‘Yahapalanaya’ and ‘cutout palanaya’: Overzealous sycophants reduce ‘Yahapalanaya’ to a mere slogan

In the Buddhist folklore, there was this monkey that a king reared as his trusted companion. The king had full faith in the ape, who accompanied the sovereign anywhere he went.  On one fine......

The ‘Letchumees’ of Sri Lanka

Reading the article  titled “Child labour in the tea plantations in Sri Lanka” in your issue  of September 30 by  President’s Counsel  Maureen Seneviratne,  my thoughts go back to.....

Liberate education from political control

Recently published reports on the average IQ test scores for countries across the world show that Sri Lanka’ s average score is very low in comparison to many other countries in.....

If we kill animals, do we have a right to live? - EDITORIAL

In an era, when world leaders are implementing eco-friendly policies to save the world from a catastrophe, the international community yesterday marked World Animal Day, which called for......

Tragic phenomenon of forcible recruitment of Tamil civilians by the LTTE

The Human Rights Investigation  report on Sri Lanka compiled by the Office of the United Nations  High Commissioner for Human Rights released last month  has revealed  much information about the alleged activities of the Sri Lankan armed forces...

Pluses and minuses of Obama’s foreign policy.

So Putin on Monday met Obama. They were going to co-operate against the ISIS, the world’s worst problem. President Vladimir Putin says we should not be surprised to see Russian jets working co-operatively -- even coordinating -- with the US on missile attacks.

Elders not too old to take up challenges - EDITORIAL

The famous American cowboy entertainer  Gene Autry in 1931 sang a beautiful song about “That Silver-Haired Daddy Of Mine”. Later popular singers like Jim Reeves also sang this heartfelt if not heart breaking song with tens of millions of copies being sold.

For the first time UNHRC reported a plethora of LTTE Atrocities

What the former president and his loyalists have not explained was the outcome of such...

Why reconcilliation is must for SDGs

At the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015, world...

Policemen are not different human beings

I was flagged down by two traffic cops somewhere down South last week for speeding. I was pretty...

Syria: Russia’s master stroke a game changer

Russian President Vladimir Putin has well and truly checkmated the United States...

EDITORIAL - Children have virtue of trusting faith, don’t let them down

The well-known American anthropologist Margaret Mead has said children must be taught...

The importance of safety and security of our children

Minister of Women’s and Child Affairs - Chandrani Bandara  has stated that action has been initiated by her Ministry to ensure that incidents of rape and murder of children as the one that took place at Kotadeniyawa will not be repeated. 

Well done Sri Lanka

Over the weekend of September 25 - 27, the United Nations headquarters in New York hosted the Sustainable Development Summit 2015. It was a high-level segment of the 70th UN General Assembly that was attended by

Sharply declining

Dailymirror met Sri Lanka’s Communist Party General Secretary and ex-minister DEW Gunasekara to discuss the country’s political and economic situation

Making space for all

To make space for others is one of the noble principles in the vision of deep unity in diversity where we not only protect and promote diversity but also celebrate it. Thankfully this is also a part of the foundation of the new National Government, 

JVP didn’t treat our family well

Srimathi Chithrangani Wijeweera, wife of political revolutionary and founder of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Rohana Wijeweera,...

Co-sponsorship of the Geneva Resolution: some reflections

The events of the last week demonstrate, with poignant clarity, the folly of naïve expectation and the need for realistic thinking.

Child labour in the tea plantations in Sri Lanka

Children employed in the tea plantations in Sri Lanka fall into a special category of plantation labour due to certain factors, peculiar only to tea plantations. 

What was Daham doing in the UN?

The Mahinda Rajapaksa regime was subject to serious allegations, while slashing attacks were levelled by the media, the politicians, and the civil society organizations against the rule by a single family. 

Mistaken arrests and capital punishment - EDITORIAL

Two interesting discussions are going on in the media following the brutal killing of five-year-old Seya Sadewmini of Kotadeniyawa, ...

Call for three cheers To Floor Sri Lanka

 It’s a mere change of venue - instead of Geneva or New York; the US-Sri Lanka joint resolution shifts the backdrop to Colombo to cast a false sense of domestication. Circus moves......

Expressways vs Railways

We can ignore the growing environmental crisis only at our own peril. At the root of the global and local environmental crisis is the cycle of over-production and over.......

Assault of the disabled: Police and HR or lack of it

Many issues that contributed to our gory human rights record stemmed from barefaced denials by the successive governments and subordinate authorities of alleged incidents of abuses and...

And then there was clarity…. - EDITORIAL

After much intrigue, which naturally made for speculation that ranged from intelligent to insane, finally the Government has produced a cogent and clear articulation of position with respect to......

Poisoning Kelani River, slow and steady

?The Kelani River bears the living testimonial for the most polluted river in Sri Lanka while being recorded as the second largest river in the country. It is 145km long has a river basin of 2,292 sq. km. 

Bibile and the National Medicinal Drug Policy

The death occurred of  Prof. Senaka Bibile on September 29, 1977, at Gyana under mysterious circumstances. It is a well known ‘secret’ that Bibile, the architect of World Health Organisation endorsed Medicinal Drugs Formula/policy...

“Who Can Guess the Moment”?

When Shakespeare wrote in Macbeth, “memory, the warder of the brain”, he poses two paradoxes inherent in the meaning of the word, “warder”. According to the Oxford English Dictionary warder means a guard in a prison.

‘Nawa Kalakaruwo’: An exhibition to acknowledge budding artists

Adding one’s imaginations, fantasies and inspirations on to a canvas just makes an artist an extraordinary person. The works of Picasso, Leonardo Da Vinci and Rafael have been admired over the centuries and they were instrumental in bringing about a revolution in the world of art.

HRC 30th Session : Draft Resolution Co-sponsored by the US and Sri Lanka

Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka......