Hill-country Tamils and Crisis Times

When our country collapses before our own eyes with one of the deepest crises in historical memory, from what vantage point.....

PTA, ‘Aragalaya’ and need for long-term goals - EDITORIAL

The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) (of 1978 first enacted as a temporary measure in 1979 under J. R. Jayewardene was....

Murugeysen Tiruchelvam and Koneswaram Issue

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader and Trincomalee district MP Rajavarothayam Sampanthan wrote a politically important letter to President Ranil Wickremesinghe on September 14, 2022. In that detailed missive, the veteran Tamil MP pinpointed several measures being enacted under the current regime affecting th

The geo-politics that Prabakaran failed to understand

Although six convicts of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case were released by the Indian Supreme Court on November 12, four of them have been again detained as they are Sri Lankans who had entered India without proper travel documents. They are being lodged in a special camp in Tiruchi, Tamil Nadu.

The G20 summit -extended wars and growing contradictions

The G20 (Group of Twenty) -initially an informal gathering of 20 of the world’s largest economies- was formed in 1999, in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. An attempt to co-ordinate global policy on trade, health, climate, and other issues.

Youth paid the penalty for not knowing empathy - EDITORIAL

We talk much about youth these days with so much concern. There is no doubt they have to deal with frustration given the skyrocketing prices of goods and services and both the state and private sectors....

Ukraine: How the world came devastatingly close to a nuclear war

On Tuesday, the world woke up to the dreaded possibility of a nuclear genocide capable of wiping out half the world’s population which reached the 8 billion mark only hours before. What happened....

Anti-corruption drive Give us genuine leaders who serve the nation

Presenting his first budget on Monday, Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe said a new economic order would be introduced to suit world trends and highlighted that Sri Lanka would embark on this new path through the 2023 budget.

Wither research (institutes)?

There are two questions. First, does research really matter or rather does research drive decisions when it comes to policy planning? Second, what is the role or research institutes or, put another way, do policy-makers understand the worth of such bodies?

Budget 2023 - Desperately needy overlooked

President Wickremesinghe’s 2023 budget was a big change from the usual run-of the-mill budgets the people of this country have been used to hearing. There were no big promises of looking into easing the burdens of the poor and n

Police gone Rogue

The whole episode of police harassment was captured in cameras and video clips are now circulating on social media, which, in return prompted the IGP to order an investigation. The two women, who resumed their march were again harassed by the cops in Moratuwa

What a shame! - EDITORIAL

Media yesterday reported that a special police investigation has been launched against the Panadura South HQI and his team after they were caught on camera physically assaulting two female protestors....

Improve Human Security as High Priority in Sri Lanka

In the recent past, Sri Lanka has dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic and now an ongoing economic crisis. Sri Lanka has faced both the pandemic and economic crisis after the end of the country’s civil war....

Can we make it out of present financial crises? - EDITORIAL

Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in years. The acute shortage of US dollars in the country has pushed up the price of basic food items including milk, an essential ingredient....

Our cricketing culture ‘Boys will be boys’ will no longer do

The Dhanushka Gunathilake scandal raises disturbing questions not just about one individual, but our entire sports culture, including its star game, cricket. Dhanushka was....

Atamasthana Sans Politicos! A First Step in the Right Direction

Most Ven.. Pallegama Hemarathana Thero, who created lyrics for Karunarathna Divulgane’s ‘Atheethaya Sihinayak Pamanai sabesuvadak ne’; [loosely translated…, ‘Past is just a dream, where there....

COP 27: A bid to save the planet

Our world, mother to all species inhabiting the planet is ailing and is slowly but surely killed off by cancer. The cancer of human greed.

Fake news was never new. It just devolved

Facebook and Twitter must be having field days. No — they are having such.

She said/He said

Much has been written and said in the last few days since the news was released that a Sri Lankan cricketer has been charged with sexual assault by an Australian woman.

Delimitation: to conduct or not to conduct election?

The Opposition political parties are again accusing that the government was going to postpone the elections, especially the local government elections. This is the third time these parties have been making....

Teachers and students must be more accountable - EDITORIAL

Schools and universities are again producing news for all the wrong reasons. The last few days we heard of how two primary school kids were brutally abused for allegedly stealing money from a teacher’s....

War and mixed up priorities: Highway to climate hell

Yet another high-profile climate summit and yet another half-hearted attempt by big-time polluters and rich nations to put the world on a war footing to face the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced....

Who’s pocketing the compensation from X-Press Pearl accident?

It has been a year and five months since the vessel X-Press Pearl caught fire and sank. What the islanders are left with is the massive ocean and coastal pollution which resulted from the accident involving....

The long night of physical slavery

Sri Lanka is still in one hell of a mess burning in its worst ever socio-economic and political crisis since independence in 1948.

Low birth weight babies; a possible intervention

Your article on November 1 Daily Mirror triggered my memory regarding an intervention we tried in the early 1990s to correct this problem.

From multiple crises to… A job-rich and inclusive recovery in Sri Lanka

Over 2020 and 2021 the COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented economic and labour market crisis around the world; mostly as a consequence of the lockdown and other containment measures used....

This was chaos in the making

If you are a cricket fan, you remember that video. Even if you are not, you should. The 29-second grainy video of two men at a city square, searching for or waiting....

Lankan cricket takes yet another wallop - EDITORIAL

Even as this column is being written, our country is making world headlines for all the wrong reasons once again. This time in the field of cricket. It was only 31 short years ago; on July 21, 1981 to be exact....

A miscarriage of justice - EDITORIAL

After eight Tamil detainees were released on a Presidential pardon on October 24, the day on which Hindus celebrated Deepavali, the Presidential ....

Danushka Gunathilake’s trial by social media

Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilake, who is accused of allegedly sexually assaulting an Australian woman, he met on Tinder....