By Goolbai Gunasekara It was with a sense of considerable anger that I read Prime Minister Modi’s comments on Ravana, the great King of Sri Lanka. PM Modi seems to be unaware that many activists in India have diametrically opposite views to many men of India who view the Ramayana as a justification for feminine …
By Dasun Edirisinghe The SLFP yesterday denied any rift between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in an attempt to quell rumours after the President’s public outburst against the CID, FCID and CIABOC. Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Colombo, SLFP Treasurer and Minister of Social Empowerment and Welfare S. B. …
By P K Balachandran The Director General of the Sri Lankan Commission on Bribery and Corruption, Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe, sent in her resignation on Monday, following President Maithripala Sirisena’s public outburst last Wednesday against the “politicization” of the commission’s working. Dilrukshi Wickramasinghe, appointed in February 2015, is generally believed to be the choice of Prime …
The Director-General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption, Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe, tendered her resignation a short while ago.
Businessman Thirukumar Nadesan, who was arrested by the FCID this morning in connection with a controversial land in Malwana, was released on bail by Pugoda Magistrate D. A. Ruwanpathirana. He was released on a cash bail of Rs. 50,000 and two sureties of Rs. 1 million each.
Police have fired tear gas at fishermen congregating at the Galkanda crossing on the Negombo-Puttalam railroad. The fishermen have been protesting there since morning.
Police teams have found that records on the phone belonging to the soldier who killed himself last week, after claiming responsibility for the death of Lasantha Wickremetunga, have been wiped out. Police have contracted the help of the mobile phone provider, to track down records of the deleted short message service (sms) and phone conversations …
By C.A.Chandraprema To say that President Maithripala Sirisena caused a flutter with his outburst against the CID, FCID and Bribery Commission at a ceremony held to distribute land and houses to disabled soldiers at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, would be an understatement. Various people have come up with various interpretations of why the president …
By S.S.Selvanayagam Summons and charge sheets were served in Court last Friday to Hambantota District Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa for the alleged offence of contempt of the Bribery Commission. The bench, comprising Chief Justice K. Sripavan and Justices Priyasath Dep and Buwaneka Aluvihara, fixed the matter for 30 November for Rajapaksa to consider whether to plead …
By P.K.Balachandran The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which is highly dissatisfied with the Sri Lankan government’s new draft law to replace the existing draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), is confident about getting it modified when it comes before the oversight committees of parliament. TNA MP M.A.Sumanthiran told Express on Sunday, that he would take …
By Meera Srinivasan President Maithripala Sirisena’s recent outburst against his government’s investigation arms shocked many within political circles here, sparking speculation over a perceived rift between him and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. However, days after the two leaders met in Colombo top political sources said the ruling SLFP-UNP coalition faced no imminent danger of a …
By P.K.Balachandran Sri Lankan Muslim women are banking on the framers of the country’s new constitution to raise the minimum age of marriage for Muslim girls to the national statutory level of 18. Under the existing Muslim Marriage and Divorce (MMDA) Act 1951, there is no minimum age as such, except for the stipulation that, …
by Nanda Pethiyagoda Invited to the premiere of Usaviya Nihandayi produced by H D Premasiri and Prasanna Vithanage and directed by Vithanage at the Regal Cinema on October 4, I returned with my head in a fair whirl and my sensibility determined to unravel the questions and opinions and write a comment on the one …
By Rasika Jayakody President Maithripala Sirisena’s speech at a military welfare event in Colombo, on Wednesday, created an unexpected controversy in the country’s political sphere. In his fiery speech, the President hit out at the Police Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID), the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and the Bribery Commission for carrying out investigations to …
A police alert shortly after President Maithripala Sirisena’s controversial remarks heightened fears of a “coup” similar to the alleged action of his predecessor in trying to remain in power by using force. Police across the capital were ordered by a senior Deputy Inspector-General to remain on maximum alert with further instructions due on Thursday as …
For the first time in his 21-month tenure as President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena fired strong salvos at his own United National Front (UNF) Government led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. He warned he would take action if the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) and the Bribery Commission were …
By Don Manu The scarlet satakaya is still there but gone is the strident oratory, the purpled emotive prose that made 5 million people worship at his altar last year, as the liberator of the nation, Dutugamunu style. Mahinda Rajapaksa has at long last come to realise that beating the hackneyed drum of Sinhala chauvinism …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene A draft policy and legal framework aimed at a new law on counter-terrorism to replace Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) may well be a classic case of the cure being far worse than the disease. A bare reading of the draft immediately gives rise to several questions that gravely …
By Chris Kamalendran The Judicial Medical investigation into the death of retired Army Sergeant Major Edirisinghe Jayamanne has ruled out foul play. Sgt Maj Jayamanne, 52, was found dead at his home in Kegalle on Friday, along with a note, allegedly confessing to the murder of former the Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge. An initial …
By P K Balachandran The recent public outburst of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena over being kept in the dark about certain key decisions of the administration led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickemesinghe, has led to the decision to set up a committee to coordinate policies in matters of national and political importance. The panel …
by Saman Indrajith There’s a pithy Sinhala saying about teachers, students and urination: Gura hitagena hujja karana kota golayo duva duva hujja karanava (If the teacher urinates while standing, then the students would urinate while running). Soon after the President firing verbal salvos against the FCID, CID and the CIABOC we see his SLFP ministers …
By Dharisha Bastians A meeting between President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe took place at 5.30 PM on Thursday. Daily FT learns that the meeting between the President and Prime Minister had been amicable, despite the prevailing tension. The two leaders had resolved to iron out their issues, aides said, speaking confidentially. The President’s …
By Dharisha Bastians Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has hailed President Maithripala Sirisena’s fiery speech on Wednesday that drew sharp criticism from civil society and opposition political parties and exposed a major rift in the ruling UNF-SLFP coalition. Speaking to the BBC Sinhala Service from China, where he is currently attending a defence summit, the …
by Hemantha Randunu Investigations into the murder of former Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga took a new turn with a retired sergeant major of the army intelligence unit committing suicide by hanging himself at his home in Kegalle after allegedly signing a letter admitting to the killing, police headquarters sources said yesterday. The dead sergeant …
By PK Balachandran The formation of a Hindu political group “Siva Senai” (Siva’s Army), with the vowed purpose of defending Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus from “other religious groups” and securing for the Hindus their rightful place in Tamil political parties commensurate with their dominant status in Tamil society, is seen by observers as a regressive …
by Maheesha Mudugamuwa UPFA General Secretary and Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said on Thursday that though a number of independent commissions had been appointed to look into corruptions, the officials of those institutions would not always be independent and they might have political agendas. He was addressing the media at the …
President Sirisena’s criticism of corruption investigating bodies has drawn a sharp response from civil society representatives, who held a media briefing yesterday to condemn the remarks and attempts to demoralise the Bribery Commission and Police. Speaking to reporters at the news conference, Co-convenor of late Sobitha Thero’s National Movement for a Just Soeicty and trade …
By Dasun Edirisinghe Purawesi Balaya, a collection of civil society organisations which campaigned for President Maithripala Sirisena’s successful presidential bid, yesterday found fault with the President for his allegations against the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID), Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). Addressing the media at …
By Shamindra Ferdinando One-time head of the Customs Revenue Task Force Nagananda Kodituwakku yesterday revealed that 20 vehicles which had been imported by affluent persons using vehicle permits issued to sitting members of Parliament were registered by the Commissioner General of Motor Traffic. Appearing on Sirasa ‘Pathikada’ anchored by Bandula Jayasekera, attorney-at-law Kodituwakku said that …
By S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole Member, Election Commission I belong to the so-called Independent Election Commission. I do not know why they call us Independent because I do not see that word in any of the legal instruments that appointed us. That, however, is the perception of the public. They expect us to act independently …
Shiv Sena in Mumbai has extended its support to a new Sri Lankan Tamil outfit called ‘Siva Senai’, triggering concerns among the mainstream politicians of the island nation that sectarian outfits will reopen wounds of a 20-year-old civil war that ended only in 2009. The Siva Senai, based out of Vavuniya in the Tamil-dominated northern …
By PK Balachandran Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s public outburst against the arrest or questioning of top defense officials associated with the Rajapaksa regime without his knowledge, has brought out a major fault line in the coalition government which is running the island nation. Ever since the traditional arch rivals, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) …
Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith heeding representation made by Fishermen and People’s Organisations distrubed by the large scale dredging of sand from seashore for the filling up of the Port City, appealed to authorities to address their concerns. The text of Cardinal Ranjith statement; Representations have been made to me by fishermen and people’s …
By Sandun A Jayasekera While declining to comment on the views expressed by President Maithripala Sirisena on the FCID at a function held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on Wednesday, its Chief DIG Ravi Waidyalankara said action could be taken in case the President or the Government was not happy with the manner in …
Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith has once again led an outcry against transferring of Colombo garbage to Ja-Ela. In a joint communiqué addressed to President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe,Cardinal Ranjith has drawn their attention to the fact that the land that has been proposed by the Colombo Municipal Council for dumping its …
Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL), the controversial primary dealer connected to the family of former Central Bank Governor, Arjuna Mahendran, has recorded a mammoth after-tax profit in excess of Rs.10 billion within a period of 14 months, according to a draft report by the Central Bank, which has been leaked to the public domain by a …
By Dharisha Bastians The Opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna yesterday levelled sharp criticism at President Maithripala Sirisena over his shocking outburst against the Bribery Commission and Police on Wednesday, and urged the Head of State to refrain from making statements that would weaken criminal investigations and prosecutions. In a special media release issued yesterday, the JVP …
via THE ECONOMIST BOB DYLAN might not seem to have much in common with the likes of Ernest Hemingway and William Butler Yeats. But as of October 13th, they are bound together by the Nobel prize in literature. The Swedish Academy has awarded the medal annually since 1901 “to the person who shall have produced …
By Dharisha Bastians Maithripala Sirisena has a problem that pre-dates his presidency. It’s a ‘problem’ that first manifested on the white sand beaches of Passikudah in February 2013. The sequence of events bore uncanny resemblance to the events at a popular nightclub in Union Place, Colombo last weekend. A perceived slight led to a vicious …
By Meera Srinivasan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent remarks that Buddhism would be given the foremost place in Sri Lanka’s new Constitution has sparked concern among sections. “As a state, the President, I and all of us protect Buddhism, not through words, but through action,” Mr. Wickremesinghe said recently, the State-run Daily News newspaper reported. …
By PK Balachandran A group of Sri Lankan Tamils have formed “Siva Senai” (Siva’s Army) to enable Hindus to face “threats” from other religious groups in the island nation, says the Senai’s Lead Organizer, Maravanpulavu Sachchithananthan, a former UN official turned Tamil nationalist and publisher. Speaking to Express on the meeting held in Vavuniya recently …
By Dharisha Bastians President Maithripala Sirisena slammed the Bribery Commission and two Police divisions for what he called their “hauling” of the former defence secretary and naval commanders to court earlier this month. In a shocking outburst that laid bare a widening chasm between the Head of State and other Government agencies and political actors …
By Meera Srinivasan A group of Hindus in Sri Lanka has launched ‘Siva Senai’, an organisation to “protect Hindus from threats from other religious groups” in the island. A ceremony was recently held in Vavuniya, a Tamil-majority town located in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. Clarifying that the organisation had no direct links to Shiv Sena, …
By PK Balachandran An agitation in Sri Lanka’s tea plantations involving about 225,000 workers of Indian Origin since September 26, is adding to the woes of the island nation’s tea industry which is seeing new lows in production, exports and earnings for a variety of internal and external reasons. Almost a fourth of Sri Lanka’s …
Deputy Mass Media Minister Karunarathna Paranavithana, addressing the media during the Cabinet press briefing today, said President Maithripala Sirisena had asked for a special inquiry into the nightclub brawl, last Saturday. In the wee hours of Saturday (October 8), reports that the President’s son Dahan Sirisena was involved in a brawl at a nightclub at …
By Upul Joseph Fernando During the time of the war when the Rajapaksa Government was hunting for media who were against the Rajapaksas, innocent journalists who wanted to save their lives fled to India. India granted them visas on requests made by western countries led by America. The Rajapaksas were angered because India granted visas …
By Meera Srinivasan It was 4.30 in the evening on Sunday and thousands had already queued up outside the municipal grounds here for a show that was to begin two hours later. Jaffna has had its share of high-profile visitors from abroad, mostly politicians and diplomats, but none that has held a huge audience captive …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka If Pakistan had been our neighbour and we had Muslim majority provinces, we would probably have had a complex and troubled relationship with Pakistan and unstinted friendship with India, but our geographic destiny was otherwise. Prudent, pragmatic leaders of Sri Lanka, beginning with DS Senanayake, always tried to balance off our great …
Continue reading ‘Present Govt May be Seen as a “Poodle” Co-Owned and Shared by USA and India’ »
BY M. M. Zuhair PC Remember those chilling utterances of the so-called Al-Qaeda leaders, captured on video and seen around the globe, threatening to attack Western capitals in retaliation for the US-led coalition invading Middle-Eastern countries? Do you recall seeing those horrific pictures displaying knife wielding ISIS executioners about to chop off the heads of …
By P K Balachandran The Colombo District Court’s temporary injunction last week against the release of noted Sri Lankan film maker Prasanna Vithanage’s film Usaviya Nisandai (Silence in the Courts) has brought to the fore the issue of the immunity of judges from public criticism of their conduct. Campaigners for social justice have expressed concern …
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka did not pull out of the SAARC summit, the country only expressed regret that the prevailing environment in the region was not conducive to hold the event, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera told the parliament on Friday. His response comes in the wake of media reports interpreting Sri Lanka’s …
By Ranga Jayasuriya A mob allegedly linked to President Maithripala Sirisena’s son Daham is said to have gone on rampage at a leading night club in Colombo after they were denied entry on the early hours of Saturday. An employee of the club who received head injuries is being treated at the Colombo General Hospital. …
Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa yesterday filed two defamation law suits in Colombo District Courts against two officials of the Police Financial Crimes Investigation Unit (FCID) for allegedly causing damage to his reputation through the arrest over investigation related to the Indian owned Krrish Group. Rajapaksa claims that he was arrested by the FCID over a baseless …
Several persons accompanying President Maithripala Sirisena’s son Daham Sirisena have allegedly assaulted security personnel at the posh night club “Clique”at Union Place in Colombo Two in the early hours of Saturday October 8th 2016. Some of those involved in the attack were “officers in civils” of the Presidential security division entrusted with the task of …
By Rasika Jayakody Veteran film director Prasanna Vithanage’s film, ‘Silence in the Court’ was at the centre of a major controversy when the Colombo District Court issued an injunction against the screening of the film, following a lawsuit filed by former judge Lenin Ratnayake. A day before the injunction order was issued, the film was …
By C.A.Chandraprema Speaking in parliament on Friday Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that contrary to reports published in the media, Sri Lanka had not pulled out of the SAARC summit which was scheduled to be held in Islamabad on 9 and 10 November and that the Sri Lanka foreign ministry had put out a statement …
By P.K.Balachandran The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the premier Tamil political group in Sri Lanka, fears that the proposed new law to replace the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) may well be old wine in a new bottle with most of the controversial provisions being retained. “It may even be worse than the PTA …
by Shamindra Ferdinando Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday alleged that intelligence services had been relentlessly pursuing him. Rajapaksa maintained that intelligence services had checked on his movements and also inquired from various hotels information pertaining to his visits and those with him. The war veteran told The Island that he couldn’t see any justifiable …
Come January, when Tamils around the world will celebrate Thai Pongal, the whole of Canada will celebrate it as Tamil Heritage Month. Festivities for the inaugural Tamil Heritage Month across Canada will commence in January 2017, which coincides with the Canada 150 celebrations. The House of Commons of the Canadian Parliament unanimously adopted a motion …
Continue reading ‘Canada will Celebrate January as Tamil Heritage Month from 2017 Onwards’ »
by Saman Indrajith Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe assured Parliament yesterday that the process of making a new constitution would continue unhindered by the statements made by various individuals, both in the North and South. The Prime Minister stressed that the new Constitution would be made by the Constitutional Assembly and the Steering Committee, and would …
By Vinoth Ramachandra Imagine walking into a bakery in order to buy a cake and being told that the price will only be revealed after the cake has been consumed, and no receipts will be issued. This bizarre state of affairs is what prevails in our private hospitals. Doctors’ fees for treatment and surgery are …
Continue reading ‘There is a Moral Vacuum at the Heart of our Medical Profession’ »
By Chathuri Dissanayake The Planters’ Association, yesterday, tossed the ball back on to Plantation Minister Naveen Dissanayake’s court to reach a compromise with the trade unions demanding a wage increase. Discussions between plantation companies and trade unions ended in a stalemate as two of the main trade unions, Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) and Joint Estate …
By Lakmal Sooriyagoda An interim injunction by the Colombo District Court has temporarily halted the screening of Prasanna Vithanage’s latest film, ‘Usaviya Nihadai’ (Silence in the Courts’). The film opened at the Regal Cinema in Colombo on Tuesday (4). Colombo District Judge N.U. Gunasekara made the order consequent to a lawsuit filed by former District …
By Ahilan Kadirgamar The Eluga Thamil rally on September 24 in Jaffna was nothing but the continuation of efforts to keep reactionary Tamil nationalism mobilised after the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009. The forces that organised this protest have been active with the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), the Tamil Civil Society Forum …
By Dharisha Bastians When Canagasabapathy Visuvalingam Wigneswaran took over as the country’s first democratically elected Chief Minister of the war-torn Northern Province, bureaucrats were awed by his stature and personality. Soft strains of classical sitar music played over the sound system of the Provincial Council chamber in Kaithady, Jaffna shortly before the Chief Minister made …
Continue reading ‘Decline and Fall From Grace of Canagasabapathy Visuvalingam Wigneswaran’ »
By Dr. Devanesan Nesiah In The Island of 21 September 2016, Thivanka Perera posed the question “How about the widows of the 600 policemen?”. The rest of the article does not merit a response, but this question does .In the course of the decades of violent conflict in our island, there have been many terrible …
By Dasun Edirisinghe Some parliamentarians of the Joint Opposition (JO) had announced that a new party would be formed at the Saturday’s rally in Ratnapura, but its leaders including former President Mahinda Rajapaksa clearly stated it would only be a political rally and such a thing would not happen there, the SLFP said yesterday. Addressing …
By P.K.Balachandran Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council (NPC) on Thursday passed a resolution seeking an investigation into Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran’s charge that he has been continually receiving information about a plot to assassinate him and put the blame on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). “The resolution asked the Inspector General of Police to …
Emphasising the need to resolve the Tamil fishermen issue, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today said unless a solution is found there will be a “lot of problems” for the country’s fishermen who are being deprived of their catch. Wickremesinghe, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday, said he has taken up the matter …
By Rajasingham Jayadevan First and foremost, let me welcome your forthcoming visit to London to inter-twine a relationship between the London Borough of Kingston and the Northern Provincial Council (NCP)to exchange knowledge and experiences between the two Councils. I am one of those who overwhelmingly supported your election as Chief Minister of NCP that you …
Drawing lessons from the 30-year long war in the island nation, the visiting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday categorically ruled out war as an option between the two nuclear-powered countries and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s restrained approach on the matter. “I don’t think war is an option for anyone,” the Sri …
By Shamindra Ferdinando Alleging that a confidential investigation report in respect of operations undertaken by the Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) pertaining to Central Bank bond scams in 2015 had been held up by an interested party, National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa, MP, yesterday urged the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka to take up …
by Shamindra Ferdinando Former External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris yesterday faulted the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government for not tackling the threat posed by the likes of Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran propagating separatist sentiments. Prof. Peiris alleged that the government lacked the political will to counter the ongoing eelam campaign. The former Minister asserted that …
By P.K.Balachandran The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) may ask Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena to order a police investigation into Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran’s contention that a plot is being hatched in South Sri Lanka to kill him and blame the Tamil Tigers for it. TNA’s General Secretary Mavai Senathirajah told Express on Wednesday …
By P.K.Balachandran Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has warned that if the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) does not deliver the goods satisfactory to all the member states, Sri Lanka will have to look for other options. However, he suggested ways to keep SAARC going as it can play an important role. …
By Saman Indrajith Chairman and Managing Director of the Sri Lanka Ayurvedic Drugs Corporation yesterday admitted before the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) that 12 henchmen of Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne had been recruited on the recommendations of the minister’s wife, according to highly placed sources. Two top officials of the corporation admitted before …
By Dharisha Bastians Joint Opposition Legislators demanded an official Government response condemning statements made by Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran in Parliament yesterday, saying his remarks at a controversial rally in Jaffna had been in violation of the constitution he was sworn to protect. Raising a question in the House last afternoon, Joint Opposition …
By Dharisha Bastians The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) leadership is urging protection for its Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran, in the wake of his own claims that there was a plot to assassinate him. ITAK President Mavai Senathirajah told Daily FT he has urged TNA Leader R. Sampanthan to inform the President and …
By Meera Srinivasan Thousands of Indian origin Tamils, employed in Sri Lanka’s famed tea estates, are on protest for a week now, demanding higher wages. They are asking for a daily wage of LKR 1,000 (around Rs. 450), which estate owners have deemed high, citing the current “risk-prone” business environment.
| NEW DELHI: After lending its support to India’s fight against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe arrived in the national capital on Tuesday. He met Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. His visit has come at a time when Sri Lanka …
Medical examinations conducted on former LTTE cadre were negative for any traces of poison, the Northern Province Health Ministry said yesterday. A total of 146 rehabilitated former LTTE members have undergone the test conducted by the provincial health authorities.
By Dharisha Bastians Upcountry politicians in the ruling alliance pledged support for worker demonstrations in the central highlands that entered their eighth day yesterday, calling for just wages for Sri Lanka’s estate labour force. Addressing a press briefing yesterday, Ministers Mano Ganesan, Palani Thigambaram and V. Radhakrishnan said the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA), which the …
Punjab Police have said they have “taken into custody” a pigeon that was found near the state’s border with Pakistan, carrying a note with a threat message for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to the NDTV, the police had said officers of the Border Security Force or BSF had found the bird in Pathankot, where …
By Pradeep Ramanayake The UN General Assembly met last week amid gathering war clouds around the world produced by the deepening breakdown of global capitalism. Sri Lanka along with every country in the region is being drawn into the maelstrom of geo-political rivalries and the increasingly pronounced turn to militarism by the major powers, particularly …
By Dharsha Jegatheeswaran and Gajen Mahendra On Saturday September 24th, Ezhuka Tamil, organized by the Tamil People’s Council, became the largest rally to happen since the end of the war in the North-East of Sri Lanka. Over 10,000 people took to the streets to demand an end to ongoing human rights violations, particularly militarization and …
By PK Balachandran Murugesu Chandrakumar, ex-MP and former member of the Eelam Peoples’ Democratic Party (EPDP), has floated an organization called Samooha Needhikkaana Makkal Amaippu or Peoples’ Organization for Social Justice (POSJ) to highlight and redress issues of social injustice among the Tamils of Sri Lanka. Launched on Gandhi Jayanti day in war-devastated Kilinochchi district …
By Dharisha Bastians Days after the controversial Eluga Tamil rally, moderate speakers at a book launch in Jaffna last weekend were heckled and shouted down by a group of persons reportedly associated with the Tamil People’s Council chaired by Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran. Different Tamil political parties were brought together on one stage at …
By Dharisha Bastians Former President and Kurunegala District MP Mahinda Rajapaksa took a moderate stance on issues pertaining to controversial Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran and the release of Tamil political prisoners that were at odds with his usual rhetoric, in discussions with journalists from the Tamil media yesterday. Wigneswaran, the former President said, …
The Sinhale National Front lodged a complaint against Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran, yesterday, at the Police Head Quarters alleging that his statements are evoking racial tension among communities. The organisation highlighted that his recent remarks regarding the removal of army camps from the Northern Province could be a push towards a separatist …
By P.K.Balachandran The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province has regretted that people in South Sri Lanka are portraying him as an “undesirable”, a “ghost” or a bogeyman. Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 42 nd. Sri Lankan National Games at the Duraiappah Stadium in Jaffna on Sunday, Wigneswaran pointed out that, …
By Meera Srinivasan The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province C.V. Wigneswaran has charged elements in the south of plotting his murder. “I have been receiving information continuously that there are efforts being taken to kill me and to put the blame on the LTTE,” he said, in a message read out at …
By PK Balachandran Even as ethnic relations in North and South Sri Lanka were getting vitiated again due to a growing culture of intolerance fomented by certain politically ambitious groups both in the Tamil majority North and the Sinhalese majority South, a noted public speaker and academic from Tamil Nadu brought Gandhiji’s message of non-violence, …
A conspiracy is being hatched up to assassinate me and put the blame on the LTTE, Northern Provincial Chief Minister C.V. Wigneshwaran said. He said this in the felicitation message he sent to the function of launching the book on ‘Constitution of Sri Lanka’ authored by former Senior Lecturer and independent researcher M.Thirunavukarasu.
By Ranga Jayasuriya The leaders of the former regime, their relatives, associates, cronies and their cronies’ cronies are currently being paraded before the presidential commissions and courts. They are arrested, remanded, duly released on bail, and re-arrested on some other charges. Public are now well acquainted with this rather predictable process, they would rather bet …
By N Sathiya Moorthy For the (n+1)th time in post-Independence ethnic history of the nation, Tamil moderates are giving away political space to extremists, for no real immediate fault of the majority Sinhala community or the Sri Lankan State. The last time it happened in a much bigger way than the recent ‘Ezhuga Tamil’, or …
By PK Balachandran After a seven year lull following the end of Eelam War IV, the politics of confrontation and a culture of intolerance appear to be coming back to dominate Tamil politics in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. A small emerging group of radicals yearning for a return to the politics of confrontation …
By Meera Srinivasan Vasantha Sriskantharajah is dreading next summer. It’s not the Jaffna heat that is worrying her, she is used to it. What she is not used to is being away from the collection of books she has seen grow at the Jaffna Public Library through decades of war and recovery. In April 2017, …
By DR. DAYAN JAYATILLEKA [Excerpts from a speech delivered at “Geneva and You”, SLFI, Sept 29th 2016, the inaugural event of Sri Lanka Inc., a non-partisan civic network of young professionals.] /strong> The political stability of post-war Sri Lanka and of the present government, will depend to a very great extent on whether or not …
By Rasika Jayakody Radicalisation of Tamil politics is turning out to be a critical problem for the country’s political sphere, as the government has already embarked on a comprehensive mission to bring about reconciliation and accountability. This trend aims to derail the government’s plans for reconciliation, while causing fear and suspicion among Sinhala-Buddhist sections in …
By The “Sunday Times” Political Editor Just after his successful visit to the United Nations General Assembly sessions in New York, President Maithripala Sirisena went before his ministers on Tuesday to try to win approval for a National Policy on Reconciliation. This policy, spelt out in an eleven-page document, acknowledges “the principle of power-sharing as …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene There is a trend with which Sri Lankans are unfortunately all too familiar. A new Government comes into town and the air is suddenly shot through with a lightning blue bolt of electric hope. It is as if the ground has been parched with drought for years and then the freshness …
Continue reading ‘Is the Govt Increasingly feeling Itself Under Siege?’ »
By Kithsiri Wijesinghe Sinhala extremists led by Buddhist monks in a protest march in the northern Vavunia town in Sri Lanka called for the death of Northern Chief Minister. Protesters in the march convened by Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Brigade) and Ravana Balaya (Power of Ravana) on September 30 carried placards calling Northern Chief Minister …
By P.K.Balachandran Sri Lanka is now burdened with a total debt of US$ 69.7 billion, which is 75 percent of its GDP, and yet the island nation is getting into more debt. Under President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who came to office at the beginning of 2015, domestic debt without starting any …
By S. Selvanayagam Chief Justice K. Sripavan yesterday declined to be a member of the Bench hearing the fundamental rights petition on the vandalisation of a Buddhist Shrine at Kanagarayankulam in Mankulam. The Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Justices Buwaneka Aluvihara and K.T. Chitrasiri directed the petitioner to re-issue notice on the respondents indicating the …
By Nadeeka Daya Bandara The Malwatte Mahanayake the Most Ven. Thibbotuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera today handed over a ‘secret’ letter to Constitutional Reform Committee Chief Lal Wijenayake to be transmitted to the President and the Prime Minister. The letter was handed over when the members of the Public Representations Committee on Constitutional Reform met …
By Meera Srinivasan The last time Mary Sabamalai saw her son Mayuran was in 2008, when he came home for his 21st birthday. This was about a year after she “surrendered” him to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), during the final stages of their battle against the Sri Lankan armed forces. Mayuran went …
Continue reading ‘Pathetic Plight of People Living in Mullaitheevu District’ »
By Dharisha Bastians Staging a rally in Vavuniya yesterday, radical Sinhala nationalist groups led by the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) called on the Government to dissolve the Northern Provincial Council and place the Tamil-dominated Province under Governor’s rule. The march led by the BBS, which began at the Mamaduwa Junction in Vavuniya, drew crowds of …
The Mullaitheevu Magistrate on Thursday (29), ordered the Police to submit a report on the alleged derogatory remarks made by the Northern Provincial Council Member Ananthi Sasitharan concerning Courts. Ananthi Sasitharan, the wife of former LTTE Trincomalee District political head S. Elilan, had made derogatory remarks condemning the Courts by stating that the State Counsel …
By Chitra Weerarathne Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya yesterday granted bail to former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Major General Palitha Fernando, Major Nissanka Senathipathi and four others, against whom the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) had filed corruption charges pertaining to a floating armoury off the shores of Galle. The tender …
By Priyantha Kodippily Taking credit for the outcome of the war is continuing and with the launch of a book by Maj. Gen. Kamal Guneratne recently, the war victory has once again taken centrestage. In reply to our queries about Maj. Gen. Guneratne’s war effort as narrated in his book, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, who …
By Dharisha Bastians In an ironic twist, last Saturday marked an epoch in the lifespan of two nationalist movements in the island’s north and south. In the capital Colombo, the Jathika Hela Urumaya used its 13th National Convention at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium to shed its saffron image, with Omalpe Sobitha Thero stepping down as …