Tale of the tallest tree and taller stories

With the festive season beginning yesterday, questions are being raised about the commercialisation of

South should accept Wiggie’s invitation for dialogue

The man in the North often used as a punching bag by Sinhala hardliners and for sensational 

Remembering those killed in the war

“For the first time in seven years, events of Maveerar Day for the commemoration of the valiant 

I lose one million monthly -Wijedasa Rajapakshe

Minister of Justice and Buddha Sasana Wijedasa Rajapakshe PC had recently become a cynosure after he expressed his opinions on several controversial subjects. In an interview held with him he shared the following views. 

Constitution making process slows down

When the six sub-committees submitted their reports with proposals for constitution-making on different subjects, it was thought that the process would progress. Yet, it has proven otherwise, as the process has hit a snag due to the fundamental differences arising among the major stakeholders, about the contours of the proposed constitution.   

Playing the Trump card, global and local

It has been reported that the Government has asked US President Elect Donald Trump to pressure the UN Human Rights Council to drop war crimes allegations against the country’s troops.

Power to the Fourth Estate with ethics and integrity

After the new government took office in January last year with a commitment to restore good governance, democracy and a just society, media freedom also has been restored to a large extent. 

Let not the past haunt us again

For the first time after the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009, the dreaded 

Nationalism is the manifestation of a crisis, not a solution to it - Nirmal

Colombo University’s Senior Lecturer in History Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri, in an interview with  on the conce

A Citizen’s plea: Treat the root cause of issue through Electoral Reforms

Another bombshell in the form of a proposed pay hike for MPs has jolted the tax payer. more fittingly 

We should strive to build a country on our own civilization values

Book publisher and nationalist Gevindu Cumaratunga who is incidentally the grandson of the renowned Sinhala scholar of yesteryear,

On the need for introspection The rise of intolerance, warped narratives and fascism

During my resident time at the Na Uyana Aaranya, Malsiripura in my early twenties, the first two books introduced to me by Ven. Ananda Thera....

Militant Buddhism and shadowy Salafism Govt. should fight both

The outbursts of Sinhala-Buddhist ultra-nationalism in the South have often been cyclical. They take place with the connivance, and....

Go for a green festive season - EDITORIAL

Thursday December 1 will mark the upstaging of a festive season filled with buying sprees and bargain sales. We hear....

The Constitutional Reform Process: Delivery of justice or deliberate manipulation?

In the light of the ongoing Constitutional Reform Process the Daily Mirror spoke to Laksiri Fernando, former Senior.....

GOVERNMENT’S ECONOMIC POLICIES: sl lacks progressive mps with insight

The Prime Minister had stated in Parliament that his wife gets a higher salary than his and would not hesitate to support the.....

CASTRO IS DEAD, HIS LEGACY LIVES ON - EDITORIAL

On Saturday November 26, Cuba announced the death of revolutionary icon Fidel Castro at the age of 90 – one of the best-known.....

Donald Trump the nationalist messiah from the Wild West

If there is one slogan that swung the political pendulum and placed Donald Trump in the presidential 

Will increased fines reduce Road Accidents?

I refer to the news item headlined “Increased fines to reduce road accidents” in the  of November 15. 

Peace can be made with Russia

Trotsky, the one-time close comrade of Lenin, reportedly said, “You may not be interested in war but 

Let there be justice

With the independence of the judicial and police services being gradually restored after the new 

Self-centred US gets the Trump it deserves

Americans came out in their thousands to protest against the election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States.  Today is the 17th day since they first took to the streets on November 9 crying ‘He is not my President’. The liberal use of the F-word showed the intensity of their anger.  Protests were largely peaceful, but in some areas they turned violent.  But where are they now? They came, they protes

Elimination of violence against women; Never again Noori

Today is the international day for the elimination of violence against women and it is significant that the Avissawella High Court will today deliver the much awaited verdict on the alleged horrors in the Noori village where a gang, reportedly backed by an area politician, allegedly tortured and raped scores of women and girls.  

The Pharma SCAM Prof. Senaka Bibile Abused and Insulted — latest; CCC Intervenes

Prices of a large number of drugs were surreptitiously but ‘meticulously’ increased by 40-55 per cent over the past 16 months as part of the ground work preparations for the so-called ‘Bibile policy’ 

Muslim law now- Thesawalamai and Buddhist laws to follow?

The European Union (EU) in an interim report that received media coverage in Sri Lanka as far back as 2009, on the GSP + (Generalized System of Preferences) had alleged that aspects of the Muslim personal laws in operation in Sri Lanka were in violation of UN conventions.The EU, had in the same breadth said that Sri Lanka was also in violation of international law for continuing to have as a criminal offence ‘consensual sex between the same

Buddhist Influences on Indian and SL Tamils- Past and Present

In a  article a few days ago, Dr. Nirmala Chandrahasan, a Consultant for the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR), had written on early Buddhist links between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu. She, I believe,

A neglected service for years

Ayurvedic treatments and services are provided in numerous clinics in and around Colombo. However, with the intention of delivering them free of charge,

The history of demonizing Muslims

Sri Lanka is a strange country. One Minister says that dozens of Sri Lankan Muslims have joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria(ISIS), one of the world’s most brutal terrorist organisations while another says there are no intelligence reports about such links between Sri Lankan Muslims and the said outfit.   

Globally self-introspect and not self-alienate

This is a response to the article appearing in the Daily Mirror of 22 November 2016 titled “Anti-Muslim hate post-war Sinhala Buddhist and selective truth telling”  

The ‘love-hate’ conundrum of countering hate-speech

President Maithripala Sirisena has instructed the IGP and Chiefs of the Security Forces to arrest all