Allegations made by the New York Times) The New York Times published an article titled “How China Got Sri Lanka to Cough Up a Port” on Monday June 25, 2018 and our political opponents have made quite a carnival of it, marching to …
By Neville de Silva Monks, like others, are not all learned men. While all of them may know the dhamma (though not all of them practise the Buddha’s teaching), their knowledge of history and world affairs, among others, needs to be refreshed. That, of course, is if they had learnt and imbibed such worldly knowledge …
By Sarath de Alwis “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” – Adolf Hitler Shine as they may, there are no kings, adorned with jewellry and pearls, that shine as does a man restrained, adorned with virtue’s ornament. – Visuddhimagga The two quotes – one from …
Police has been asked to revive an investigation into alleged Chinese funding of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s re-election bid following a foreign newspaper report that $7.6 million was paid through the Standard Chartered Bank. Deputy Minister of Social Empowerment Ranjan Ramanayake lodged a complaint with the Financial Crimes Investigation Division on Friday after the New York Times …
By Don Manu Twenty Twenty presidential hopeful, birthday boy Gotabaya Rajapaksa may have felt somewhat uncomfortable when a monk, no less a personage than the Anunayaka of the Asgiriya Chapter the Venerable Vendaruwe Upali, whom he had invited along with a retinue of other senior monks to his residence for an alms-giving ceremony to celebrate …
Sri Lanka will move its southern naval headquarters to the Hambantota port which is leased to a state-run Chinese firm under a billion-dollar deal, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office said. Wickremesinghe has made it clear in his talks with Chinese leaders that Hambantota port will not be allowed to be used for any military purposes, …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene Competing for top billing for the most ghastly news headlines this week has been public outrage over rampant robberies and murders by notorious underworld gangs along with feverish speculation over the (possibly apocryphal) list of politicians who accepted money from tainted financier Arjun Aloysius and a fracas over Chinese funding of …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa arriving at the FCID on Monday. Picture by Rukmal Gamage Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa arriving at the FCID on Monday. Picture by Rukmal Gamage The twists and turns of politics are moving into fresh confrontations both within the government, and between the government and opposition. The …
By Wasantha Rupasinghe On June 25, the New York Times published a lengthy front page article entitled “How China Got Sri Lanka to Cough Up a Port.” The more than 3,800-word piece repeats the usual allegations manufactured by the Times, and other media conduits for Washington’s foreign policy propaganda, about growing Chinese influence in Sri …
Anukreethy Vas from Tamil Nadu was declared the winner of the 55th edition of Femina Miss India 2018 pageant held at Dome, NSCI Stadium whereas Miss Meenakshi Chaudhary from Haryana and Miss Shreya Rao from Andhra Pradesh bagged the first and second runner up positions respectively. The winners were crowned by the previous year winners, …
By Dr. Ranil Senanayake It is with a sense of foreboding that I pen this, returning from Ecuador, to find the rupee tumbling at pace that was once familiar to me back in 1994 in Ecuador. At that time the IMF was giving them the same advice that they are providing us today: “The International …
By Chitra Weerarathne Srimathi Chithranganie Wijeweera, the wife of the founder of the JVP yesterday filed a Habeas Corpus application in the Court of Appeal requesting the court to issue a mandatory order on the Defence Authorities and the Attorney General to produce Wijeweera before the court. The application also requests the court to order …
29th June 2018, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is alarmed by the recent spate of violence in Sri Lanka, including the custodial death this weekend, the death of a police constable and the inability of the authorities to contain the violence and bring perpetrators to justice. These incidents are evocative of …
The Minister of Education yesterday challenged former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to revoke his American citizenship regardless of whether the latter would contest in a Sri Lankan election. “A true patriot will have no problem revoking the citizenship of another country,” Minister of Education and UNP General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said. Minister Kariyawasam made …
Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy yesterday defended one of the institutions top officials against former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, insisting his record as an economist remains outstanding. The short statement released by the Central Bank is given in full below.
By Skandha Gunasekara Social Empowerment Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake yesterday lodged a complaint at the Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa regarding reports that the latter received campaign funding over $ 7 million from a prominent Chinese company. Referring to a recent New York Times article on the issue, Deputy Minister …
By Lakdev Liyanagama The shadow of former Defence Secretary and Rajapaksa sibling Gotabhaya Rajapaksa looms large these days over the Sri Lankan political firmament. Not yet officially nominated as a candidate for the 2020 presidential elections, he appears to have assumed that role by default. Still, Rajapaksa found out last week that the publicity he …
By Maria Abi-Habib HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka — Every time Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, turned to his Chinese allies for loans and assistance with an ambitious port project, the answer was yes. Yes, though feasibility studies said the port wouldn’t work. Yes, though other frequent lenders like India had refused. Yes, though Sri Lanka’s debt …
By Sasanka Perera Ven. Endaruwe Upali, Deputy Chief Priest of the Asgiriya Chapter in the Buddhist ecclesiastical order, is in the news. But it is not for his knowledge of the Dhamma or for the erudite delivery of a sermon worthy of Buddhism’s timeless appeal or for his strict adherence to vinaya, the set of …
Text of Statement Released on June 26th 2018 Expressing Concern Over Probation Department and National Child Protection Agency CPA Pushing Victimised Children Back Into the Hands of Abusers and list of signatories) Probation Department and NCPA pushing children back into the hands of abusers We the undersigned members of civil society condemn the actions of …
By Ranga Jayasuriya Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa has skeletons though, may not be in his closet, but wherever white vans had dumped victims during his abduction prone tenure as the Defence Secretary. But, not even by a long shot did he go any close to Hitler. Last week, when a high priest publicly urged him to …
By Sharmini Serasinghe When it comes to the likes of pseudo religious figures viz,Gnanasara, I refuse to dignify such with revered titles; ‘Thera’, ‘Reverend’ or ‘Venerable’ as others do. To do so, would be a downright insult to all those who are genuinely worthy of it. As a Sri Lankan, a Buddhist and a Sinhalese, …
By P.K.Balachandran The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), of which the Ilankai Tamil ArasuKatchi (ITAK) is the single largest constituent, appears to be heading for a split, with the Sampanthan and Wigneswaran factions failing to find a common ground to work together. A likely outcome is the emergence of two new groupings, with the ITAK and …
Sri Lanka’s former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa Monday announced heeding the counsel of a top Asgiriya chapter monk who urged him to be like a Hitler and form a military dictatorship in the country. Speaking to reporters after making a statement to the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID), Rajapaksa said he was surprised by the …
By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya The US quit the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday (June 19) with rhetoric intended to assert the moral high-ground, slamming the council and selectively ‘naming and shaming’ council members outside its charmed circle of ‘friends.’ While the statements of US Ambassador to UN Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo …
India and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) have told the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that his government’s decision to award to a Chinese company a contract to build 40,000 houses for war-displaced people in the Tamil-speaking Northern and Eastern Provinces is flawed, impractical and unsuited to the climate and culture of the area. …
Civil society representatives and several rights organisations asked President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday to withdraw his controversial nomination of Dayan Jayatilleka as ambassador to Moscow and protect the country’s international image. Nearly 100 individuals and over a dozen organisations signed a petition to the High Posts Committee of parliament arguing that they must reject Jayatilleka’s nomination …
By Namini Wijedasa India has raised concern at the highest levels of the Sri Lankan Government about the manner in which a contract to build 40,000 houses in the North and East was recently awarded without tender to a Chinese company that has no history of building houses in the country. The Resettlement Ministry last …
By Jayadeva Uyangoda Is Sri Lanka ready for an elected dictator? This is the latest question to enter the country’s current political debate. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s preparations to contest the next presidential election in 2019 have already precipitated a potentially explosive controversy that can last weeks and months. An admirer of Gotabaya Rajapaksa has echoed as …
by C.A.Chandraprema The monk Galagodaatte Gnanasara who was serving a six month sentence handed down by the Homagama Magistrate’s court for threatening and intimidating a witness in the court premises has now been released on bail pending his appeal. The reason why he is in this sorry situation today is because of the inability of …
Ven Vendaruwe Upali Thera, the Anunayaka of the Asgiriya Chapter, yesterday urged critics not to politicise or misinterpret his Anushasanawa (sermon) given at the almsgiving to mark the 69th birthday of former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In a statement, the Anunayake said it was regrettable that the words ‘Hitler’ and ‘military’ used in his 30-minute …
By the “Sunday Observer” Political Editor Last week’s decision by the United States to pull out of the UN Human Rights Council created ripples in Sri Lanka where the parting words of America’s top diplomat that the Council was a “cesspool of political bias” resonated strongly with politicians and bureaucrats aligned with former President Mahinda …
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday joined in the criticism against remarks by a senior member of the Buddhist Clergy, calling on former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa to “be like Hitler”, saying he would have condemned the statement immediately if it had been made in his presence. “There is no way Buddhism and Hitler’s brutality can …
By Indunil Usgoda Arachchi After the sentencing of Galagodaththe Gnansara Thera to six months rigorous imprisonment for criminal intimidation earlier this month, his victim Sandya Ekneligoda, the wife of missing journalist, Prageeth Ekneligoda has been facing harassment and intimidation, largely via social media networks. Speaking to the Sunday Observer, Sandya Ekneligoda complained about receiving continuous …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene On a visit to Myanmar last year, reputed Buddhist lay leaders who disapproved of incendiary anti-minority rhetoric engaged in by nationalist monk U Wirathu, were emphatic in their conversations with me that, ‘making him a martyr of the State’ would be the best possible media boost that he could get. ‘Marginalising …
A senior Buddhist monk counselling former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to emulate Hitler and establish a military dictatorship may have seriously hurt his bid for the presidency, according to close associates. A chief priest of the Asgiriya chapter, Vendaruwe Upali, blessed Rajapaksa on his 69th birthday Wednesday by urging him to follow the German dictator …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka I was more alarmed by what I saw and heard on TV news last evening than by anything I have seen or heard in the Sri Lankan media throughout my life. What I saw and heard was the most dangerous and morally debased public statement, i.e. a statement made in public and …
A top Buddhist monk has asked Sri Lanka’s former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to become another “ Hitler” who is known to have killed up to six million Jews in the Holocaust. A chief priest of the Asgiriya chapter, Venduruwe Upali, blessed Rajapaksa on his 69th birthday Wednesday by encouraging him to return to power …
(Text of Press Release Issued by National Movement of web Journalists ) The national movement for web journalists strongly urges the president, prime minister and the responsible stakeholders in the government to immediately cease the effort taken to put the lives of web journalists into risk in disguise of national security. According to reports the …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka 19TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY June 22nd “Mervyn’s career as a journalist, as a literary critic, as a satirist, as a political commentator, as a broadcaster, both within the country and abroad, is without peer, either before or since and is not likely to be equaled for a long time to come, if at …
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A senior Buddhist monk yesterday advised former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to launch into a military rule ‘like Hitler’. The monk, Ven Vendaruwe Upali thera, made this remark while speaking at a religious ceremony to mark the birthday of the former Defence Secretary. He is an Anunayake of the Asgiriya Chapter, in Kandy.
The Sri Lankan Tamil issue, which has been the subject of very aggressive US-backed resolutions in the UN Human Rights Council (UHRC) against Lankan regimes since 2009, will not be swept under the carpet in the international arena because the US has quit the UNHRC, observers here feel. Former Lankan Ambassador in Geneva and now …
In the wake of US quitting the UNHRC, US embassy in Colombo said that the US would continue to closely follow progress made by Sri Lanka in respect of the Geneva Resolution 30/1. The following is the full text of statement issued by the US embassy last night: “Secretary Pompeo has announced that the United …
By Zacki Jabbar The Mahanayakes have raised the issue of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) leader Galagoda Atte Gnanasara Thera, imprisoned for threatening the widow of cartonist Prageeth Ekneligoda with President Maithripala Sirisena, but the government said yesterday that special treatment for one prisoner could lead to others demanding same. Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne, addressing the …
By Shamindra Ferdinando Justice and Prisons Reforms Minister and attorney-at-law Thalatha Atukorale has informed Kotte Sri Kalyani Samagri Sri Dharma Sangha Sabhawa that Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara would be treated like any other prisoner. In her letter, dated June 19, 2018, Minister Atukorale has insisted that the Commissioner General of Prisons …
The US has pulled out of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) calling its anti-Israel and a “cesspool of political bias,” the BBC reported. US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley has said the “hypocritical and self-serving” body “makes a mockery of human rights.” Ms Haley last year accused the council of “chronic anti-Israel …
By Ranga Jayasuriya Perhaps the most decisive intervention of America’s Ambassador in Colombo, Atul Keshap during his three-year span seems to be a parting shot at a farewell meeting with ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa. During the tete-a-tete, Mr Keshap had cautioned the ex-President against fielding his younger brother as the next Presidential candidate. According to the …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka “The proper functioning of a pluralist democracy presupposes the free interplay of diverse opinions. The freer and more active, the better…” —Mervyn de Silva, Inaugural editorial, Lanka Guardian May 1st 1978 The very last thing this island needs is to slide into another cycle of conflict. But that’s where we are headed …
By Vishwamithra 1984 “One’s days were too brief to take the burden of another’s errors on one’s shoulders. Each man lived his own life and paid his own price for living it.” ~Oscar Wilde Mahinda Rajapaksa and his clan have fine-tuned that aspect of political dynamic that could be solely responsible for delivering an ailing …
There are indications that the Sri Lankan coalition government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinhe of the United National Party (UNP), will accede to the demand for special courts to try cases against Buddhist monks. There has been a growing demand from influential sections …
Sri Lanka’s uneasy coalition is expected to hobble along till the presidential elections next year, but it is not only the government that is in trouble. The opposition too is in trouble, trying to choose a candidate. The uncertainty over the contender at the 2019 vote is at the nub of wrangling between President Maithripala …