By Rasika Jayakody The Ven. Galagodaaththé Gnanasara Thera, a relatively unknown bhikkhu in the latter stages of the Rajapaksa administration, has now become the face of Sinhala-Buddhist ultra-nationalist ‘terror’ in the country’s political sphere. Ven. Gnanasara Thera rose to fame in mid-2012 when he formed the Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force) organization, a movement …
By Don Manu He may not have realised it yet, perhaps it may take some time for the light to shine through his burly, black, boorish brawn, but Bodu Bala Sena Chief Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera is, no doubt, the darling of the foreign missionaries who use his mug to portray the ugly face of Buddhism. …
by Saman Indrajith Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday told Parliament that there was a Brahmin class within the media and that class was becoming vasalas (outcasts). “The Brahmin class in the media was created by a Maha Brahma who is non-existant now. The so-called Brahmin class has become a vasala class. That Brahmin class used …
Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second son was remanded in custody for two weeks after he was arrested and questioned yesterday under the Money Laundering Act, police and court officials said. Navy officer Yoshitha Rajapaksa, 27, was questioned at length at the navy headquarters in Colombo and then arrested and taken before Kaduwela magistrate Dhammika Hemapala …
By C.A.Chandraprema Sri Lanka is indeed a country like no other as the tourist brochures say. We have a president, a prime minister, a cabinet and a parliament where the PM commands a two thirds majority, but no functioning government. There is no sense of direction and no decisions are being made. An ambitious programme …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene Several wickedly problematic tragi-comedies are playing on Sri Lanka’s political stage right now, none of which are to the benefit of the country. Why was no deterrent action taken earlier? The spectacle of mad monks running amok in the Homagama Magistrate’s Court abusing the magistrate, the lawyers and the wife of …
By Rashmin Tirimanne de Silva On the 25th and 26th of January a group of monks came in to conflict with the law when Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero, General Secretary of the infamous Bodu Bala Sena stormed into Court and disrupted proceedings by giving a speech which led to the Homagama Magistrate issuing an arrest …
By C. A. Chandraprema The scenes outside the Homagama Magistrate’s court highlights more than ever the need for the speedy passage of the Kathikawath Bill that is before parliament. Registered bhikku Ven. Galagodatte Gnanasara Thera was arrested and remanded in relation to several charges including contempt of court amidst chaotic scenes outside the courthouse with …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj A news report from the Vatican Information Service(VIS) datelined January 14th 2016 stated that His Holiness Pope Francis has accepted the resignation presented by Bishop Rayappu Joseph upon reaching the age limit, from the pastoral care of the diocese of Mannar, Sri Lanka.The VIS report further said that Pope Francis has appointed Bishop …
By Saman Indrajith Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday, in Parliament, lashed out at the media, accusing them of promoting racism. “You don’t talk big because your hands are not clean. What are all doing with regard to racism? I mean all newspapers. I am asking the electronic and print media. What do you have to say …
By Ashwin Hemmathagama Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday lambasted the media, accusing mainstream newspapers of turning a blind eye to racism and conducting a witch-hunt against the Police Department. Issuing a scathing statement in Parliament, the Prime Minister charged that the media was hailing the Embilipitiya courts while condemning the Homagama courts, for their actions.Wickramasinghe …
By Dharisha Bastians He’s back! After a year in the shadows, Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, the controversial monk who leads the radical Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena, is front and centre of the news cycle again. He is storming into courtrooms, insulting Government lawyers and threatening, allegedly in foul language, the woman who has been searching …
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said that the government hadn’t ruled out foreign involvement in the proposed war crimes investigation. The PM said so in answer to a Channel 4 News query. Asked whether there wouldn’t be any foreign involvement as declared by President Maithripala Sirisena last week, Wickremesinghe said the President had not ruled …
By Vishwamithra 1984 Leadership in politics has been a subject many psychologists and social scientists have attempted to analyze, dissect and write about over and over again. These analysts and writers have ascribed strong leadership in politics to many a politician and history alone stands as the sole judge as to the validity and legitimacy …
By Sarath de Silva Homagama Magistrate Ranga Dissanayae yesterday ordered Officer-in-Charge of Homagama Police to arrest those who had been involved in unruly protests at the court premises as well as outside on Tuesday over the remanding to Ven. Galabodaatte Gnanasara thera on a charge of contempt of court.
By Upul Joseph Fernando The Sinha Le organization organized an Adhishtana Pooja recently opposite the Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic). The media reported that those present at this pooja carried a National Flag sans the symbols that signify the minorities in this country. Earlier, the distorted content of the National Nlag surfaced …
by Dasun Edirisinghe A tense situation prevailed near the Homagama Magistrate’s Court yesterday over the remanding of Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera for contempt of court. Hundreds of Buddhist monks accompanied by laymen surrounded the court asking for the release of Ven. Gnanasara Thera. They attempted to storm the court premises …
By P.K.Balachandran The involvement of foreign judges, prosecutors and investigators is a must for a credible Sri Lankan probe into war crimes charges, said Keith Harper, US Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva. In a terse but strong tweet on Tuesday, Harper said: “Credibility of any accountability mechanism requires involvement of …
By Saman Indrajith Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday told Parliament that his government would not leave room for the making of any more Bhikkus like Talduwe Somarama or Mapitigama Buddharakkthitha. The Prime Minister, participating in a debate on agreements Sri Lanka entered with several other nations at the time of adjournment, condemned the conduct of …
By P.K.Balachandran Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has told Lankan security forces personnel that Lanka was answerable to the international community regarding charges of human rights violations during Eelam War IV, and that any attempt to dodge the issue would lead to the country’s isolation from the rest of the world. But while saying so, …
By Dharisha Bastians The Tamil National Alliance yesterday expressed disappointment over the delays in formulating a mechanism to draft a new constitution for Sri Lanka, and urged the Government and all Sri Lankans to seize the historic opportunity to change the country’s Governance culture. Addressing a media briefing at the Opposition Leader’s Office in Colombo …
By Dharisha Bastians Pandemonium reigned outside the Homagama Magistrate’s Court yesterday, after the court ordered the arrest and remand of controversial Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Galagodaththe Gnanasara Thero on contempt of court charges. Gnanasara Thero was escorted to the Welikada Remand prison under Special Task Force (STF) protection, after riot police squads were deployed …
By Ashwin Hemmathagama The Government informed Parliament yesterday that Yoshitha Rajapaksa the son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had been inducted into the Sri Lanka Navy bypassing mandatory educational qualifications of the GCE Ordinary level and had been sent for extensive training in the United Kingdom and Ukraine at state expense. Chief Government Whip Gayantha …
Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera was remanded till February 9 by Homagama Magistrate’s Court a short while ago on Tuesday January 26th.He was arrested this morning when he surrendered to the Homagama Police. The Homagama Magistrate issued an arrest warrant against Gnanasara Thera yesterday on three charges including threatening a state official, …
By Hafeel Farisz I am not a Sinha-Ley Muslim. Won’t ever be. I had no problem with the concept of being a Sinhala-Muslim during my childhood. In-fact I often used to think Ven. Mahinda Thera included us — the minorities, in his poems and Anagarika Dharmapala in his, what I assumed were, anti colonialist speeches. …
By Stanley Samarasinghe & Shahida Riza Court of Appeal yesterday (25) issued an interim order against Minister of Megapolis Champika Ranawaka, preventing him from acquiring a plot of land owned by Minister Daya Gamage. President of Court of Appeal Vijith Malalgoda and Justice Devika de Livera took this decision after considering an appeal by Gamage …
(Text of Media release Issued by Human Rights Watch) (New York) – The Sri Lankan government should fulfill its commitments to the United Nations Human Rights Council by ensuring that foreign judges and prosecutors play a significant role in the mandated accountability mechanism for wartime abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. On January 21, 2016, …
By Ranga Jayasuriya Last week, this newspaper reported that some hotels in the Mirissa Bay area were refusing to serve Sri Lankans on the purported ‘uncivilized’ behaviour of local visitors. The report quoted a humiliated customer as complaining of being turned away from several places, when he ordered a simple cup of coffee. Since people …
By Chandeepa Wettasinghe In his continuing campaign for abstinence, President Maithripala Sirisena called upon the residents of the Northern Province to stop consuming alcohol. “There is more alcohol distributed here in the North than elsewhere in the country. Alcohol is worse than weapons of war. It destroys lives,” he said, at the ceremonial opening of …
by Dasun Edirisinghe The government has lent credence to a non-existing human organ racket here and deprived the country of foreign exchange by imposing an ill-conceived, blanket ban on kidney transplant operations on foreigners in Sri Lanka, the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) says. GMOA Secretary Dr. Nalinda Herath said the end result of the …
The National Government’s move to fast track the process for a new Constitution for Sri Lanka has been placed on temporary hold. A debate on the resolution for this purpose, moved by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, due in Parliament on Tuesday, January 26 has been cancelled. A new date is yet to be fixed and …
By C.A.Chandraprema When the party leaders met last Tuesday, it was decided not to hold the debate which was scheduled for January 26 (Tuesday this week) on the prime minister’s resolution to set up a Constitutional Assembly until the prime minister returns from his trip to Davos. It is to be hoped that this postponement …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene As former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa emerged smiling into television cameras this week following summons issued by Sri Lanka’s Presidential Commission on Serious Fraud et al (PRECIFAC), his jibes were clear. ‘So there were rogues in our time’ he said, ‘…there were rogues in the past as well and rogues also, …
By Shamindra Ferdinando Wartime Indian High Commissioner in Colombo, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, recently evoked memories of India’s disastrous intervention in Sri Lanka. Gandhi reiterated unsubstantiated war crimes accusations at an event to mark President Maithripala Sirisena’s first year in office. Gandhi was in Colombo a few days before Indian Foreign Secretary, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, arrived, in Colombo, …
By P.K.Balachandran Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has rejected the UN Human Rights Council’s demand for foreign involvement in the judicial mechanism to be set up to investigate and try war crimes charges against the Lankan armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). “I will never agree to international involvement in this …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj For more than two decades the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress(SLMC) has remained the foremost political party of the Sri Lankan Muslims. The SLMC co-founded and led by the legendary MHM Ashraff is headed by Rauff Hakeem who succeeded him as party leader after Ashraff’s demise in 2000. In recent times the dominant position …
By P.K.Balachandran The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has refuted Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran’s contention that it has reneged in its commitment to secure for the Tamils of Sri Lanka the right to self determination. Wigneswaran had told TNA members in the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) earlier this week, that the TNA had pledged itself …
By Azzam Ameen BBC Sinhala, Colombo The president of Sri Lanka has said foreign judges and prosecutors should not be involved in an investigation into allegations of war crimes. In a BBC interview, President Maithripala Sirisena said the country did not need to “import” specialists. Both the army and the Tamil Tiger rebels are accused …
An Interview with Maithripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka BY T. RAMAKRISHNAN in Colombo IT was a Sunday afternoon, and the 64-year-old Maithripala Sirisena was in no mood to relax. He had a series of meetings earlier. After his appointment with Frontline in a hall of his official residence sporting the portraits of Marx, Lenin …
By P.K.Balachandran President Maithripala Sirisena’s own party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), in conjunction with the breakaway Joint Opposition Group (JOG) led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has stalled Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s move to change the country’s constitution. On January 9, the JOG stopped parliament from debating and voting on Wickremesinghe’s resolution to …
By P.K.Balachandran Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran on Wednesday strongly denied that the Tamil Makkal Peravai (TMP), which he heads, is a political organization in competition with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). But at the same time he pointed out that the TNA has reneged on its commitment to securing for the minority Tamils the …
By Nisthar Cassim in Davos, Switzerland Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday urged participants at a forum in Davos in Switzerland to base their operations in Sri Lanka to serve South Asia and beyond. Speaking at an investment forum held in Davos ahead of the World Economic Forum, the Prime Minister acknowledged that 2016 would be …
by Upul Joseph Fernando Former Minister Basil Rajapaksa suddenly broke silence last week and emerged into the scene through the media. Giving interviews to the media, Basil stressed the need to establish a new political party. As a prelude to his future dream or plan, both Basil and his brother Mahinda participated at a meet …
Twenty –two out of a total Thirty Tamil National Alliance Northern provincial Councillors have revolted against what is perceived as the duplicitous political conduct of Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran. The 22 Councillors including two provincial ministers are signatories of an urgent letter sent to Mr. Wigneswaran that he should present himself for an important meeting with …
Actress Asin Thottumkal on Tuesday exchanged wedding vows with electronics company Micromax founder Rahul Sharma in a closely-guarded ceremony. The couple married as per Christian rituals at the Dusit Devarana hotel here in the morning, and another celebration is in the pipeline later in the day. Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, the best man and the …
By Prof.G.L.Peiris The Resolution on the making of a Constitution for our country, moved in Parliament by the Prime Minister on 9th January, has given rise to public debate on a wide range of issues which need to be addressed in earnest if the professed objectives are to be attained. I.Causes for Concern (a) Absence …
Continue reading ‘Resolution on the Making of a Constitution and Causes for Concern’ »
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka “What Sri Lanka’s national crisis—and it is clear that the unresolved ethnic issue is the core of that crisis—has ultimately achieved is that it has compelled us to come to terms with our identity.” –Mervyn de Silva, (Marga lecture, 1985, in ‘Crisis Commentaries’ p.72) The crucial and challengingly complex task facing Sri …
By P.K.Balachandran Sri Lanka is on the way to becoming a maritime security hub in the Indian Ocean, as regional and extra-regional naval powers eye the island nation for striking partnerships to ensure their maritime security. Lanka itself has signaled its wish to acquire a Blue Water navy to exploit its strategic position in the …
By Gagani Weerakoon Soured relationships between the top echelons of the Executive reached highest levels recently with Head of the State President Maithripala Sirisena calling off his participation in two important events in the penultimate hour. The discomforts, if there were any, were not made obvious by President Sirisena or Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj “A thousand and one objections could be raised against the system, but when the objections are dissipated, I am convinced that some form of Federal Government will be the only solution’” – S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike in 1926. “We suggest the creation of a federal state as in the United States of America” – Kandyan National …
Continue reading ‘Tamil Leaders Opposed When Sinhalese Leaders Proposed Federalism’ »
By Dr.Jayadeva Uyangoda Sri Lanka has once again entered the uncertain path of drafting and adopting a new constitution. Not surprisingly, political opinion is becoming increasingly divided and even acrimonious over a variety of issues. The most contentious at present is the process of constitution making. The content of the new constitution is next in …
by P. Krishnaswamy Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Spokesman and Jaffna District Parliamentarian, M. A. Sumanthiran is of the view, given the fact that Tamils have repeatedly given overwhelming mandates to the party to work for a just solution to their problems, it would be appropriate that a lasting solution to the issue comes from the …
By P.K.Balachandran The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’ Tamil-majority Northern Province has called for a new constitution which will be based on the principle of shared sovereignty between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority within a united Lanka. Giving the keynote address at a seminar on constitution making in multi-ethnic societies in Jaffna on …
By Gandhya Senanayake Making a statement regarding the formation of the new Constitution in Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today stated that the new Constitution would not change the unitary nature of the country. He further added that some were alleging that the foremost place given to Buddhism and the unitary nature of the …
By Mahinda Rajapaksa (Text of a speech made by former President Mahinda Rajapksa at the Abeyarama Temple in Narahenpita) Venerable members of the MahaSangha, clergymen of other faiths, party leaders, members of parliament and local government institutions, and other distinguished guests, Steps have been taken by the government to initiate the process of promulgating a …
By Ranga Jayasuriya Prime Minster Ranil Wickremesinghe has criticized the media over its conduct during the Rajapaksa regime. In other words, is blaming the victim for the rape. At the Thai Pongal festival in Jaffna, he accused the media of ‘going shopping’ for the infamous 18th Amendment and warned the media not to spoil the …
By P.K.Balachandran Astrology and occultism have been a double-edged sword for former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Belief in them has led him to heights of success as well as depths of disaster. Currently, an astrological prediction is threatening to deny Rajapaksa the Colombo mansion he is desperate to occupy because astrologers had predicted that …
By C.A.Chandraprema The much anticipated constitution making process was kicked off the Saturday before last by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe with a resolution presented in parliament for the appointment of a Constitutional Assembly to draft a new constitution. What would have been cause for some hope that this attempt at constitution making would be more …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene One year into the appealing rhetoric of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration, it is heartening to see Sri Lanka’s artistes and scholars, whose peoples’ movements were pivotal to the change of power last year, becoming increasingly stern in their tone and tenor. Critical voices to be heard This critical approach must not be …
by Thulasi Muttulingam Thai Pongal, the agrarian festival of the Tamils, will be in full flow around the country today. It is a festival celebrated not only in Sri Lanka and India, but all over the globe where Tamil populations are concentrated. It is essentially a festival of thanksgiving by farmers after their first harvest …
by Mahendran Thiruvarangan More than six years after the war’s end, a particular line of thinking has come to the forefront in Tamil nationalists’ defence of their politics around national self-determination. I would broadly describe this philosophy as liberal pluralism. Predicating the politics around state re-formation primarily, if not solely, on ethnicity or culture, it …
Continue reading ‘Liberal Pluralism, Tamil People’s Council and the New Constitution’ »
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera faced strong resistance from his cabinet colleagues towards his proposal to shut down Sri Lanka’s diplomatic mission in Bagdhad at the weekly ministerial meeting yesterday, Daily FT learns. After heated exchanges during the meeting, President Maithripala Sirisena decided to defer the decision to shut down the Lankan Embassy in Baghdad pending …
By Upul Joseph Fernando Southern extremists are now attempting to gain undue political advantage of the recent visit by the Norwegian Foreign Minister who was on a brief visit to Colombo. These extremists used anti-Norway slogans in 2004 and 2005 elections to gain victory. Norway was invited to mediate in the Sri Lankan peace process …
Sri Lanka’s demoralised cricket team faces an investigation into alleged “scandalous behaviour” during its dismal tour of New Zealand, including drinking parties and squabbling, the sports minister said on Tuesday. Dayasiri Jayasekera said he had been handed photos of national players attending all night parties just before crucial matches against hosts New Zealand, who achieved …
By C.A.Chandraprema Summing up President Maithripala Sirisena’s first year in power, Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said at a Ports Authority function that he (Sirisena) formed a government and has had no peace thereafter; and that he has not seen another leader as beset by problems as President Maithripala Sirisena. Minister S.B.Dissanayake speaking at the SLFP’s first …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The new year has dawned on a note of hope and optimism for Sri Lanka! On January 9th 2016 President Maithripala Sirisena is scheduled to present a resolution in Parliament that proposes to convert Parliament into a Constitutional Assembly. The envisaged Constitutional Assembly is different to the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1972 …
Continue reading ‘Political Settlement Based on the “Federal Idea” in a “New” Sri Lanka’ »
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge and I were colleagues at The Island in the eighties of the last century. We were also residents of Kotahena then. Later I was for many years a columnist at The Sunday Leader writing from Canada. Above all “Lassie Boy” as I called him was a friend in every …
By Krishantha Prasad Cooray Victory never falls from the sky. In politics victories are produced when the conditions for meaningful and effective struggle mature and more importantly those who struggle are empowered by single minded determination, unity of purpose, coherence, coordination and synergy in action, and visionary leadership. It is said and not without cause …
By Upul Joseph Fernando When the then Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe lost the Local Government elections in 2014, he proceeded to America to study at a university and also to deliver lectures. Before he left to United States Ranil told a media conference in Colombo that he was going over there to learn tactics to …
By Harsha Gunasena I have been a columnist for the Sinhala monthly publication Samabima. In early 2013, I along with the fellow columnists, were criticised by a Buddhist monk that we were writing against the Sinhala extremism but not against Tamil or Muslim extremism. I have responded to the criticism by stating that we were …
By P.K.Balachandran Former Sri Lankan Attorney General and constitutional expert, Shiva Pasupathy, has “rejected outright” Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran’s invitation to join the Tamil Makkal Peravai (TMP) as his personal representative on the sub-committee on constitutional reform, sources close to Pasupathy told Express on Monday. Australia-based Pasupathy, who had gone to Jaffna on a …