By D.B.S.Jeyaraj (Ms.Jayalalithaa Jayaram was born on February 24th 1948. This article written in 2023 for the “Spotlight” film affairs column in the “Daily Financial Times” is re-posted here to denote “Amma”s 77th Birth anniversary on 24 Feb 2025) Tamil Nadu in South India is geographically the closest Indian state to Sri Lanka. Tamil Nadu …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Former President Ranasinghe Premadasa was killed 30 years ago on 1 May 1993 at 12:45 p.m. along with 17 others in a bomb explosion that also injured 38 more persons at the Grandpass Road – Armour Street junction in Colombo. He was inspecting a May Day procession of the party. The assassin was …
Continue reading ‘Ranasinghe Premadasa’s Rocky Road to Sri Lankan Presidency’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Sri Lanka’s eighth executive president and United National Party(UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has a remarkable capacity for generating innovative, out of the box ideas. His creative mind is an inexhaustible mine emitting a number of plans and proposals to cope with crises or surmount problems. The latest in this regard is President …
by D.B.S.Jeyaraj Leader of the opposition Sajith Premadasa and his party the Samagi Jana Balawegaya(SJB) are very much in the news lately. There have been many reports in the mainstream as well as social media that a large number of MPs from the SJB are planning to join the ranks of the Ranil Wickremesinghe Govt …
Continue reading ‘Gathering Political Storm Threatens Sajith and the SJB’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj ( Former “Sunday Leader”Editor and my Friend Lasantha Wickrematunge was born on 5 April 1958. This article published in January 2023 is re-posted here to commemorate his 65th birth anniversary) Friends,Family members, colleagues, schoolmates and admirers of Lasantha Wickrematunge converged on Sunday January 8th at the Kanatte cemetery in Borella. . They gathered …
Continue reading ‘Lasantha Wickrematunge: The Fearless Editor who Spoke Truth to Power’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Many Sri Lankan political leaders have been assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) in the past. Several of these LTTE victims were known to me in my professional capacity as a journalist. Some of them had over the years become personal friends. I remember them all with sadness and feel their …
Continue reading ‘Remembering Jaffna MP Yogeswaran who was Popular Among Tamil Youths.’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Members of a dozen Sri Lankan Tamil families gathered in the evening at the residence of a fellow Tamil in Switzerland in early November 2022. They had all been ardent sympathisers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) when the tigers were militarily active in Sri Lanka. Most of them were from …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Tamil Nadu Chief Minister muttuvel Karunanidhi Stalin known as M.K.Stalin celebrates his 70th Birth Anniversaty on Wednesday March 1st 2023. Described as “Thalapathy”(commander)by his ardent followers and supporters, the “septuagenarian”Stalin is the leader of the Dravidian Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) known as the Dravidian Progressive Federation in English. Stalin is the son of legendary …
by D.B.S.Jeyaraj Jaffna City the capital of Sri Lanka’s predominantly Tamil speaking northern province was described as the cultural capital of the Tamils of Sri Lanka during its halcyon days. The escalation of the ethnic conflict along with the advent of armed conflict transformed life for Jaffna residents as it did for most Tamils of …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The resplendent Island of Sri Lanka celebrates her seventy-fifth anniversary of Independence from Britain today – February 4th 2023. Earlier there was some hope in the air that the contours of a political settlement to the Tamil national question would be publicised by President Ranil Wicremesinghe on this 75th freedom day. It was …
(Text of Sangarapillai Memorial address, “Reviving the Northern Economy in Sri Lanka” by Dr. Indrajit Coomarasamy, delivered on January 21, 2023 at the Colombo Tamil Sangham, Wellawatte, Sri Lanka) Good evening I think Naga has made I think excuses for my lack of ability to speak in Tamil. Let me say that it’s a great privilege …
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj The 1962 Coup Conspiracy – Part One Sri Lanka formerly known as Ceylon is about to celebrate its 75th anniversary of independence from Britain on February 4th. The Island nation has in its 75 year post-independence period experienced several troubles and upheavals ranging from communal pogroms to internal civil wars.In spite of …
Continue reading ‘Objective of 1962 Coup Conspiracy was Overthrowing the SLFP Govt Overnight.’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) and Nuwara-Eliya district MP Jeevan Kumaravel Thondaman was inducted as cabinet minister into the Government headed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe last week. He was sworn in as the minister in charge of Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development by the President on 19 January 2023.Known popularly as Jeevan, the …
Continue reading ‘Jeevan Thondaman Sets a Record as Sri Lanka’s Youngest – Ever Cabinet Minister’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj “Over the past four decades, the people of Sri Lanka have suffered a great deal due to the armed conflict, economic and political instability, and gross violations of human rights. Canada is steadfast in its support to attain peace, reconciliation, justice and accountability on the island. Canada has taken decisive action today to …
Continue reading ‘Canada’s Targeted Sanctioning of Sri Lankan Ex-presidents Gotabaya and Mahinda.’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The Tamil National Alliance(TNA)with 10 seats in Parliament is currently facing an internal crisis.. The premier political configuration of the Sri Lankan Tamils in the Northern and Eastern provinces is being plagued by intra-party rivalry within its constituent parties. The Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi (ITAK), the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) and the …
Continue reading ‘TNA was Born in 2001 Due to Elections Shock of 2000’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Talks are currently on between the Government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Tamil National Alliance(TNA)led by veteran Trincomalee district MP Rajavarothayam Sampanthan. This round of Govt-TNA talks commenced on 9 Jan.Earlier talks between the Govt and TNA delegations were scheduled for days four days at a stretch from Jan 10 to 13. …
Continue reading ‘Suspension of Govt-TNA Talks and the Power Sharing Quest of Sri Lankan Tamils.’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The course of contemporary politics in Sri Lanka has created a situation where federalism or the federal idea is identified with the political aspirations of the Tamils of Sri Lanka. The “IlangathThamizhar”or Lankan Tamils whose areas of historic habitation in the Island are the predominantly Tamil speaking Northern and Eastern provinces have for …
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj Blessed are those Sri Lankans who have lived in different parts of the country, travelled widely within its borders and interacted with all people cutting across ethnic and religious barriers during times of peace and tranquillity in the past. Those who have had such broad experiences unsullied by narrow sectarianism know that …
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj Reaching a viable agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and forming an inclusive cabinet are currently the twin urgent priorities of the Government headed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. On the economic front both President Wickremesinghe and Central Bank Governor Dr.Nandalal Weerasinghe have been optimistic about reaching …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Friday August 26th was the 95th birth anniversary of well-known Sri Lankan Tamil political leader and one-time leader of the opposition Appapillai Amirthalingam. The ‘enfant terrible ‘of the “Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi”(ITAK) who later metamorphosed into the elder statesman of the Tamil United Liberation Front(TULF), strode across the Tamil political stage for nearly …
Continue reading ‘Appapillai Amirthalingam: From Enfant Terrible of ITAK to TULF Elder Statesman’ »
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj The people’s protest mass movement known as the “Aragalaya” or struggle has concluded after 124 days.The “Gota Go Home”protest launched at Galle Face Green on 9 April 2022 came to an end on 11 August 2022. The Aragalaya that captured huge media attention during its peak did succeed in its original objective …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Leon Trotsky famously observed , “Politics is more like algebra than like elementary arithmetic, and still more like higher rather than elementary mathematics”. The recent election of President Ranil Wickremesinghe by Sri Lankan members of Parliament appears to be an illustrative example of Trotsky’s statement about Politics being more like Algebra than Arithmetic. …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj ‘There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries.” – William Shakespeare – “Julius Caesar” (Act 4 Scene 3) There were many in Sri Lanka and abroad who thought the …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Last week’s article was about the guerilla war fought by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna(JVP) against the Indian Army in the Trincomalee district. The JVP campaign in Trinco was then led by Kumar Gunaratnam alias “Gemunu”. Gunaratnam later split from the JVP and co-founded the Frontline Socialist Party(FSP). Kumar Gunaratnam alias Kumar/Kumara is currently …
by D.B.S.JEYARAJ The India – Sri Lanka Accord was signed by former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and ex-Sri Lanka president Junius Richard (JR) Jayewardene on July 29th 1987 in Colombo. The 35th anniversary of the pact known generally as the Indo-Lanka accord will be observed this Friday (July 29). The Rajiv-JR accord was signed …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj “Gota Go Home” was the clarion call aroind which the people launched their “Aragalaya” or Struggle many weeks ago. It has now achieved its primary goal. Gota has been made to go , but to which permanent home remains an unanswered question still.It is also unclear as to whether he would be able …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The “Tamil Times” (TT) was a monthly newsmagazine published in the United Kingdom(UK) for more than 25 years from October 1981 to December 2006. It was a political journal that focused on news, views and reviews pertaining to Sri Lanka in general and the Tamil People of Sri Lanka in particular. At it’s …
Continue reading ‘Rajanayagam: From Trotskyite Lawyer to “Tamil Times” Editor.’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Return of Ranil : Remarkable Resilience of Premier Wickremesinghe. -Part Three Let me rewind back to my boyhood when I first read the fable about the scorpion and frog which I believe is of Russian origin. The scorpion which cannot swim wanted to cross the river. So the scorpion begged the frog to …
Continue reading ‘Gotabaya, Ranil and the Fable of the Scorpion and Frog 🐸 🦂 📖’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj On May 19 this year, the Panama-registered general cargo vessel “Tan Binh 99” departed at 8.28 am from the Chennai harbour in India with 9000 tons of rice, 200 tons of milk poweder nd 24 tons of essential medicines. Its destination was Sri Lanka’s Colombo port. This was the first consignment of a …
Continue reading ‘Tamil Nadu’s DMK Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Sri Lanka’ »
by D.B.S.Jeyaraj (This Article was first published in 2012 to commemorate the 10th death anniversary of Mr.M. Sivasithamparam. It is being re-posted to denote the 20th death anniversary on 5 June 2022.) “Panchamum Noiyum Nin Meiyadiaarkko, Paarinil Menmaigal Verini Yaarkko” (If famine and disease are for your true followers for who else then are glories …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Ranil Sriyan Wickremesinghe known as Ranil is in the seat of power again as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for the sixth time. The new Prime Minister was neither elected to office by the people in a general election nor endorsed by a majority of MP’s in Parliament. Ranil is the leader of …
Continue reading ‘Return of Ranil: Remarkable Resilience of Premier Wickremesinghe’ »
by D.B.S.JEYARAJ “Go Home Gota” and/or “Gota Go Home” is the resounding clarion call that is currently motivating and mobilizing a number of protest demonstrations throughout Sri Lanka. The underlying thread is that Sri Lanka’s Executive President Gotabaya (Gota) Rajapaksa should resign and quit. The social media too is replete with demands of a similar …
Continue reading ‘Will the Executive Presidency “Go Out” If Gota Refuses to Go Home?’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The 1962 Coup d’etat conspiracy had three noteworthy aspects.Firstly the architects of the conspiracy wanted a bloodless coup.The planning of the coup was done with the objective of avoiding bloodshed. Important people were to be either detained or have their movement restricted for specific periods of time but would not have suffered summary …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Much concern is now being shown by political parties representing the minority (numerical) ethnicities of Sri Lanka over the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. As is well known it is the 13th Constitutional Amendment which ushered n a certain quantum of devolution to the country through the setting up of Provincial Councils. 13 …
Continue reading ‘Indo-Lanka Accord, Thirteenth Amendment and the Tamil March of Folly’ »
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
Members of the Catholic faith in Jaffna were greatly agitated last week when it became known that the Diocesan hierarchy was actively considering the recalling of priests from parishes in problematic, insecure areas. If the decision was implemented Catholic priests from the Northern Islands, Vadamaratchy East and some parts of Thenmaratchy would have left their churches and taken up residence temporarily at Colombothurai in Jaffna. The “shepherds” would have been absent when their respective “flocks” were undergoing great harship and fear.
Fr. Thiruchelvam Nihal Jim Brown
by D.B.S.Jeyaraj (This is an enhanced version of an article appearing in the “Daily Mirror” of May 22nd 2021) Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated 30 years ago by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) at a place called Sriperumbhudur in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on May 21st 1991. Rajiv Ratna …
By Dr. Nachiar Thondaman (Today May 26th 2021 is the first death anniversary of Former CWC leader, Cabinet Minister and NuwaraEliya district MP Mr. Arumugan Thondaman. This tribute written by his eldest daughter Dr.Nachiar last year is re-posted here without any changes to commemorate the death anniversary) (Dr. Nachiar Thondaman working in a middle-eastern country …
Newly named Peel Regional Police chief makes history by Joe Warmington Peel Region hired a cop’s cop as its new chief of police Friday. And in the process, history was also made. When Halton Regional Police Deputy Chief Nishan Duraiappah is sworn in Oct. 1, he will become the first South Asian police chief in …
🍁🏆 By Danesh Thirukumaran 🏀 Mission accomplished. Despite the Raptors inability to display multiple superstars at the forefront similar to many championship teams in the past, they were able to overcome much adversity and were crowned 2018-2019 NBA Champions. They were able to defeat the star laden Golden State Warriors, although injuries did play a …
By: Danesh Thirukumaran 🏀 Here comes Toronto. The recent success of the Toronto Raptors has put the city’s passion for basketball in the spotlight, as many followers, old and new, begin to rejoice as the team reaches its first NBA Finals in team history. “Dr. James Naismith of Almonte, Ontario, probably never imagined how the …
Continue reading ‘Recent success of Toronto Raptors jolts the entire country of Canada 🏀🍁’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj One of the darkest chapters in the sphere of Sri Lankan ethnic relations was the widespread anti-Tamil violence that occurred thirty – five years ago during the fourth week of July in 1983. Although the tragic history of post – independence Sri Lanka records that the Tamils of Sri Lanka were subjected to …
Continue reading ‘“Black July”: Thirty-fifth Anniversary of 1983 Anti-Tamil Pogrom.’ »
by Thiru K. Thirukumaran Here we are again at another anniversary of the pogrom in Sri Lanka known as ‘Black July’. The violence was a harbinger that dissipated Tamil life in the city of Colombo especially, and to the generation of that my father. It escalating a brutal war along with triggering an island-wide mass …
Continue reading ‘The countdown of generational first-hand stories: ‘Black July’ 35 years later’ »
By David Jeyaselvan King Ratnam’s ‘Komaali Kings’ is a recently released Sri Lankan Tamil movie filled with humour. The movie pleasantly surprised many, as 50 days later, it continues to be screened in theatres. A man’s mundane life in Sri Lanka, takes a bizarre turn when a distant relative and his family decide to stay …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The Oxford English dictionary defines the word compromise as being “an agreement or settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions”. Sri Lanka witnesed a political compromise of sorts between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe when the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and United National Party(UNP)leaders …
by D.B.S.Jeyaraj Vesak festivity in Sri Lanka acquired an international dimension this year with the Island nation hosting the United Nations International Vesak day. The icing on this Vesak event cake was the participation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as chief guest in the celebrations. Even though President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil …
Continue reading ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Nocturnal Rendezvous With Narendra Modi’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Our sister paper “Sunday Times”revealed details last week about an incident of friction between a senior cabinet minister and a senior military official that had occurred in Jaffna a few weeks earlier. The Sunday Times Political column scored a scoop by referring to an exchange of words between Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs minister …
Speech made in Parliament on 10th January 2013 by MA SUMANTHIRAN M.P. during the debate on Impeachment of the Chief Justice
By R. Hariharan Introduction Sri Lanka is undergoing catharsis after a resurgent Sri Lankan army ended, on 19 May 2009, the twenty-five-year-long national ordeal at the hands of Velupillai Prabhakaran and the LTTE. Since 1983 Sri Lanka had waged war against the LTTE in three spells that ended in a stalemate.
by Melani Manel Perera Mannar (AsiaNews) – They live in the jungle, on the ground without a roof or a tent over their heads, surrounded by elephants, snakes and other wildlife. There are 145 families, 285 Tamil Catholics from the village of Mullikulam in Mannar District (Northern Province, Sri Lanka).
By Glenn Greenwald If one asks current or former WikiLeaks associates what their greatest fear is, almost none cites prosecution by their own country. Most trust their own nation’s justice system to recognize that they have committed no crime. The primary fear is being turned over to the US. That is the crucial context for …
Continue reading ‘Julian Assange is justified in seeking Asylum to Escape US ‘Justice’’ »
By Kalinga Seneviratne At the Rio+20 Conference from June 20 to 22 in Brazil, Bolivian President Eva Morales described the ‘green economy’ as new colonialism that rich countries sought to impose on developing countries. “They want to create intervention mechanisms to monitor and assess our national policies using environmental concerns as an excuse,” he said.
by Camelia Nathaniel The government has directed the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to halt the issuance of accreditation cards to ex-LTTE cadres, who have completed the government rehabilitation programme. Accordingly, the IOM has decided to suspend the ID issuing process. Under the instructions of the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff (OCDS), the …
by Rasika Somarathna Over 1,800 rehabilitated ex-LTTE cadres turned up at Kilinochchi on Saturday to join the Civil Security Department (CSD) following the CSD’s call for ex-combatants to join its ranks. The government is planning to recruit a large number of rehabilitated ex-LTTE cadres to the CSD. They are slated to take part in development …
By Chackravarthy “One Mullivaikkal is enough. Don’t try to get 100 more.” Oh God the British never told the French ‘one Waterloo is enough. Don’t try to get 100 more’. What kind of a speech is this? Is this the tolerance Lord Buddha taught or his disciples learnt? A Tamilnadu newspaper in her editorial said, …
by Dr. Sarath Amunugama “Our ideals – moral, social and poetic – must be defended with intelligence as well as emotion: and also with intransigence” – Lindsay Anderson. I am grateful to the organizers of this event for inviting me to deliver the Lester James Pieris oration for 2012. I am particularly grateful because it …
Continue reading ‘What stands out in the work of Lester James Peiris is his humanism’ »
by Rajani Iqbal A group of war widows in the Nedunkerny region of the Wanni District celebrated the International Widows’ Day on 22nd June, 2012 at the conference hall of the Nedunkerny Pradesa Sabai. This meeting was organized by an NGO in collaboration with the relevant officers of the Divisional Secretary of Nedunkerny who had …
By Dr. Nirmala Chandrahasan Reading through some of the articles that have appeared recently, following upon Mr Sampanthan’s Presidential address at the ITAK Convention, it appears to me that there is a big trust deficit. Interpretations are being put on words, and inferences drawn which are not justified by the plain meaning of, or the …
By Camelia Nathaniel Gunasingham Kasendran is considered the tallest man in the country. Standing at a staggering 7 ft 3 inch, he is currently part of the government rehabilitation programme for ex-LTTE combatants at the Rehabilitation Centre in Kandakadu, in the Polonnaruwa District. A rather shy and soft spoken man, Kasendran shuns public functions, which …
Continue reading ‘The tallest man in Sri Lanka is an Ex-LTTE Combatant’ »
(Text of statement issued by Reporters without Borders/Reporters sans Frontieres) Reporters Without Borders is concerned about the reasons that led the management of the newspaper Ceylon Today to force its editor in chief Lalith Allahakkoon to resign on 13 June. The journalist, who received no letter of dismissal, arrived at his office on 16 June …
Continue reading ‘Dismissal of Lalith Allahakkoon by ‘Ceylon Today’ is worrying-RSF’ »
By Cillian McGrattan The idea that divided or post-conflict societies can achieve stability through reconciliation represents something of a paradigm shift in peace-building theory and practice. Arguably, thanks to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, ideas that the past should be represented as something remote (as in post-war, post-Nuremburg Germany) or unarticulated (as in …
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj “And as I read more and more, and it was not all verse, by any means, my love for the real life of words increased until I knew that I must live with them and in them, always. I knew, in fact, that I must be a writer of words, and nothing …
Continue reading ‘Mervyn De Silva: Reminiscences about a Journalist Colossus’ »
By Thulasi Muttulingam The Irulas are a South Indian tribe who have traditionally based their livelihood on being snake catchers. Up until 1972, they were able to make an adequate living selling snake leather, but with the Wildlife Protection Act India passed that year, their livelihood became illegal. Irulas from the village of Thottithopu, Cuddalore …
Continue reading ‘How the Irula Tribals of Tamil Nadu extract venom from live snakes’ »
by N Sathiya Moorthy Two interim reports from the two sides, so to say, and the focus is slowly slipping away from the work on hand for the National Commission of Inquiry (CNI) probing then Maldivian President Mohammed Nasheed’s resignation of February 7. It is back more ore less in the realm of politics and …
Continue reading ‘Maldives: Competing ‘probe reports’ take the focus away’ »
by Selcuk Colakoglu As the Cold War ended, the international system entered a process in which it was afflicted by secessions, sometimes bloody and sometimes peaceful. After 1990 there was a general trend for countries to break up and while countries entering a union was the exception. In 1990, the year the Cold War ended, …
Continue reading ‘The break-up of states: Political and economic logic of disintegration’ »
By Salma Yusuf A widely held belief among the populace is that the discourse on foreign policy remains the sole prerogative of those in the highest echelons of political power; that is, until presented with a statement by the likes of well-known American political activist, Ron Silver, who declared: “I can’t talk about foreign policy …
Continue reading ‘Six Key Challenges Faced by Sri Lanka in Foreign Relations Sphere’ »
by Dakshana Bascaramurty They all made boastful, superlative-ridden claims: The Largest South Asian Indoor Shopping Centre in the GTA! The Biggest Chinese Mall in North America! North America’s First Tamil Plaza! But years after these ambitious projects under the names The Sitara, The Landmark, and T.Junction were announced – all with target opening dates that …
Continue reading ‘The rise and fall of the ethnic mall experience in Canada’ »
By Marianne David MP and consultant economist Dr. Harsha De Silva yesterday alleged that THE UNP’s criticism over the mismanagement of the economy and the Central Bank as well as the EPF’s investments in banking stocks have been emphatically validated by global rating agency Standard and Poor’s. “Standard and Poor’s reiterated what we have been …
Continue reading ‘Govt has conformed to all three conditions of the IMF- Harsha de Silva’ »
Preamble: All the nations once again will meet in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012 to discuss the future of the world and the very survival of the humankind. However, in general no nation has a success story to share other than so called growth and increase of per capita income which is based on …
Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka Civil Society Statement on Rio +20’ »
A number of residents of Sampur, in the Trincomalee District filed a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition in the Supreme Court on Friday 15 June 2012, challenging the demarcation of a Special Zone for Heavy Industries (SZHI) through Gazette Extraordinary No. 1758/26 issued on 17 May 2012. The Gazette attempts to demarcate a SZHI within the …
The Sri Lanka Working Journalist Association is extremely disturbed by the recent turn of events at Ceylon Today newspaper, where the editor in chief and respected journalist Lalith Allahakkoon was unceremoniously removed from all his duties by the management due to what we understand as Mr Allahakkoon’s refusal to publish politically motivated and potentially libelous …
by Panchali Saikia A major highlight of Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s trip to Thailand was her visit to the Mae Sot refugee camp in June 2012. The Mae Sot camp is the largest among the nine refugee camps in Thailand, with nearly 50,000 refugees of which most are Karen ethnic nationals of …
Continue reading ‘Burmese Refugees In Thailand: Implications Of Suu Kyi’s Visit’ »
By Hasan Afif El Hasan From day one after the 1967 war, Israel’s actions in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem suggest the occupation was not temporary and underscore Israel’s desire to erase the concept of the Palestinian nation by undermining the connection between the people and their land or history. In an effort …
Continue reading ‘Palestinian Nationalism, Alive Despite Israeli Instruments Of Control’ »
by M.G.Devasahayam It is famously said: “In public domain, truth is not the truth, perception is the truth”. This adage could be related to the discourse on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP). While the arguments in favour of the plant is that it will generate electric power essential for ‘development’, People’s Movement Against Nuclear …
Continue reading ‘Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant Commissioning Should Be Deferred’ »
By Martin Khor The Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 (known officially as the UN Conference on Environment and Development) was a landmark event which launched “Sustainable Development” as an internationally accepted concept. Environmental problems would be seen in relation to and in the context of the development needs of developing countries. Sustainable development would …
By S.S.Selvanayagam The Court of Appeal yesterday (19) allowed the move by the Petitioner to amend the prayers in the Writ application challenging the imminent premature dissolution of the Eastern Provincial Council. The Bench comprising Justices S.Sriskandarajah (President C/A) and Deepali Wijesundera fixed the matter to be supported on July 11 with the amended prayers.
by Srilal Miththapala All newspapers carried headlines a few days ago stating that May 2012 tourist arrivals have increased by 17.5% from last year. It is reported that the May arrivals of 57,506, were higher than even that of April, which showed only a 9% increase YOY. So far, the total arrivals for 2012 up …
By Kath Noble What should the Security Forces do when there’s no war to be fought? Now that three years have passed since the defeat of the LTTE and pretty much everybody is convinced that there will be no resurgence, this would seem to be a pertinent question to ask. Of course vigilance is needed. …
Continue reading ‘What should the security forces do when there’s no war to be fought?’ »
by Ayesha Zuhair Social exclusion has been long identified as a key trigger of internal conflict. It represents an impediment to the achievement of national objectives such as peace, stability and economic prosperity. The higher the levels of exclusion in society, the more fertile the grounds for conflict – and a return to violence cannot …
Continue reading ‘‘We cannot create equality; we have to strive towards equality’ – Vasudeva’ »
By Sajjad Ashraf Synopsis Pakistan has embarked on a slippery course by proposing the division of southern Punjab into two provinces, on linguistic grounds. Similar separatist tendencies in other provinces could split the federation.
By Amnesty International A statement issued on June 13th 2012 by Amnesty International for the UNHRC sessions in Geneva from June 18th-July 8th 2012 Sri Lanka is not fulfilling many of its international human rights obligations. Impunity remains the norm for gross violations of human rights, including alleged war crimes. Gross and systematic human rights …
Continue reading ‘The Human Rights situation in Sri Lanka’ »
By Ben Doherty and Som Patidars A PEOPLE-SMUGGLING network is targeting Tamil refugees in southern India, promising them safe passage across the Indian Ocean and Australian citizenship when they arrive. But boats have already been lost. Refugee advocates say at least two boats, carrying up to 50 people, disappeared off India’s south coast late last …
By Salma Yusuf Whoever said that demand must drive supply was certainly not talking about reconciliation. However, the relevance and applicability of the philosophy and its wisdom in a post-war reconciliation setting cannot be overstated. After all, reconciliation is as important a goal as it is a process. While Government efforts in post-war rehabilitation, reintegration, …
by Chamikara Weerasinghe The government will open the re-developed Palmyrah Research Institute in Kaithady, Jaffna, soon. The institute became defunct from 1995 due to the war in the North. Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Ministry Secretary V Sivagnanasothi yesterday told the Daily News that they are ready to open a state-of-the-art palmyrah research facility …
Continue reading ‘Modernised State of the Art Palmyrah Research Institute to be opened in Jaffna’ »
by Karu Jayasuriya A situation is emerging in the country where, permission is needed from goons to engage in politics. It is well known that these gangs who suppress opposing political views using iron bars during the past era had the blessings of some politicians or politically powerful persons. Now these goons are so powerful …
Continue reading ‘Katuwana incident is aimed at all political parties fighting for the people’ »
By Lalith Allahakkoon (This is the full text of a public statement issued to the media by Lalith Allahakkoon the Editor in Chief and Editorial Director of “Ceylon Today”about recent events that have caused an Editorial crisis in the English newspaper published in Colombo) 1. At around 7 p.m. on the night of Wednesday June …
Continue reading ‘Sequence of events relating to editorial crisis at ‘Ceylon Today’ newspaper’ »
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj Former British Prime Minister and statesman Winston Churchill is credited with the phrase “special relationship” in emphasising the time-tested bonds and enduring affinity between Great Britain and the United States of America. Pic by Arthur Wamanan I can think of no better phrase other than those famously Churchillian words to describe my …
Continue reading ‘My special relationship with The Sunday Leader’ »
by Aung San Suu Kyi Your Majesties, Your Royal Highness, Excellencies, Distinguished members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Dear Friends, Long years ago, sometimes it seems many lives ago, I was at Oxford listening to the radio programme Desert Island Discs with my young son Alexander. It was a well-known programme (for all I know …
Continue reading ‘‘The Road I had Chosen of my own Free Will Became a Less Lonely path to Follow’’ »
by Gunvanthi Balaram From the magnificent stupas at Anuradhapura to the street food of Colombo, from the Cave of Celestial Maidens to the beach at Galle, Sri Lanka offers many changes of scene. Shore at Manatkadu, Jaffna- pic courtesy of: twitter.com/shanmugan10 Stories apart, what did I remember best about Sri Lanka, my mother asked me …
Continue reading ‘Jaffna Like The Rest of The Island Held a Warm Vibe’ »
by Hemantha Warnakulasuriya I have often wondered why we, as a nation, cannot progress as rapidly as our neighbour – India. Any political analyst would of course heap the blame on the politicians and the political authority. I have pondered whether in fact this was true. All politicians are voted to power by us and …
Continue reading ‘‘Work is worship’: The work ethic success of the Sri Lankan Tamils’ »
by Charles Santiapillai Although the Jaffna man’s mind is preoccupied with money and matrimony, yet the thing that he treasures most above everything else is education and scholarship. For a Jaffna man, it’s the books, and not dogs, that are his best friends. He would pay more attention to a good book than to his …
Continue reading ‘Jaffna Public Library: Painstaking construction and painful destruction’ »
Sri Lanka has signed its largest foreign direct investment (FDI) deal valued at $4 billion with an Indian company. Gateway Industries, an Indian venture, will oversee operation and management of a special industrial zone for heavy industries in Trincomalee district. Board of Investment (BOI) chairman M.M.C. Ferdinando Friday hailed the signing of this landmark project …
By Camena Guneratne and Harini Amarasuriya | Open University of Sri Lanka Almost one year ago, we wrote an article suggesting that there were signals from the academic community that it was waking up from a long slumber. We wrote about the fact that the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) was moving away from, …
by Edward Gunawardene The story of Lasith Malinga is the story of a poor rustic, who because of his rare talents in cricket, has shot to stardom. Another log cabin to White House or a Dick Whittinghton story. He is today one of the most sought after and one of the highest earners in international …
Continue reading ‘Why malign Lasith Malinga alone for allegedly putting self above country?’ »
by Mangala Samaraweera Police spokesperson SP Ajith Rohana accepted that two persons including a woman died due to an unarmed gang shooting at a Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) local meeting held in Katuwana in the Hambantota district on 15 June (2012). He said, a group of unidentified men on motorcycles had opened fire at the …
President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga last week summoned a press conference at the old parliament now serving as the presidential secretariat to tell “our side of the story’’ of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s recent London visit. As is well known, LTTE supporters succeeded in getting a session of an event organized by the Commonwealth Business Council cancelled …
Continue reading ‘President’s London Visit: ‘Our Side of the Story’’ »
by Selvam Canagaratna “On Wall Street, he and a few others – how many? – three hundred, four hundred, five hundred? – had become precisely that . . . Masters of the Universe. There was . . . no limit whatsoever!” – Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987) In the midst of an …
Continue reading ‘Facebook loses face as share prices plunge $42 Billion in 10 days’ »
Senior UNP parliamentarian, Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena has appealed to His Holiness Pope Benedict the XVI to use his good offices to dialogue with the Sri Lankan Government to ensure that the Bishop of Mannar continues his mission without threats, intimidations and false allegations. In a letter to the Pope, the MP says: “Since the beginning …
Continue reading ‘Jayalath Jayawardena writes to Pope Benedict about Mannar Bishop’ »
By Ilica Malkanthi Karunaratne Dudley Senanayakes’ 101st birth anniversary is on June 19th The birth anniversary of the late Dudley Senanayake, is always tinged with nostalgia. It is inevitable, that the thoughts of those of us who knew him, should linger on all that he was and what he did during his lifetime. He was …
Continue reading ‘Dudley Senanayake: Unchallenged integrity and loyalty’ »
by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha MP To cite the preamble to this dialogue between Asian and European Liberals, we agree that, ‘from a liberal standpoint, it is mutually beneficial for countries to engage in trade, and free trade is one of the means to lift countries out of poverty.’ Unfortunately this ideal is under attack for …
Continue reading ‘‘I have no illusions about the basic selfish thrust of all foreign policy’’ »
By Shanika SRIYANANDA in Mullaitheevu It was 11 am, the OPD of the District General Hospital Mullaitheevu was crowded. People from all walks of life and all corners of the district get treatment from the hospital. Located close to the A-34 Highway, the hospital, damaged by the LTTE, has now turned into a fully-fledged hospital …
Continue reading ‘Full-fledged Hospital at Mullaitheevu Functions at Full Capacity’ »
By Marwan Macan-Marcar BANGKOK, Jun 15 2012 (IPS) – Reports of sectarian violence in western Myanmar have exposed the plight of 800,000 Muslim Rohingya, a persecuted minority that a regional human rights body described in 2006 as facing a “slow-burning genocide”. Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MERHROM) holds awareness campaign in Kuala Lampur, …
Continue reading ‘Ethnic Cleansing of Muslim Minority in Myanmar ?’ »
Dr.Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Two contrasting insights into reconciliation were on display in the last ten days – one in the field of sports and the other in the field of politics. The former relates to the Carlton Super Seven Rugby Tournament and the latter to the ITAK or Federal Party convention in Batticaloa. The significance of …
Continue reading ‘Carlton Tournament and ITAK Convention: Two contrasting insights’ »
By Salma Yusuf A widely held belief among the populace is that the discourse on foreign policyremains the sole prerogative of those in the highest echelons of political power – that is, until presented with a statement by the likes of well-known American political activist, Ron Silver, who declared: ‘I can’t talk about foreign policy …
Continue reading ‘Foreign policy challenges: Diplomatic honeymoons or unbridled engagements?’ »
by Charles Santiapilai and S. Wijeyamohan One of the surest signs of ecological richness and diversity of a country is the number of predator species it supports. Egret and Crocodile in Yala, Sri Lanka-courtesy ~ Picture by Ranuka Marshall ~ more pics Larger the number of predator species, the greater is the biodiversity. The existence …
Continue reading ‘Co-existence with Crocodiles: Learning to Live Together’ »
An Interview With President Mahinda Rajapaksa The Report Company: What is your assessment of the country’s current stage of development? Mahinda Rajapaksa: I am convinced that Sri Lanka can attain a much higher stage of development than we are currently at. Unfortunately, we lagged behind for over 30 years as a result of a debilitating …
Continue reading ‘‘Sri Lanka is now emerging as a middle income nation’’ »
An Interview with Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa (Basil Rajapaksa, younger brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is the current Cabinet Minister of Economic Development. He has been part of the political landscape of Sri Lanka since the 1970s, and is a meticulous planner, brilliant strategist and strong negotiator, having played a leading role in achieving …
Continue reading ‘‘We want to build the image of the whole of Sri Lanka’’ »
By J.C.Weliyamuna A Governance Analysis of Frequency Allocation & TV Rights in Present Sri Lanka Frequency Allocation- A Grand Corruption? Understanding the State capture by Kleptocrats does not require a dedicated study; it is easily recognizable. For the benefit of keen students of governance, let me begin this article with the definition of Kleptocracy: “A …
Continue reading ‘Corruption, Nepotism and the Carlton Sports Network’ »
by K.S. Sivakumaran Here are some idealistic suggestions for better harmonious living in this blessed country: 1. Discourage the activities of those ruthless people masquerading as genuine Sinhala Buddhist clergymen involving themselves in political, anti-social activities.
By Kath Noble Sri Lankan refugees have been making the news again in recent days. A group of 40 whose claims of persecution have been rejected by the UK was sent back to Colombo at the beginning of the month. Sri Lankan refugees prepare to disembark from the ferry that brought them from India to …
by Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha M.P. C A Chandraprema’s book on the war against the LTTE is an immensely interesting read. I had wondered how effective he would be as a writer of a sustained narrative, for his columns, though informative, can sometimes be turgid and repetitive. But his book combines a racy narrative with convincing detail, …
Continue reading ‘‘Gota’s War’ by Chandraprema: Glaring omissions but quite thorough’ »
by Ayesha Zuhair Tamara Kunanayakam, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative (PR) to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, has accused Navanethem Pillay, the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, of playing the political agenda of the US and Western powers. In an e-mail interview with the Daily Mirror, Ambassador Kunanayakam elaborates on the accusations contained in …