An Interview with Shihara Maduwage

Parliamentarian Rosy Senanayake -pic: Pradeep Pathirana

United National Party (UNP) Parliamentarian Rosy Senanayake who is also a strong voice for women in Sri Lanka told the Daily Mirror during an interview that the status of women in the country was in a grave situation. She also spoke about the current political atmosphere in the country, the upcoming Provincial Council Elections and expressed her views about the government’s economic and development agenda.

Q: What do you think of the present political situation in the country?

Continue reading ‘“Stars and Popular Figures Entering Politics Should be Worthy, Committed and Loyal”-Rosy Senanayake’ »

Police at Arlanda airport in Stockholm have arrested a man suspected to be a Sri Lankan national who attempted to enter the cockpit of a plane destined for Sweden claiming he had a bomb, foreign media reported.

Continue reading ‘Suspected Sri Lankan Bomber Attempting to Enter Cockpit of Emirates Airline Flight from Dubai to Stockholm Arrested in Arlanda Airport’ »

Police last evening arrested the prime suspect in the murder of senior Business journalist and Asst Vice President of Fitch Ratings, Ms.Mel Gunasekera at her residence in Battaramulla.

SSP Ajith Rohana said that the officers of the special Crime Investigation Unit of the Mirihana Police had made the arrest at the New Road, Dompe. Suspect Samson Anthony of the same address is a house painter and he had worked at Mel’s house three months ago.

Continue reading ‘39 Year old Man who Painted Battaramulla Residence of Murdered Journalist Mel Gunasekara Arrested as Suspected Killer by Police in Dompe’ »

By

Dharisha Bastians

A deteriorating human rights climate and insufficient progress on reconciliation, justice and accountability five years after the end of conflict was placing Sri Lanka’s proud democratic traditions in jeopardy, a top United States envoy said in Colombo on Saturday (1).

pic via: twitter.com/USEmbSL

“We are concerned about the worsening situation with respect to human rights, including continued attacks against religious minorities, as well as the weakening rule of law and an increase in the levels of corruption and impunity,” US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Nisha Biswal told journalists over the weekend.

Continue reading ‘US will seek Third Resolution at UNHRC “Underscoring Mounting Concerns” Over Lack of Progress by Sri Lanka-Nisha Biswal’ »

Mel Gunasekara-pic via: ETV

Ms. Mel Gunasekera the Assistant Vice President at Fitch Ratings Lanka and senior business Journalist was found murdered at her house in Battaramulla on Sunday February 2nd morning, Police said

Police said that Ms. Gunasekara was found dead with injuries caused by a sharp weapon.

Continue reading ‘Senior Business Journalist Mel Gunasekara Found Murdered at her Battaramulla Residence While Family was at Church.’ »

An Interview With Chamitha Kuruppu

Bold and beautiful Hirunika Premachandra believes she has a right to be a part of this Government simply because her late father has shed blood, sweat and tears to bring this regime to power. “We care about the President, we care about this Government. My family has always been with President Mahinda Rajapaksa. We feel he is a great leader. This is why I decided to contest under Sri Lanka Freedom Party,” she points out.

pic courtesy of: Derana

In an interview with the Daily FT, the SLFP Co-Organiser for Colombo Central and daughter of late Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra spoke about her struggle to seek justice over her father’s murder, renewed bonds with the President’s family, motives of becoming a politician and her personal commitment for a drug-free Sri Lanka.

Following are excerpts:
Continue reading ‘“I asked the President not to get Involved with my Father’s Murder Case”-Hirunika Premachandra’ »

by

Smriti Daniel

At Taprobane last week: Vikram Seth

What do you say to a man who has kept you waiting for five years? Before us stands author and poet Vikram Seth; shirt open to the waist, hair tousled by hands and breeze, he’s uncertain of who we are and why we have come to intrude on him. I’m wet from the hips down, having waded through the waters that encircle the little island of Taprobane, but my recorder is dry and my notebook is open.

I know enough not to take this interview for granted – the last time Vikram was in Sri Lanka for the Galle Literary Festival it was 2008 and he wasn’t speaking to journalists. This time he says he will spare me five minutes – I negotiate for 10 and eventually receive 13:45 – but there is still some material from a reading and short conversation to be mined and in the end, it is just enough.
Continue reading ‘An Eight Hundred and Twenty-Five Second Long Interview with Reclusive Author Vikram Seth’ »

By

Vishnuguptha

“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”–-Jane Austen

pic via: facebook.com/KaruJayasuriya

Memories, memories and more memories, that’s all what we would be eventually left with. If our legacy to our children is only those memories, then we have let them down very badly. As a country, as a nation and as a people, we have come sixty five long years, celebrating the dawn of Independence each year on February 4th or more precisely expressed, granting of Independence from the British Colonial powers with pomp and pageantry, with glee and glory and with passion and thanks.

No person can and should understate the significance of a nation freeing itself from the crutches of foreign rule. Although Ceylon did not have to endure the brutal suppressions and unspeakable agonies that India had to absorb and suffer in her own ‘Freedom Struggle’, the universally-felt indignations and humiliations our ‘Independence Leaders’ went through are no mean by any standard. Yet there were no massacres of the magnitude of the ‘Amritsar Massacre’, no national-level leaders underwent prolonged and frequent jail terms similar to those Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and the rest of the Indian leaders went through.

Continue reading ‘Sixty-Six Years of “Independent” Political Life has left us with an Utterly Regrettable Legacy’ »

Sulochana Ramiah Mohan

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Nisha Biswal, yesterday reassured Northern Provincial Council member, Ananthi Sasitharan that she would apply pressure on the Sri Lankan Government through the US to look into disappearances, abductions and the fate of LTTE combatants, who had surrendered to the government.

Biswal, who visited Jaffna yesterday morning, had met several Northern PC members, TNA politician M.A. Sumanthiran and Chief Minister, C.V. Wigneswaran.Sasitharan met Biswal with a few other women, who had surrendered their husbands and fathers to the government, during the last phase of the war in 2009. She told Biswal there had been ethnic cleansing beginning from the ’50s and even in the 1983 riots, it was the Tamils who lost their lives and not the Sinhalese. “During every riot, the Tamils did not retaliate, but were assaulted and murdered,” she pointed out.

Continue reading ‘US State Asst Secy Nisha Biswal Meets TNA Northern Councillor Anandhi Sasitharan and Other Women whose Relatives Disappeared after Surrendering’ »

More than 2,000 Christians gathered in Colombo on Sunday (January 26) to protest against a perceived lack of religious freedom in Sri Lanka, following recent attacks on Christian places of worship by Buddhist extremists.

Continue reading ‘Over 2000 Christians Protest in Colombo Demanding Religious Freedom as Provided in Constitution and End to Hate Mongering’ »

On the 26th of January 2014, the pastor of the Calvary Free Church in Rathgama in the Galle district and some congregation members were praying together at the premises of one of the members.

Whilst the prayer meeting was in progress, at approximately 10.40 a.m., eight police officers together with a Buddhist monk forcibly entered the premises.

Continue reading ‘Policemen with a Buddhist Monk “Arrest”Pastor and Congregation Members of Calvary Free Church at Rathgama in Galle While they were Praying and Take them to Police Station.’ »

On the 08th of January 2014, at approximately 8.45 p.m., 11.40 p.m. and 5.00 a.m. stones were hurled into the premises of the pastor of the Assemblies of God Church, in Nalle, Gampaha by a group of unidentified persons.

Continue reading ‘Stones Hurled at Assemblies of God Pastor’s Premises in Nalle,Gampaha Even While Two Policemen Were Providing Protection.’ »

(Text of Statement Issued by the President of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchi and Trincomalee district MP Rajavarothayam Sampanthan)

TNA Leader Rajavarothayam Sampanthan MP lighting traditional lamp at the NPC swearing in ceremony-Nov 2013

The Central Committee meeting of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi was held on 26th.January 2014 at the Town Hall, Trincomalee. The meeting was attended by representatives from all districts in the Northern and Eastern provinces. The meeting which commenced at 10.30 a.m. under the chairmanship of R.Sampanthan M.P. President of the I.T.A.K. continued until 6.30. p.m.

The Central Committee conveyed its sincere thanks to the people of the Northern province who overwhelmingly supported the Tamil National Alliance, and gave the Alliance a convincing victory at the Provincial Council Elections.

The Central Committee unanimously resolved that the Tamil people were gravely harmed as a result of the following vital issues relating to their future in the Northern and Eastern Provinces not being resolved, though almost five years have lapsed since the conclusion of the war.

Continue reading ‘Govt Impedes and Obstructs Genuine Reconciliation by its Unwillingness to Honestly Share Power with the Northern Provincial Council-Sampanthan’ »

By

Vishnuguptha

“You can wipe out your opponents. But if you do it unjustly you become eligible for being wiped out yourself.”
~Ernest Hemingway

Proportional Representation (PR) system introduced along with the passage of the 1978 Constitution changed the way in which elections are conducted in Sri Lanka forever. Although it was introduced into our body-politic by J R Jayewardene with the singular objective of sustaining the United National Party (UNP) in power for almost ever, ever since its defeat in 1994, the Party has been a cruel victim of the system that was introduced to protect its ‘majority-character’. I call it ‘majority-character’ because the UNP, barring the electoral debacle in 1956, always managed to maintain its voter base fairly consistently from 1947 onwards at each election and it could boast of being the strongest single political party. Even in 1970 with the sound beating it suffered at the hands of the SLFP-led coalition, UNP as a single political entity still managed to secure the highest number of votes at the General Elections.

This performance of the UNP at a very consistent level convinced J R that on the basis of a proportional representation system, the UNP could not be ousted from power forever. Little did J R realize that Premadasa who succeeded him as leader of the UNP and President of the country had other ideas. The great restraint that J R exercised, while being the Executive President, despite some abuses of power both by his Ministers and himself, was done away with to a very great extent. The real and great powers that were invested in the office of Executive Presidency were not only used with utter disdain to the Office of Presidency but the disregard Premadasa showed towards his Ministers and officialdom was sometimes callous and outright uncivil. Yet, the great politician he was, Premadasa was clever enough to read the pulse of the ordinary men and women and played populist politics to the hilt and he made the entire country along with the Cabinet of Ministers dance to the tune of it too.

Continue reading ‘20 Years of Rotting away in the Opposition Benches has Created an Utterly Negative Psyche in the UNP’ »

AP:Buoyed by his characteristically soaring spirit, the surging crowd around him and a pair of canes, Pete Seeger walked through the streets of Manhattan leading an Occupy Movement protest in 2011.

Though he would later admit the attention embarrassed him, the moment brought back so many feelings and memories as he instructed yet another generation of young people how to effect change through song and determination as he had done over seven decades as a history-sifting singer and ever-so-gentle rabble-rouser.

“Be wary of great leaders,” he told The Associated Press two days after the march. “Hope that there are many, many small leaders.”

Continue reading ‘Pete Seeger the Singer who Popularised “We Shall Overcome” as Civil Rights Anthem Passes Away’ »

On the 05th of January 2014 at approximately 5 p.m, a Buddhist monk conducting a meeting held at the village school on observing Buddhist rituals, began to speak (from a loud speaker) against the religious worship activities of the Pastor of the Rathgama Christian Church in Rathgama in the Galle district.

Continue reading ‘“Rathgama Christian Church”Pastor’s Residence at Rathgama in Galle District Attacked by mob after Buddhist Monk’s Hate Speech.’ »

On the 12th of January 2014, at approximately 2p.m., two police officers visited the premises of the pastor of the Church of Grace in Warakapola in the Kegalle District, and questioned him as to why he had not stopped the worship services held in his premises since he was warned to discontinue the services.

Continue reading ‘Police File Case in Courts Against Warakapola “Church of Grace”Pastor after Holding Inquiry at Police Station.’ »

On the 16th of January 2014, the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the area police visited the premises of the Pastor of the Suveya Doratuwa in Bibile in the Monaragala district and questioned him on the legal validity of the church and if the church was registered. The pastor responded with his right to religious worship as a fundamental right. It is important to note that Sri Lankan legislation does not require religious worship places to be registered.

Continue reading ‘Buddhist Monks Want the “Suveya Doratuwa”Church in Bibile in Uva Province Closed After Bodu Bala Sena Meeting.’ »

By

Dharisha Bastians

Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran says emotions are running high in the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) with members losing faith in the Central Government because it continues to blockade the work of the newly elected body.

Speaking to Daily FT following the adoption of a controversial resolution calling for an international war crimes probe in the NPC, Wigneswaran said President Mahinda Rajapaksa was “killing the hopes” of the recently elected Tamil National Alliance councillors by refusing to grant simple administrative requests made by the NPC.

Continue reading ‘LTTE Ezhilan’s Wife Anandhi Sasitharan to be sent as Northern Council Representative to UNHRC in Geneva-Chief Minister Wigneswaran’ »

By Professor Ranjith Senaratne

Background

The Northern province comprising five districts, namely Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya and Mannar accounts for 13.54 % (8,884 km2) of land area and 5.2 % (1,058,762) of the population of the country. Agriculture is the mainstay of the people in the region where around 60% of the people are engaged in farming and related activities, and 45% of the labour force directly depends on agriculture. The Jaffna farmer is known for his industriousness and diligence; thus prior to the onset of the ethnic conflict in early 80’s, Jaffna contributed to around 12% of food production in the country. For instance, it accounted for around 75%, 30%, 30% and 15%, respectively, of the production red onions, chillies, grain legumes and rice in the country. The Northern Province practices both rain-fed as well as irrigated agriculture. It is endowed with 11 major and 54 minor tanks linked to a fairly well distributed irrigation canal system feeding over 40,000 ha of agricultural land.

However, as a result of the protracted internecine conflict, the performance of all the sectors of the Northern economy including agriculture was drastically affected. Concomitant with it was the loss of livelihood and means of sustenance of millions of people living in the North. Therefore in rebuilding and resuscitating the Northern region, it is imperative to revitalize the sector of agriculture in order to restore and improve the livelihoods and socio-economic standards of those engaged in farming in particular and the regional growth and development in general.

Continue reading ‘Revitalizing Agriculture Sector Imperative for Rebuilding and Resucitating the Northern Province’ »

by

Meera Srinivasan

Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council (NPC) passed a resolution on Monday calling for an international probe into the war crimes allegedly committed during the country’s ethnic conflict.

The resolution was proposed by NPC member M.K. Shivajilingam of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which formed the NPC administration after winning the 2013 provincial elections.
Continue reading ‘Northern Provincial Council Passes Resolutions Calling for International Probe on War Crimes and a Memorial Monument in Mullivaaikkaal’ »

Top media personality Krishantha Prasad Cooray has been appointed a member of the United National Party’s Working Committee, the party’s apex decision making body.

He was presented with a letter of appointment by UNP National Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe last morning and attended the party’s Working Committee meeting at Sirikotha yesterday evening.

Cooray was the Founder CEO and Managing Director of the Rivira Media Corporation, a publishing house then owned by the Richard Peiris Group, which printed the Rivira and The Nation newspapers. He has also served as a News Consultant at a major private broadcaster in Sri Lanka.
Continue reading ‘Krishantha Prasad Cooray appointed to UNP Working Committee’ »

VATICAN CITY – Two white doves that were released by children standing alongside Pope Francis as a peace gesture have been attacked by other birds.

Continue reading ‘Two Peace doves set free by Children as Pope Francis Watched Attacked by seagull, crow as crowd of thousands watch’ »

By

Megara Tegal

The Supreme Court, last week, reprimanded the police on their failure to file a case against those accused of attacking a church in Weeraketiya on 9 December 2012. The judges went on to suggest that disciplinary action should be taken against police officers who do not do their duty. The Supreme Court further ordered the area police chief and all other relevant police officers connected to the attack on the church at Weeraketiya appear in court on 3 April .

Just over a year has passed since the case was filed, following one of the most violent hate-crimes against a religious institution in the recent years. The attack on the Jeewan Alokaya Church in Weeraketiya in December 2012 left the building unusable and the Pastor, Pradeep Kumara, injured, having been assaulted with a rock.

Continue reading ‘Supreme Court Reprimands Police for not Filing Case Against Persons Accused of Attacking the “Jeewan Alokaya”Church at Weeraketiya on December 9th 2012.’ »

by

Rex Clementine

Last week, Angelo Mathews was the darling of Sri Lankan cricket. The Test series against Pakistan had seen him emerging as one of the team’s three leading batsmen alongside Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. His match saving efforts in Abu Dhabi where he made 91 and 157 not out were simply brilliant. He excelled as a leader in the second Test which Sri Lanka won by nine wickets.

Since Sanath Jayasuriya led Sri Lanka to a series win against Pakistan in 2000, no Sri Lankan skipper had led the country to an away series win except against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. There were some impressive names since Sanath. Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillekeratne Dilshan all tried and failed. (Hashan Tillekeratne didn’t captain away from home).

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Cricket Capt Angelo Mathews Turns from Hero to Zero in Five Days Due to Negative Tactics in Sharjah.’ »

By

Karu Jayasuriya M.P.

We note with shock and dismay the sudden demise of the President of the Court of Appeal Justice Sri Skandaraja. He was a judge who believed in an Independent and vibrant Judiciary. He had the courage and the prowess to stand up to the powers that be, irrespective of the consequences.

Continue reading ‘Court of Appeal President Sri Skandarajah was a Judge who had the Courage to Stand up to the Powers that be Irrespective of Consequences.’ »

By

Hema Vijay

Special Arrangement Life’s A Song: Cuckoo

From koels and flycatchers to magpie robins and whistling thrushes, birds seem to have their own concerts with raga and thala intact — think Mohanam, Bilahari, Kalyani and kanda chapu thaalam! Hema Vijay sets out to learn more about their melody- and rhythm-based tweets

Sudha Ragunathan

The city’s annual musical extravaganza may have just winded up, but plenty of complex music still hangs in the air — thanks to the city’s diverse birds and their sweet songs.
Continue reading ‘Carnatic Music Raga Notes Discernible in the Tuneful Sounds of Birds’ »

(Full Text of Response Issued by Tamara Kunanayakam Sri Lanka’s former envoy to Cuba and the UN in Geneva of regarding the ” Ceylon Today” news item “Tamara to be reappointed Sri Lanka’s Permanent Rep to UN” (18/01/2014) and similar press reports)

On my return to Sri Lanka yesterday after several months outside, I learned with much astonishment about recent media reports claiming that I am engaged in discussions with officials on my re-appointment as PR to Geneva. The falsity of the claim and its malicious character compel me to respond.

The reports refer to instructions given by the President to certain officials to meet and discuss with me arrangements for my re-appointment to Geneva as Permanent Representative to the United Nations. It claims that I have expressed “reservations” “due to short time span between now and the Geneva sessions to be held in March.”

At no time was I contacted or consulted by any Government official on this or on any other matter, related or otherwise, since my departure from the diplomatic service in July 2012.

Continue reading ‘Tamara Kunanayakam Refutes Reports About her Being Re-appointed as Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva.’ »

By

Dharisha Bastians

Every once in a while an almost accidental snapshot will tell an eloquent story.

Hirunika Premachandra, freshly appointed the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s Organiser for Central Colombo was making her way to her first Bala Mandala meeting on foot last Sunday, escorted by an adoring crowd. She would address her first meeting at Kolonnawa, her very own Ground Zero, the place her father and SLFP stalwart Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra was slain in a shootout on election day just over two years ago. His assassination had thrust the attractive but hitherto unknown daughter into the political limelight, moving hundreds of Blue party members with her tears and entreaties for justice for their beloved ‘Lucky Aiyya’.

The cameras caught Hirunika Premachandra last Sunday at an iconic moment, a hand raised in victorious salute, garlanded and smiling. At first the eye does not move past the image of the bubbly young woman flanked by her mother and party supporters. But behind the crowd, a massive hoarding with a New Year greeting bears the face of R. Duminda Silva, monitoring MP to the Ministry of Defence, Kolonnawa kingpin and the man Hirunika has openly accused of murdering her father. In an illusion created by the camera, Silva appears to be beaming down on the Hirunika procession, a fateful accident of the lens that sums up the irony of the young girl’s political journey.

Continue reading ‘Ruling UPFA Govt of President Rajapaksa Embroiled in Silent Internal Crisis for Nearly Nine Years’ »

By

Mangala Samaraweera M.P.

Having failed in successive witch hunts to discredit me since I parted company with the President in 2007, the Rajapakse regime seems to have embarked on yet another attempt to incarcerate and silence me by preparing to invoke an archaic Victorian law of the Sri Lankan penal code against me.

The cat burglar who was caught red handed by the police on New Year’s Eve with some alcohol stolen from my house and confessed in the Police statement to breaking into my house forcibly has now been turned into a ‘Star’ by the state media and the state sponsored private media. This young man, an occasional casual hand in my household until he was admitted to a drug rehabilitation centre some time ago by his family has now been brought in front of the cameras to hurl obnoxious and baseless allegations against me in keeping with the conspiracy to invoke Section 365A of the penal code which has never been utilised in recent times.

Continue reading ‘If the Rajapakse Regime Thinks that I could be Intimidated and Silenced by such Conspiracies, they are Sadly Mistaken”’ »

By

Vishnuguptha

“One ought never to turn one’s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!”
~Winston Churchill

In 1787, after the delegates in Philadelphia signed the new United States Constitution, a woman approached Benjamin Franklin. ‘Well Doctor, she asked, ‘what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?’ Franklin replied, ‘A republic, if you can keep it.’ Benjamin Franklin knew then, as most of the political leaders today tend to forget that keeping a republic going is the responsibility of the people as it is of anyone else’s. If we sacrifice liberties as the price of peace, we deserve neither liberty nor safety that comes with peace, Franklin said.Peace should not be a dividend of a political process. History may have shown ample evidence to support the contra argument.

Continue reading ‘Superior military power can crush an armed group of terrorists but it cannot kill the free will of a people.’ »

(New York, January 21, 2014) – Sri Lanka made little progress in 2013 in accountability for serious human rights abuses committed during the country’s civil war that ended in 2009, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2014. As the United Nations and international condemnation escalated, human rights activists and journalists critical of the government continued to face intimidation and threats.

“The Sri Lankan government makes a lot of claims about pursuing accountability for wartime abuses, but the world is still waiting to see some results,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It’s clearer than ever that an independent international investigation is needed to make genuine progress in providing justice for victims.” |

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka has Made Little Progress in 2013 for Accountability for Serious Human Rights Abuses Committed During War says Human Rights Watch’ »

Text of Statement issued by the NATIONAL CHRISTIAN EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE OF SRI LANKA (NCEASL)

The fundamental rights case (Case Number 19/2013 SCFR) filed on behalf of the Jeewana Alokaya Church in Weeraketiya, which was violently attacked on 09th December 2012 and 18th March 2013, was granted leave to proceed after being called in the Supreme Court on 21st January 2014.

Continue reading ‘Fundamental Rights Petition Filed by Weeraketiya “Jeewana Alokaya”Church Gets Leave to Proceed from Supreme Court’ »

Hirunika and mother meet First Family at Kande Viharaya

Hirunika Premachandra and her mother Sumana went on pilgrimage to Kande Viharaya in Alutgama on 11 January. President Rajapaksa, accompanied by First Lady Shiranthi and son Namal arrived at the temple when the Premachandras were participating in religious observances.

Hirunika Premachandra – Pic by Kithsiri de Mel

When later the Rajapaksas and the Premachandras were engaged in an intimate conversation, the Viharadhipati Thera also appeared on the scene. “I am happy to see Bharatha’s daughter also here. Janadhipatitumani, please look after her well,” Viharadhipati Thera told the President.

Continue reading ‘How Hirunika Premachandra was Appointed by President Rajapaksa as Colombo Central SLFP Co-organizer’ »

by

Namini Wijedasa

An unprecedented number of positions in Sri Lanka’s once-respected diplomatic corps has been parcelled out to friends, relatives and loyalists of the ruling party, the Sunday Times has found.

This extraordinary rise in nepotism and political favouritism has spawned conspiracy theories with several popular websites stating that the Government intends to dismantle the Sri Lanka Foreign Service (SLFS) altogether. Alarmingly, several key missions around the world—including Washington, The Hague, Ankara, Frankfurt and Pretoria—at present have no professional diplomatic officers at all.
Continue reading ‘Massive Number of Top Diplomatic Posts Given to Relatives and Cronies of Ruling Regime’ »

By: Alex Boutilier

OTTAWA—It took a day for Rathika Sitsabaiesan to realize she was being followed.

Rathika Sitsabaiesan MP at an event in Toronto-July, 2013

The first person to notice the men on motorbikes was her hired driver. On the day she arrived in Sri Lanka, where the 32-year old MP was born, he told her that people were following them.
Continue reading ‘Canadian MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan Reveals What Had Happened to her in Sri Lanka’ »

by

Dharisha Bastians

“Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out- Because I was not a Jew” – Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)

Bible burning and church razing – that is the horrific legacy of 18 months of carte blanche for extremist forces masquerading as Buddhist religious movements. It is the bequest of unchecked hate speech from public platforms of the Bodu Bala Sena and the Sihala Ravaya which has coloured the teachings and the discourse in every Buddhist temple, from the smallest villages to the largest towns across the island.

Religious tensions had been simmering in the tourist town of Hikkaduwa over the Christmas season, with leading Buddhist monks in the area demanding the closure of two Christian churches in the area on grounds that they were ‘unauthorised’. The tension had led to three churches in Southern Sri Lanka being attacked on Christmas Eve. Assemblies of God Hikkaduwa had been one of them. So when Police turned up at the church last Saturday to inform the Pastor Chinthaka Prasanna that a protest against them had been planned for the next day, members of the congregation decided it would be prudent to take certain precautions.

Continue reading ‘“It is not Enough for Christians alone to be Enraged by the Attacks on Christian Churches”’ »

By

Vishnugupta

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
~Martin Luther King Jr.

On a widely read website it was reported thus: “Saffron terror” descended upon the coastal town of Hikkaduwa in Sri Lanka’s southern province on Sunday January 12th 2014!”

“Mobs led by Buddhist priests launched attacks on two Christian churches while Sunday worship was in progress demanding that the places of Christian worship should be closed down as they were unauthorized. One was an Assembly of God church and the other the Calvary Free church. The Police remained spectators being either unable or unwilling to prevent or stop the attacks on both churches.”

Maybe for the first time ever, the custodians of the Buddha Sasana that was established by Gautama Buddha to spread his eternal teachings to the four corners of the world were branded as “terror-dealers”. There is no other interpretation that could be attributed to “Saffron terror”. The facts are accurate; interpretation appropriate and the ensuing shame couldn’t be more ignoble. The shame was brought on this sacred religion whose very foundation was Karuna (Loving Kindness), Mettha (Compassion), Muditha (Sympathetic Joy) and Upeksha (Equanimity) and it was the self-proclaimed custodians who have been primarily responsible for bringing this great religion, its devotees and its legitimate keepers- those faceless messengers of the word of the Buddha, those who meditate and discourse the merits of the Eightfold Noble Path, to the mundane and lay it to the scorn and insult of the rest of the civilized world.

Continue reading ‘Assault on other religions by Buddhist Monks is an assault on Buddhism’ »

(Full Text of Media Statement Issued on 14th January 2014 by Hon. Karu Jayasuriya,MP and Chairman, United Leadership Council of the United National Party)

The upsurge in religious violence in recent times is profoundly damaging to the national psyche and should concern all fair-minded Sri Lankans. Social and religious harmony is the patriotic duty of every citizen, especially in a country that is emerging from 30 years of ethnic conflict.

Last Sunday’s attack on two churches in Hikkaduwa was neither isolated nor accidental. It was merely the manifestation of a greater tragedy that is now engulfing our nation, where religious and ethnic intolerance is being allowed to reign with impunity by the ruling regime, distorting the values inherent to Sri Lanka’s culture, ethos and long respected civilisation.

Continue reading ‘Hikkaduwa Church Attacks Indicate Religious and Ethnic Intolerance is Being Allowed to Reign with Impunity by the Ruling Regime-Karu Jayasuriya’ »

By

Marianne David

8 January 2014, five years since they took Lasantha Wickrematunge away. Who these ‘they’ are, no one knows. Or those who know will not say.

One suspect in his murder died in Police custody, the second has been released due to lack of evidence, and all ‘leads’ have led nowhere. The Police is yet to make a breakthrough in the investigation.

Journalist and founder Editor of The Sunday Leader, Lasantha was attacked while on his way to work on the morning of 8 January 2009, at around 10:30 a.m. by armed assassins on motorcycles. They blocked Lasantha’s vehicle before breaking open his window and brutally assaulting him.

Lasantha was taken to the Colombo South General Hospital (Kalubowila), where he died from his head wounds, despite a specialist team of medical personnel carrying out surgery lasting nearly three hours. Three hours during which a huge crowd of journalists and others gathered at the hospital, fearing the worst. And the worst it was. Lasantha had been, in his brother Lal’s words, ‘eliminated’.

Continue reading ‘Lasantha: Five Years On, You Are Still Our Hero’ »

by Harrish Thirukumaran

Universally, Nelson Mandela has inevitably become a humanistic embodiment of democracy, freedom, equality and human rights.

PM Harper in South Africa to pay his final respects to Nelson Mandela-Government of Canada has decisively introduced a set of scholarships under Mandela’s name–pic: pm.gc.ca/

Mandela’s life-altering decisions and actions have formulated his individual moral compass that lives on through his organizational foundation. As implied, social intolerance was one of many key issues that were effectively combated by him within his capacity as a lawyer.
Continue reading ‘2014 New Year’s resolution: Exert the moral responsibility to further brighten the flame’ »

Part VI of VI

By Harrish Thirukumaran

Moses Garub – ‘The Kids-Soup Kitchen’

On the last Namibian Sunday, my group and I had volunteered at a local soup kitchen in Katutura called Moses Garube that was organized by man named Samuel Kapepo. It has been built to help feed poor Namibian street children from succumbing to hunger.

The 2013 Brock University Namibia Group-pic by Dan

It was also a way to raise awareness of the continuous plight of today’s youth by assisting them directly or indirectly in the community. It is routinely opened and ran on Wednesdays and Sundays. Yet, Wednesday operations had been recently shutdown due to the lack of volunteers.
Continue reading ‘What Has Been Achieved from travelling to Africa?: Namibian Experiences of a Student Volunteer’ »

By

Matthew Vickery

It is a city that many people know very little about in a modern context, yet as Christmas Day approaches, pictures of this seemingly idyllic, peaceful place adorn many mantelpieces.

A Playground and a wall-in Bethlahem-pic: myheartinpalestinell

Modern day Bethlehem is surrounded by a concrete wall which at its highest point is over eight metres tall – twice the height of the Berlin Wall – with three crowded refugee camps within it. Where Christmas all over the world is an opportunity to visit family, this is not guaranteed for those who live in Bethlehem at any point throughout the year. Permission must be sought from the Israeli authorities, even if individuals wish to travel just six kilometres to visit friends or family in Jerusalem.

Continue reading ‘‘O little town of Bethlehem’: A world of collective punishment today in the place where Jesus was born’ »

pic: facebook.com/slembassyusa

(Text of a press release issued by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington)

Ayubowan, Vanakkam, Assalamu Alaikum and Happy New Year!

As Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the United States, I am honored and privileged to once again wish you and your families a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. All Sri Lankans were proud to see the incredible developments that took place in our country in 2013, but most importantly, 2013 represents another year of Sri Lanka’s lasting peace.

I wish to express my appreciation to all of you for your deep and strong interest in the well-being and welfare of our motherland, and for your continued support extended to His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa and our Embassy in Washington. So many Sri Lankan-Americans have been committed to giving back to our country, and I thank all of you who have supported Sri Lanka’s development and reconciliation.

Continue reading ‘New Year Greetings from Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya’ »

facebook.com/NCEASL

As the world prepared to celebrate Christmas on the 24th evening, three churches in the South of Sri Lanka were attacked by mobs.

Continue reading ‘Three Churches in Hikkaduwa and Angunukolapalassa Under Attack on Christmas Eve.’ »

By

Dilrukshi Handunnetti

With the Sri Lankan Government openly expressing its wish to review a much-critiqued government-to-government contract entered in 2002, in a bid to take back 99 oil storage tanks located in Trincomalee, diplomatic feathers are said to be ruffled, at both ends.

The storage tanks were handed over to the Indian Oil Corporation’s local subsidiary, Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC) PLC in 2002, when the United National Party (UNP) led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was in power. The decision has been opposed by politicians, people and trade unions alike at that time. But the political mood in Colombo is fast changing, particularly towards India, a country that the current administration has a strained relationship with, despite the overt niceties.

Continue reading ‘Diplomatic Row Between New Delhi and Colombo Over Sri Lanka’s Attempt to take back Control of 99 Oil Tanks in Trincomalee Leased to India’ »

By

Shamindra Ferdinando

In the wake of Bangladesh executing Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Qadir Mullah, for war crimes committed during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, India fears Islamic terrorist groups targeting Indian interests in the region, including Sri Lanka.

A gravely concerned Indian External Affairs Ministry has urged several South Asian countries, including Sri Lanka to provide enhanced security to Indian diplomatic missions.

Bangladesh executed Mullah on Dec 12. The 65-year-old politician is the first person convicted by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) to be executed.

Continue reading ‘Fearing Attacks by “Islamic Terrorist Groups”,India Urges Sri Lanka to Enhance Security for its Diplomatic Missions in the Island.’ »

by

Vishnuguptha

“There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous.”
~Blaise Pascal

They say that thirteen is not a very auspicious number. Originating perhaps from the Last Supper which had only thirteen partaking of it with Jesus Christ at the center, numerical 13 has been plaguing many a member of families who occupy seats of power and influence and they have more often than not, tried to avoid this numerical with disdain and fear. Due to the fear factor especially in relation to the ominous forebodings it had surrounded itself right throughout the history of man, number thirteen has influenced decisions of leaders, both of clergy as well as lay kind. The mere superstitious nature of this baseless fear, however, has had enormous impact on the lives and times of many countries and individual leaders.

While stating categorically that this writer has no such superstitions or ill-based prejudices regarding these numerical occults, it should be stated that the year 2013 stands out as a sinful year in so far as politics and politicians of Sri Lanka are concerned. The spate of sin and rampant evil that spread across the country’s city centers as well as remote villages, where school children and school teachers were subjected to humiliation and dishonor, where innocent bystanders were run over by the maddeningly speeding luxury sports utility vehicles (SUVs) belonging to politicos and their henchmen, where illegal drugs and illicit liquor became readily available merchandize of the average guy and gal, enveloped the population centers and remote hamlets corrupting their denizens and enriching the peddlers of sin and evil.

Continue reading ‘Common Denominator of Dastardly Sins in Sri Lanka in 2013 is that all of them were Committed by Govt Politicos or their Immediate Henchmen.’ »

by

Suchitra Vijayan

I met Devyani early this year, at a dinner following a book reading at Columbia. We were seated next to each other and soon started talking about Afghanistan and Pakistan. Devyani had previously spent time in Pakistan. It was a matter of time before we realized that we had common friends from my time in Kabul.

She was genuinely engaged and curious. She asked incisive questions and it was obvious early on that this was some one deeply invested in the future of the region.

It was towards the end of the dinner when I was about to leave, that I knew she was the acting Counsel General.

I was pleasantly surprised. She had none of the airs of self importance or stuffiness of the bureaucracy the Indians are notorious for. I walked away thinking she was nice.

Continue reading ‘Devyani Khobragade: The Person Behind the Headlines.’ »

By

N. Sathiya Moorthy

In his response to the budget debate in Parliament as Finance Minister, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has invited the TNA to work with the government for a ‘home-grown solution’ to the ethnic issue. As was to be expected, the TNA leadership, meeting in Vavuniya only days later, rejected the earlier government call for a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), one more time, likewise. Sketchy media reports have not indicated that they are opposed to talks, per se.

There is nothing however to suggest that the TNA is against peace talks and political solution, per se. They and their people need it more than the rest. Post-poll in the North, the contours and ground realities have changed. It had changed once earlier after the ‘ethnic war’. None grabbed the opportunity then with the seriousness and sincerity. None seem to be wanting it now, either.

Continue reading ‘The TNA Trusts the International Community More than they Trust Themselves.’ »

by

Walden Bello

During the national debate on whether the Philippines should join the World Trade Organization in 1994-95, proponents promised that joining the organization would help create some 500,000 new agriculture jobs a year. The Philippines, they said, would become a powerhouse exporter of high-value-added crops like broccoli, snow peas, and cut flowers.

In fact, over the next decade, the country was turned from a net agricultural exporter into a net agricultural importer, and employment in agriculture dropped drastically in absolute numbers, from 11.2 million in 1994 to 10.8 million in 2001. In one commodity after another, Filipino producers were driven out of business by cheap subsidized imports of grain, poultry, vegetables, and livestock.

Continue reading ‘WTO Agreement on Agriculture Turns Developing Nations from Dynamic Agricultural Exporters to Troubled Agricultural Importers’ »

by
Latheef Farook

Devanagala is a beautiful peaceful village in the central hills about six kilometers from Mawanella on the way to Hemmathagama. The village has been known for the rock called Devanagala Rock. There is a Buddhist temple and an inscription on the rock. According to those in the village Devanagala area was believed to have been the place from where Sinhalese kings dispatched garrisons to different places. Muslims in the village claim that they were settled there by Sinhalese kings to defend the Kandyan kingdom from invaders.

People in the area, both Sinhalese and Muslims alike, have been farmers and small time traders .They were living for generations like one family caring and sharing for each other. Even during the 2001 anti Muslim riots in Mawanella, Devanagala area was unaffected as both Muslims and Sinhalese there lived in traditional harmony.

Continue reading ‘“Maithree Sahana Patahanama” Campaigns to Evict 3000 Muslims from their Homes in Devanagala in Archaeological Buffer Zone Extended by 400 Yards.’ »

by

M.R. Venkatesh

P. Chidambaram at a conference on Indian government’s stand on the issue of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Photo: PTI

(Seeking to deconstruct a much-laboured criticism against the Congress in Tamil Nadu and at the national level for being ‘anti-Tamil’ in its approach to the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, Union Finance Minister and Senior Congress leader, P. Chidambaram, at a recent meeting in Chennai, argues that the 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, continues to offer the best possible solution to resolve the crisis and ensure a better deal for the island’s Tamils. M.R. Venkatesh explores)

Rarely does one openly witness the dilemma of a government’s defence of itself unfolding as a counter-perspective, as was seen over the recent historical narrative about the travails of the ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka and India’s response to it.
Continue reading ‘Chidambaram’s Brave Bid to Clear Congress of anti-Tamil Image Regarding Sri Lanka’ »

by Ramesh Uvais

Nadeesha Hemamali

At a time when one section in society is rather opposed to film stars entering politics, others believe that their star status is a stumbling block to serve the people. Sri Lanka’s political history has evidence of top film world heroes playing heroic roles in politics too.

But the next question that arises is the problem of beauty and brains? Some question the rationale behind voting and electing movie stars to parliament simply for their reel image and not taking into consideration whether such stars have the capacity to do justice to their real life characters. It is virtually a matter concerning beauty and brains. It is no secret that stars with a huge fan base, have become utter flops in the political scenario.

It is in this backdrop that popular actress and tele drama producer Nadeesha Hemamali is taking a plunge into politics. She announced on Thursday that she was contesting the upcoming Southern Provincial Council Elections on the UNP ticket.

The vibrant actress Nadeesha, who is known for her exceptional acting prowess and outstanding PR skills, said despite a faction opposing or discouraging the entry of actresses into the political sphere she was confident of playing her role well in the world of politics.
Continue reading ‘I am Nadeesha Hemamali and I am Different. Please Mark my words’ »

Geoffrey Dobbs-pic: sundaytimes.lk

by

Dharisha Bastians

The Founder of the Galle Literary Festival, Australian Citizen Geoffrey Dobbs has been denied entry into Sri Lanka yesterday, after he was deported last month, the main opposition United National Party revealed.

The issue of Dobbs’ deportation and rejection was raised in Parliament yesterday with Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe speculating that someone in the Government may be eyeing the acquisition of his considerable property in the Galle District.

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe

Sangeeta Richard-pic via: twitter.com/ShivAroor

by

Narayan Lakshman

On the one-week anniversary of the fast-moving saga of Devyani Khobragade (39), the New York-based Indian diplomat arrested, strip-searched, then released on December 12 over a visa fraud felony, two distinct narrative arcs are discernible.

The first is the one advanced by the Government of India and embellished in the media with details supplied by the father of the Deputy Consul General, former bureaucrat Uttam Khobragade.

The second narrative stems from the U.S., which, except for an unanticipated, fiery statement by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara on Wednesday evening, has been muted and limited to basic, factual releases, but in reality runs deep with historical precedents.

Devyani Khobragade-pic courtesy:Reuters

by

Vishnuguptha

“It is more shameful to distrust one’s friends than to be deceived by them.”
~François Duc De La Rochefoucauld

Many moons ago, this writer in his column dated September 28, 2012 wrote thus: “However much the Opposition in general or the United National Party in particular, tries to dislodge the present incumbent regime they will not succeed unless and until they find a game-changing issue. If an issue is found that has the potential for changing the game, the issue itself will find a leader to lead the followers towards the change that is so desired”. Nothing has changed in substance since then except perhaps, the leadership of the United National Party.

On top of the leader, a Council of Leadership has been imposed mainly due to the obscenely devastating results of the Wayamba and Central Provincial Council elections. For the first time since Ranil Wickremesinghe rose to the helm of the UNP, he has conceded some powers to the newly-formed Leadership Council and to what extent this arrangement is going to be practical and legitimate, would be decided only after the proposed ratification by the Annual Convention of the Party scheduled to be held later this year.

Continue reading ‘Ranil,Karu,Sajith,Sobhitha&Shiranee:Who among these can be Trusted to Abolish the Executive Presidency After Becoming President?’ »

By

Ashwin Hemmathagama

Opposition Legislator Dr. Harsha De Silva who has led the charge against the Government’s casino bill, yesterday slammed the regime for attempting to mislead the country and taking the country for fools after it gazetted the controversial James Packer hotel project on Tuesday night.

Speaking in Parliament yesterday De Silva said that Rank Holding Chairman Ravi Wijeratne had told a Sunday newspaper he would open a casino at D.R. Wijewardena Mawatha and the Government had held an urgent cabinet meeting the next day despite it being Poya.

De Silva said that the Government had attempted to pull the wool over the eyes of the public with the earlier strategic withdrawal of the casino bill and gazetting it this week using different words.

Continue reading ‘“Govt Withdraws Casino Bill last week and then Gazettes it This week Separately Using New Words”-Harsha de Silva MP’ »

by

Meera Srinivasan

The haunting image — from a reporting assignment over a month ago — of an army of Indian trawlers charging towards the shore of Analativu, a small island in the northern tip of Sri Lanka, remains vivid in my memory.

Though there were no arrests reported that night, the Sri Lankan Navy, on several occasions before and after that, have arrested Indian fishermen on charges of trespassing. Not just in Analativu, but at different points off Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern coasts.

Indian fishermen have, over decades, fished in Sri Lankan waters — some have faced arrests; but the year 2013 has been particularly bad. A total of 600 fishermen from India — all from Tamil Nadu — were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy this year, a sharp increase compared to the last few years (See box). Nearly 400 of the fishermen arrested this year have been released, while about 200 fishermen are currently in Sri Lankan prisons. A total of 107 trawlers were apprehended from the fishermen, of which the Indian side has retrieved about 40 so far.

Satellite images have, beyond doubt, established that Indian fishermen frequently cross the agreed-upon International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) that defines the two nations’ respective fishing zones on either side of it.

Continue reading ‘Satellite Images Establish that Indian Fishermen Frequently Cross IMBL and Fish in Sri Lankan Waters’ »

Confusion and chaos was the order yesterday within the leisure and entertainment industry as well as the Parliament following the gazetting of three integrated resorts involving two of Sri Lanka’s famous corporate names as well as a world famous gaming mogul.

As exclusively reported by the Daily FT, the Government on Tuesday released three separate gazettes approving three multi-billion rupee Integrated Super Luxury Tourist Resorts (IRs) – Waterfront Properties Ltd., with a total investment of $ 650 million, Queensbury Leisure Ltd., by business leader Dhammika Perera with an investment of $ 300 million and Lake Leisure Holdings Ltd., by world gaming mogul James Packer’s Crown Resorts and local partner Ravi Wijeratne, with an investment of $ 350 million.

The gazette figures partly differ from original announcements made by the Government as well as individual firms whilst there was an explicit omission of casinos or gaming activity as well.

Continue reading ‘Govt Issues 3 Separate Gazettes Approving 3 Multi-billion Rupee Integrated Super Luxury Tourist Resorts’ »

By

Dharisha Bastians

In these troubled times, when Sri Lanka’s democracy is gravely threatened by the twin evils of autocratic governance and ineffective Opposition, Sajith Premadasa, the former United National Party Deputy Leader, is busy drawing a self-portrait.

For the second time in two days, Premadasa has openly rejected personal invitations from the UNP Leadership Council to attend its Tuesday and Wednesday meetings. Both invitations were aimed at bringing Premadasa in for discussions with the Leadership Council in a bid to resolve his doubts about the new leadership structure and convince him to take his seat on the nine-member body.

Continue reading ‘Powerful Media Business Tycoons Manipulating Sajith Premadasa in Bid to Oust Ranil Wickremesinghe as UNP Leader’ »

By

Nirupama Rao

(Full Text of Sree Chithira Tirunal Balarama Varma ,birth centenary lecture titled‘India in a tough neighbourhood” that was delivered at Trivandrum on December 14th 2013. It is being posted here with the permission of ms. Nirupama Rao)

I am deeply honoured to be here at the kind and gracious invitation of Maharaja Sree Padmanabha Dasa Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma at the Kanakakkunnu Palace to deliver the Centenary lecture to honour the erstwhile Maharaja of Travancore, Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma whose Birth Centenary is being celebrated today. I know Maharaja Marthanda Varma cannot be here with us today due to unavoidable circumstances. I send him my warmest regards and my respects, and wish him a safe and speedy recovery.

Maharaja Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma lived in epochal times in our country’s history, being an important witness to our freedom struggle and also contributing in significant measure, to social reform in Travancore, including the temple entry proclamation, a move of historic proportions and the harbinger of elemental change. I am aware of the deep respect and affection he received from the people of Travancore, his humility and his oneness with the citizens of his State, his pioneering reforms leading to adult suffrage and compulsory education, and his creation of several charitable trusts from his personal resources. He ruled justly, and wisely, conforming to the globally accepted ideal of kingship. He was also ahead of his times in his sensitivity to the preservation of our precious ecology in Kerala, and I recall in this context that he set up the beautiful Periyar game sanctuary. His championing of scientific causes and public health led to the establishment of the Sree Chithira Thirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, an Institute of National Importance with a special focus on research in cardiology and neurology. The Chithira Heart Valve developed at the institute has helped thousands of patients. His legacy is therefore extremely precious.

Continue reading ‘India would have a legitimate concern about any foreign presence in Sri Lanka that precludes India.’ »

By

Meera Srinivasan

A white, rectangular board with Sinhala and Tamil letters appears once every few metres along the iron fence around a huge expanse of land in the sea-facing town.

‘Ilangai Minsara Sabaikkuriya Kaaniyaagum. Utpravesithal thadai’ [This land belongs to the Ceylon Electricity Board. Entry is banned] reads the board. This is where a 500-MW capacity, coal-fired power plant will come up in a few years from now in a joint project between Sri Lanka and India.

For India, the project is a feather in its cap. It is the National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC) first international joint venture, through the Trincomalee Power Company Limited (TPCL) where it holds 50:50 stakes with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).

For Sri Lanka — which currently consumes 2000 MW of power a day — the 2X250 MW-capacity plant bears promise of meeting the shortfall in its power requirement.

For about 800 families in the area though — primarily Tamils — the project, indirectly, has spelt misery. “The misery of living like refugees in your own place,” as Bagyarathinam Yogeswari put it. She is among those who lost their land due to the upcoming plant. The case of Sampur illustrates the problematic issue of control over land in Sri Lanka’s devolution debate.

Continue reading ‘800 Tamil families displaced in Sampur due to their lands being acquired for private company owned by close relative of President Rajapaksa’ »

by

DR DAYAN JAYATILLEKA

Mr Akashi was absolutely right when he urged flexibility and reform on the Sri Lankan government and sounded the alarm of serious consequences in Geneva March 2014 (that’s 75 days away, folks) if it failed to shift in the right direction. He did get one thing wrong though. There is neither a “Central government” nor a “Northern provincial government” in Sri Lanka. Those categories and that terminology pertain to a federal system such as that of India.

Constitutionally what we have is a unitary state form in which there is one government and power has been shifted outwards and downward, in specific respects, to provincial councils or administrations. That is the crucial distinction between federalism and devolution. Of course Mr Akashi’s political Freudian slip indicates the view of Sri Lanka and attitude towards it in a large segment of the international community. The treatment of Sri Lanka as already containing two power centres, two capitals, does not help the battle for devolution and only reinforces the propaganda of the Sinhala hawks within and outside the State.

What looks like a sideshow, namely the growing confrontation between Chief Minister Wigneswaran and Governor Chandrasiri, is much more than that. It is the thin end of the wedge of a clash of two projects: that of the strategy of escalating globalisation by Tamil nationalism and narrowing of space by the defence establishment which seems to drive much of state policy at a subterranean level.

Continue reading ‘Diaspora Hawks Have Politically and Ideologically Infiltrated and Influenced the Tamil National Alliance and Northern Provincial Council’ »

By

S.L.Gunasekara

David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the formerly `Great’ Britain has repeatedly not just requested but purported to `demand’ that the sovereign state of Sri Lanka which ceased to be a colonial possession of Britain 63 years ago, should conduct “Credible Transparent and Independent” investigations into alleged war crimes. What exactly does Cameron mean by these terms? What does Cameron mean by “credible”? Does he mean, as I think he does investigations that will yield the results that Cameron wants? Cameron has not seen it fit to elaborate on what he meant; perhaps he was too embarrassed to do so: nor has anyone seen it fit to ask him what exactly he meant.

Continue reading ‘British PM David Cameron Does not have Guts to Prosecute or Take Any Action Against Adele Balasingham’ »

By

Prof. Carlo Fonseka

Ever since I saw innovative director Jayantha Chandrasiri’s fancifully named “Butterfly Symphony”, the recurring sentiment I associate with it is “beauty”. As it happens, beauty, truth and goodness were the three values secular-minded undergraduates of our time (1950s) fashionably professed to pursue. Butterfly Symphony is a beautiful film. Its rich music composed and conducted by up-and-coming young musician Darshana Ruwan Disanayaka(a known Amadeus Mozart fanatic) is enchantingly beautiful.

In fact it was the heartbreaking rendition in a television ad for the film by superlative vocalist Amarasiri Pieris of the phrase “mata mage novena magema aadarayak thibuna” from the theme song of the film that induced my whole family to see Butterfly Symphony. The film is based on a beautiful fantasy, to wit, the passionate love of a young musician for an older woman whose letter to her betrothed went astray and accidently fell into the hands of the young musician. The musician Vadeesha Devaminda Wickramanayaka is sensitively portrayed by Uddika Premaratna, and the woman Punya by the iconic Yashoda Wimaladharma. Her perfectly proportioned face greatly enhances the beauty of the Butterfly Symphony.

Continue reading ‘Innovative Director Jayantha Chandrasiri’s Film “Butterfly Symphony” Proclaims Intrinsic Potential for Goodness in Human Beings.’ »

By

Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha M.P.

(Presentation by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, MP At the Observer Research Foundation Delhi, December 13th 2013)

I must admit to being deeply worried about the current state of relations between India and Sri Lanka. I contrast this with the excellent situation that obtained in 2009, when India was the chief component of the protective barrier against efforts to stop us eradicating terrorism from our shores. One might have thought that this was a goal the whole world would have supported, but sadly this is not an ideal world and countries will naturally put their own self interest first. Fortunately, not only did India’s interests coincide with our own at that stage, but given the terrible toll terrorism funded by external sources was taking on both our countries, I think it is also true to say that we worked in accordance with the highest moral perspectives.

But the aim we shared then, of eradicating terrorism on our shores, went hand in hand with another commitment, which was the promotion of pluralism in Sri Lanka. This again is a moral goal, but it also has a practical dimension, in that the full incorporation of the Tamil people in the body politic in Sri Lanka would have reduced the potential for future terrorism.

Sadly Sri Lanka has not pursued the Reconciliation process with the commitment it requires. Given its urgency I believe we should try to understand the reasons for this, and try to overcome them. In this process India has a significant role to play.

Continue reading ‘“I am Deeply Worried About Current State of Relations Between India and Sri Lanka”’ »

Islamic Discourses on Veiling, Hijab, Burqa, Chador and covering.

The Quran

The Quran is the Holy Book of Muslims believed to be the direct and unadulterated word of God transmitted to the Prophet Mohamed (d. 632 C.E), through the archangel Gabriel over a 22-year period, beginning in 610 C.E. The Revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Mohamed is said to have taken place while he was in meditative retreat in Mt. Hira, at the outskirts of Mecca in present-day Saudi Arabia. The Quran was revealed in Arabic, hence the prestigious, sacred, position of the Arabic language among Muslims until today.

The Quran consists of 114 chapters (known in Arabic as suras) and each chapter is subdivided into verses (known in Arabic as ayat).

The majority of Muslims and non-Muslims believe that the Quran explicitly and unequivocally prescribes veiling upon Muslim women. In this section, we propose to present what the Quran says about veiling.

In order to learn what the Quran says about veiling and in what terms this Book addresses the question of women’s clothing, we must look at two main types of passages in the Quran:

Continue reading ‘Islamic Discourses on Veiling, Hijab, Burqa, Chador and covering, a comprehensive write up’ »

By NELL McSHANE WULFHART

Sri Lanka is so jam-packed with alluring outdoorsy activities that visitors often high-tail it out of the capital a day or two after arriving, choosing instead to spend their vacation days lounging on a southern beach, whale-watching off the coast or leopard-spotting in a national park.

Clockwise from top left: Pettah, Colombo’s main market; a train ride along the Indian Ocean; “string hoppers”; beach at Galle Face Green; colorful textiles at Barefoot; the Ministry of Crab. Center: sunset in Mount Lavinia.-pic: Kuni Takahashi

Yet Colombo is fast becoming a draw in itself.
Continue reading ‘36 Hours in Colombo, Sri Lanka’ »

Pondy: Bharathiar statue in Bharathi park named in honour of Subramanya Bharathi. Photo: G Krishnaswamy

by Olympia Shilpa Gerald

Today Easwaran Dharmarajan Koil Street is choc-a-bloc with traffic that pours to and fro, from outside the boulevard area to the heritage quarter.

Retail stores, street-side shops and Puducherry’s temple elephant call the bustling street their home. But if we could turn back time to eighty years or so, this was the street where lived, walked and sang, one of the most popular poets of the last century.
Continue reading ‘Subramania Bharati may not have been from Puducherry, but this coastal town was very much a part of the poet he became’ »

Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne

by

Shihara Maduwage

In a fiery scandal which erupted recently, the Coordinating Secretary to the Prime Minister was alleged to have intervened to release a heroin container from the Customs. In the light of the scandal, Keerthi Sri Weerasinghe had tendered his resignation to Prime Minister and Minister of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs D.M. Jayaratne. However, he said in his resignation letter that he had no connection whatsoever with the alleged incident of importing heroin or releasing a heroin container from the Customs. Daily Mirror spoke to Mr. Weerasinghe regarding the allegations:
Continue reading ‘“I Must Tell you Frankly that I was Never Involved in a Heroin Haul”- Coordinating Secretary to Prime Minister’ »

by

C.V.Wigneswaran

Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran

(Full Text of Statement made by C.V.Wigneswaran, Northern Province Chief Minister while presenting the Annual Financial Statement and Appropriation Statute to the Council for the year 2014 on 10/12/2013)

Hon’ Chairman, Hon’ Ministers, Hon’ Members of the Provincial Council belonging to the ruling party as well as the opposition!

Continue reading ‘If International Community shows laxity, lethargy and indifference the plight of the Tamil speaking people would become irreversible’ »

by DushiYanthini Kanagasabapathipillai

“We will destroy the idiocy
Of denigrating womanhood” ~ Mahakavi Subramaniya Bhaarathiyaar, (11 December 1882 ~11 September 1921), (Tamil Poet, Reformer and Freedom Fighter who supported the women and their rights)

Statue of Great Tamil poet Mahakavi Subramaniya Bhaarathiyaar stands tall in Jaffna Peninsula, North of Sri Lanka

Mahakavi Subramaniya Bhaarathiyaar was very well known for his passionate poems and his active role in Indian independence movement. He was and still known as people’s poet and freedom fighter. Bharathiyaar has written many poems on women’s freedom, caste and patriotism.
Continue reading ‘Subramaniya Bhaarathiyaar: Remembering a Remarkable Poet ♫’ »

By Matthew Taylor and Nick Hopkins

More than 500 of the world’s leading authors, including five Nobel prize winners, have condemned the scale of state surveillance revealed by the whistleblower Edward Snowden and warned that spy agencies are undermining democracy and must be curbed by a new international charter.

Clockwise from top left, eight of the people who have signed the petition: Hanif Kureishi, Björk, Arundhati Roy, Don DeLillo, Ian McEwan, Tom Stoppard, Margaret Atwood and Martin Amis

The signatories, who come from 81 different countries and include Margaret Atwood, Don DeLillo, Orhan Pamuk, Günter Grass and Arundhati Roy, say the capacity of intelligence agencies to spy on millions of people’s digital communications is turning everyone into potential suspects, with worrying implications for the way societies work.
Continue reading ‘500 World’s leading authors Including 5 Nobel Prize Winners Condemn State surveillance of personal data and Demand “Digital Bill of Rights” to Curb Abuses’ »

By

Dharisha Bastians

“It took a man like Madiba to free not just the prisoner, but the jailer as well” – US President Barack Obama

In a single moment 58 years ago today, Rosa Parks helped change this country.-pic via twitter.com/BarackObama (December 1)

The Sri Lankan Government is taking some aspects of its role a Chair in Office of the Commonwealth of Nations very seriously.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa for instance, embracing his dual role as President of the Republic and Commonwealth Chair, issued not one but two messages of condolence to South African President Jacob Zuma on the passing of the world’s most beloved statesman and freedom fighter, Nelson Mandela.
Continue reading ‘Govt Fails to Rap UPFA MP Suriyapperuma for Calling President Obama “Kalla” (Nigger) in Parliament’ »

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Vishnuguptha

“The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.” ~ Warren Bennis

pic: courtesy of UKInSriLanka

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Seevali Abeysekera

Whilst a never ending torrential thunderstorm enveloped Johannesburg yesterday, many world leaders gathered to pay their respects to the man reverentially referred to as “ Madiba “ – Nelson Mandela.

Heads of states had quickly re-scheduled their diaries in order to be seen to be paying their respects to the man seen by the world as the ultimate living embodiment of the human spirit – a man who showed the world that decisions and actions should be guided by love, justice and peace and not by anger, bitterness or hatred.
Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka-What We Can Learn From Nelson Mandela’ »

No matter how famous you are, it appears, few can resist the appeal of the selfie.

David Cameron, Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Barack Obama pose for a selfie. Michele Obama, meanwhile, remains focused on Nelson Mandela’s memorial service. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

As Barack Obama and David Cameron joined tens of thousands of South Africans paying their respects to Nelson Mandela at a memorial service in Johannesburg, they took advantage of the unusual number of dignitaries gathered in one place to pose for a self-portrait with Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the Danish prime minister (and daughter-in-law of Neil Kinnock).
Continue reading ‘David Cameron and Barack Obama pose for selfie with Danish PM’ »

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Fathima Sahar

My name is Fathima Sahar, a first year student at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Moratuwa. I am one of three students who are affected by the ban on the niqab by the University.

I thought of writing this because our side of story has been literally ‘veiled’ away from the public. The media that reported the issue only spoke to the University authorities and did not contact us. The University too, that is so eager to see our faces did not want to hear our voices, ideas and thoughts.
Continue reading ‘Wearing of “Niqab” banned Unilaterally by University of Moratuwa’ »

by Slavoj Žižek

Mandela must have died a bitter man. To honour his legacy, we should focus on the unfulfilled promises his leadership gave rise to

In the last two decades of his life, Nelson Mandela was celebrated as a model of how to liberate a country from the colonial yoke without succumbing to the temptation of dictatorial power and anti-capitalist posturing.

‘It is all too simple to criticise Mandela for abandoning the socialist perspective after the end of apartheid: did he really have a choice? Was the move towards socialism a real option?’ Photograph: Media24/Gallo Images

In short, Mandela was not Robert Mugabe, and South Africa remained a multiparty democracy with a free press and a vibrant economy well-integrated into the global market and immune to hasty socialist experiments.
Continue reading ‘If Nelson Mandela really had won, he wouldn’t be seen as a universal hero’ »

by Chris McGreal

Among those eulogising Mandela are people who once damned him as a terrorist and supported apartheid

Margaret Thatcher with Nelson Mandela in 1990. Photograph: Georges Dekeerle

Nelson Mandela Square sits at the entrance to the glitziest shopping mall in what is reputed to be the wealthiest square kilometre in Africa. Towering over the cafes around the northern Johannesburg piazza, as if guarding the diamond jewellers and designer clothes shops within, is a six metre tall, 2.5 ton statue of the great man dancing.
Continue reading ‘Mandela: never forget how the free world’s leaders learned to change their tune’ »

By Latheef Farook

On Saturday 8 May 2010 afternoon the Urban Development Authority, UDA, under the Defense Ministry, deployed police and special forces to destroy number of houses at Mews Street in Slave Island in the heart of Colombo.

All except one house, owned by a Tamil, are Muslim owned. Those who lived there were forced out of their homes with their belongings thrown into streets.

The evicted people said that they have title deeds of ownership of the land, documents to prove the houses are legal and were living there for decades. They worked in and around there and earned their livelihood .Their children too went to schools in the area.
Continue reading ‘“Mihindusenpura” Homes in Dematagoda Promised to Evicted Muslims of Slave Island Given to Tilanga Sumathipala Supporters from Borella’ »

by PARSHATHY. J. NATH & K. JESHI

Talk about Chennai, and images of frothy filter coffee, ancient temples and the Marina Beach rush to our minds. However, this is also a city of fishermen who live in matchbox houses, devadasis who lead radical lives, and people with prejudices.

The Hindu Nirmala Lakshman, director, Hindu Group of Publications, during the book reading of her Degree Coffee By The Yard organised by Coimbatore Book Club in Coimbatore Photo: K. Ananthan

These untold stories come alive in Degree Coffee By The Yard, written by Nirmala Lakshman.
Continue reading ‘Nirmala Lakshman affectionately narrates stories of Chennai in her book “Degree Coffee By The Yard”’ »

By Nelson Mandela

NEW PILLARS FOR A NEW WORLD

As the 1980s drew to a close I could not see much of the world from my prison cell, but I knew it was changing.

There was little doubt in my mind that this would have a profound impact on my country, on the southern African region and the continent of which I am proud to be a citizen. Although this process of global change is far from complete, it is clear that all nations will have boldly to recast their nets if they are to reap any benefit from international affairs in the post-Cold War era.
Continue reading ‘South Africa’s Future Foreign Policy’ »

Lorraine Klaasen-pic via: LorraineKlaasen.com

Lorraine Klaasen performing CBC’s tribute to Nelson Mandela

Music played a vital role in South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement.

So CBC Music commissioned Montreal singer Lorraine Klassen to write a song to celebrate Mandela’s life. Lorraine was born and raised in Soweto, South Africa, and she’s the daughter of the legendary South African jazz singer, Thandie Klassen.

Continue reading ‘Nelson Mandela Tribute: “Now is the Time” by Soweto Native and Montrealer Lorraine Klaasen’ »

“No sun outlasts its sunset, but it will rise again and bring the dawn.”

Dr. Maya Angelou (b: Apr 4, 1928)

Video message delivered by Dr. Maya Angelou on behalf of the American people in memory of Nelson Mandela.

Continue reading ‘His Day is Done – A Tribute Poem for Nelson Mandela by Dr. Maya Angelou’ »

by Meera Srinivasan

Between classes on Friday, their last working day before Christmas break, a few children at one of the oldest public schools in Jaffna were running about, giggling and chasing one another. The name plate outside had in bold letters its name: ‘Nadeswara College, Kanakesanthurai’.

TRADING SCHOOLING FOR SECURITY? Nadeswara College, Jaffna, whose old building was reportedly demolished to make way for the Sri Lankan army’s High Security Zone. — PHOTO: MEERA SRINIVASAN

With walls crowned with tin sheets posing for classrooms, and a tiny room that says “principal’s office”, the school — founded in 1901 — struggles for space.
Continue reading ‘Homes, schools and livelihoods sacrificed in the name of security in Jaffna’ »

by Niran Anketell

(This piece contains material extracted from a longer article by the author titled “Selling Justice Short: Sri Lankan Civil Society and Individual Criminal Liability for Atrocity Crimes” presented at “Ethical Futures: Dialogues on State, Society and Ethical Existence”, a conference hosted by the International Centre for Ethnic Studies in May 2013. Final publication forthcoming)

As the dust settles on the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Colombo, the press has reported that Sri Lanka may be considering the establishment of a South Africa style Truth and Reconciliation Commission with the assistance of the Commonwealth and South African government.
Continue reading ‘Why South African Model of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission Will not Work in Sri Lanka’ »

M.A.Sumanthiran M.P.-pic courtesy of: Knowledge Box

by M.A.Sumanthiran M.P.

Whilst shame keeps its watch, virtue is not wholly extinguished in the heart; nor will moderation be utterly exiled from the minds of tyrants. – Edmund Burke (1729–1797)

Last week in Parliament, I pleaded with my fellow MPs to listen to the voices of moderation. I appealed to them to do their best to prevent extremist forces on either side from destroying our future. Now I appeal to the members of the public to do the same. Do not for a moment underestimate the power that still resides in you, the reasonable-minded citizens of this country. Your leaders still fear the shame you might impose on them for extremist views.
Continue reading ‘Paving the Middle Path: Why we must empower moderate voices’ »

Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran

by Somapala Gunadheera

The Indian Express of December 06, has published the following news item under the heading, “North CM on War Path with Sri Lankan Government”: “After a month of cooperation with the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, the Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-speaking Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran, has switched to confrontation.
Continue reading ‘Northern Chief Minister on the Warpath with Rajapaksa Regime’ »

Kamalini Selvarajan

By- Sharmini Serasinghe

“Kamalini my dearest friend
your smile and the magic of the aura,
that radiates around your vibrant self
always lit up the darkest of times
Continue reading ‘Kamalini Selvarajan-A Child of a Lesser God!’ »

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Sharmini Serasinghe

Kamalini Selvarajan

Kamalini Selvarajan, my friend and colleague at Rupavahini- Sri Lanka’s national Television, has been diagnosed with Dementia!

Kamalini is an iconic TV personality and film star. She was, and is still loved by all, irrespective of caste, creed or race.
Continue reading ‘Sincere Well-wishers Requested to Donate Funds for Kamalini Selvarajan Diagnosed with Dementia’ »

Director-cinematographer Balu Mahendra

BY Karthik Subramanian

At 74, Balu Mahendra could have easily rested on the laurels of a lifetime of influential filmmaking and cinematography. A true representative of the golden era of ‘film’ cinematography, he has instead chosen to take the leap into digital filmmaking. His upcoming film Thalaimuraigal (generations) has been shot entirely with the humble Canon 5D DSLR, essentially a still camera that could also shoot video.

“It cut cost of filmmaking dramatically. The entire camera and lenses — I used only regular camera lenses by the way — cost me just Rs. 3.5 lakh,” he said in a brief chat with The Hindu at his film school ‘Pattarai’ in Vadapalani.
Continue reading ‘Cinematographers Discuss Transition from Film to Digital in Tamil Nadu Cinema’ »

BY Sonia Nazareth

In a world where what we consume is getting increasingly full of polite, socially-approved and rather safe flavours, Zimbabwe’s home to both the complex and the unusual. If you’re on the tourist trail, around a national park especially, the first thing you learn is to be adventurous with your taste buds.

warthog steak

Most buffets feature an assortment of acquired tastes. Think marinated crocodile, impala, kudu, wildebeest, buffalo and warthog fillet steaks, offered with baguette-seed rolls and garnished with lettuce and chips. On several occasions, I encounter a head chef haloed by wood-smoke and the sweet fragrance of roasting, beaming over his succulent preparations with as much pride as a child showing off his latest toys.
Continue reading ‘Tasting Marinated Crocodile and Impala, Kudu, Wildebeest and Warthog Steaks in Zimbabwe’ »

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DR. DAYAN JAYATILLEKA

“… I have always regarded myself, in the first place, as an African patriot…” (Mandela, 1964)

“We in Africa are used to being victims of countries wanting to carve up our territory or subvert our sovereignty…” (Mandela, 1991)

The great Sri Lankan editor and Newsweek columnist Tarzie Vittachi, who preferred Jung to Freud, used to say that “everything is about something else”. So it is with the obituaries of Nelson Mandela. What is said by the western liberals and their pro-western Lankan epigone is not as important as what is left unsaid. The eulogies for Mandela have gutted him and turned him into a stuffed figure.
Continue reading ‘How the Crushing Military Defeat of Cuito Cuanavale Helped Mandela Emancipate South Africa’ »

Lakshman Hulugalle-pic: nldb.gov.lk

Another event of significant embarrassment to the UPFA Government was the sudden closure of the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) retrospectively from November 1, thus evicting, unceremoniously, its Director General Lakshman Hulugalle. He was, however, adamant that his position still remains though the MCNS was wound up.

The claim is similar to a chauffeur saying I am still the driver when his boss had sold the vehicle. There was only a two line terse announcement in a news alert of the Government – news.lk – about the closure. It said: “Presidential Secretariat confirms Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) has been dissolved by the Defence Ministry with effect from November 1.”

President Mahinda Rajapaksa

Minister Douglas Devavnanda and President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Nallur Temple-April 2010

A pre-emptive strike by President Mahinda Rajapaksa appears to have saved his Government from one more accusation before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva — last week’s murder of Daniel Rexian (42), Chairman of the Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) in Delft, the furthest inhabited island off the northern Jaffna peninsula.

Accusations, including some from sections of the UPFA partner, the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), were initially levelled against the Sri Lanka Navy that has a unit on the islet.

Kandasamy Kamalendran, Leader of the Opposition of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) (left) carries the coffin containing the body of Daniel Rexian, Chairman of the Pradeshiya Sabha of the Island of Delft. Kamalendran has now been arrested together with Rexian’s wife Anita for the alleged murder of the Chairman.

Rienzie Wijeratne

by Manik de Silva

December 5 marked the tenth death anniversary of Rienzie Wijeratne, unarguably the best known press photographer of his day who had a long and distinguished career at Lake House and thereafter worked for a few years for some other newspapers before he immigrated to Canada with his wife, Sheila.
Continue reading ‘Tenth death anniversary of Rienzie Wijeratne, Press Photographer Par Excellence’ »