We cannot just be bystanders

Change: A word that has reverberated around society since the beginning of this year. Not many were sure what exactly this “change” encompassed nor what exactly was supposed..

Is it That easy to forget?

It is strange for those of us who were appalled and helpless, at the total breakdown of law and order during the previous regime, to read the utter drivel issued in press statements by a son of a former VVIP. 

The Logic of Accountability

“Now, all the duties of rulers are contained in this one sentence, the safety of the people is the supreme law.”- Thomas Hobbes (‘Man and Citizen’) Who should be “accountable” and primarily to whom, ...

Should an honest police officer salute a corrupt PS member?

Of ‘policing’ since 1780 influenced by its development by the London Metropolitan Police—with only a year remaining for the 150th anniversary of the Force constituted in 1866:now complete with a Police Commission in 2015.

The heart-rending tale of an Unfortunate young Royalist

The ill-fated mishap which drove young Sasanka Jagath Alwis, a vibrant student of Royal College to a permanent vegetative state with lasting brain injuries is perhaps a mere memory dating back to two years in many a mind. 

Blair’s questionable apology - EDITORIAL

In an interesting interview to the US TV network CNN, Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister has apologized for his role in the Iraqi war and has admitted he could be partly to blame for the rise of the Islamic State terror group. 

Vap Poya Reflections: Can only males attain Buddhahood? -A Thai experience

Thai Theravada scholars Dr. Mettanando Bhikkhu and Ajahn  Sujato believe the “Garudhammas”,  the eight rules that restrict, rather constraint  Buddhist nuns [Bikkhunis], including the rule that is.....

Role of Postgraduate Research in an Efficiency-Driven Economy

The following are excerpts from the keynote address delivered by Minister of Justice and Minister of Buddha Sasana Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, President’s Counsel, at the Faculty.....

Facing the Development Challenge

There cannot be any doubt about the fact that the  development challenge facing Sri Lanka  today is enormous. Any serious economist knows that the macro-economic fundamentals of the.....

Police Force An obstacle to reform

In the past, respective governments appointed different commissions to look into -- a crisis in the policing system in 1945; even worse problems in 1970; graver problems owing to severe......

Allegations and probes - EDITORIAL

It is taken as a fact that Lakshman Kadirgamar -- Foreign Minister from 1994 to 2005 with a three-year break in-between -- was Sri Lanka’s best diplomat who played a major role in getting the LTTE.....

The big and the powerful get their way

The war against the LTTE ended several years ago when the armed forces of Sri Lanka crushed the Tigers that ran wild and free for almost thirty years. It was a great relief for all Sri Lankans.....

“The Country Has Become a Laboratory for Local Governments” - Karunarathna Paranawithana

The Deputy Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government Karunarathna Paranawithana in an interview with the  said that the Ministry was keen on introducing a community governance......

If Britain can cozy up to China, why can’t Sri Lanka?

Last week saw a curious event of pomp and funfair-and political realism-that highlighted how far the States would go to maximize their benefits, even at the expense of their allies. Britain......

Platform to seek Int’l support to achieve National objectives

This Government has placed Economic Development as its main platform and we need to seek the support of the world to achieve this objective. The new Government, I presume.....

Police stations not torture houses - EDITORIAL

The National Government says it is giving top priority to human rights issues in the wake of the 2015  Geneva resolution and also on the basis of its conviction that all people—the rich and the.....

Twenty-fifth anniversary of Muslim mass expulsion from North by LTTE

The Investigation launched by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has in accordance with its terms of reference   probed the period of time from the 2002 February  ceasefire until the end of the war in  May 2009 to ascertain whether   war crimes...

Gamini of Kotmale: A MAN IN A HURRY

In every generation, it is given to but a handful of politicians to become creatures of legend. When posterity judges, it judges harshly, sans any of the ‘accountability’ we so yearn to see in politicians themselves. 

UNITED WE STAND - EDITORIAL

In what was perhaps one of the greatest acts of unity since independence, the leaders of 21 political parties on Wednesday had a friendly two hour dialogue with President Maithripala Sirisena to work out a consensus on the Geneva resolution. 

Recalling ‘Black October’ LTTE expulsion of Muslims from the North was ethnic cleansing

A quarter of a century has elapsed since the atrocious eviction of Muslims from the Northern...

A dilemma: Security personnel placed in business enterprises

I was in Trincomalee last weekend along with a media colleague and my wife. We had several...

No magic lamp solution without Syria’s Aladdin

After nearly five years of violence that has displaced some 12 million people, some real...

An embodiment of feminine power

She is described as a “fairy Godmother,” a playful and mischievous rebel and the epitome...

EDITORIAL : It is our UN, our responsibility

On the theme “Strong United Nations. Better World”, the main world body reaches a milestone...

The Biased OISL Report and the Dangers of Disinformation

At the end of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent visit to Japan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Mass Media and the Official Government News Portal announced that on 6th Oct the PM addressed the Parliament of Japan,

Transport Reforms in Megapolis: Turning an Inhibitor into an Enabler

Among the recent moves to address traffic congestion in Colombo, was the new traffic plan tried out on the Borella-Rajagiriya section, with the six-lane parliament road turned into a ‘one-way’ and the parallel ‘four-lane’  road left for ‘two-way traffic’. Although this experiment should have been ‘logically’

Sri lankans shouldn’t repeat the same mistake - JICA

A natural disaster is quite a spontaneous event. Although it may come with many signs of danger, people often tend to be excited at the time of such an event and do not respond promptly. 

Restore public confidence in the Rule of Law - EDITORIAL

The restoration of the rule of law, the independence of the judicial and police services and the streamlining of the legal process, broadly defined as the law’s delays, were among the main promises of the new National Government. 

The pains of two innocents may never go away

 On the 13th of September 2015, Sri Lanka was rocked with the harrowing tale of the rape and murder of a four-and- a- half year old girl

Police should be a force to reckon with

The Police are the official arm of the State responsible to protect people and property, make people obey the law, find out about and solve crime, and enforce the law against the people who commit crimes.