SL must countermand int’l intrusions by credible internal investigation

Sri Lanka has one more year within which it could effectively countermand the mandate the Human Rights Council (HRC) has given to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to undertake a comprehensive international investigation on Sri Lanka pursuance to paragraph 10(b) of the........

The people cannot be duped forever

The election results for the two provincial councils, western and southern, clearly indicate the erosion of the chauvinist mass base of the Mahinda regime.  This was expected by the opposition. On the other hand the government leaders believed that by showing the bogey of international imperialist intervention.......

Caught in a vicious circle? - Editorial

What happened recently in Galle during the South’s leading schools cricket big match was just another indication of an alarming erosion of basic human values, lack of sportsmanship, a failure to understand the principles and meaning of sports and also downright stupidity that has been becoming the................

Sexual predator preyed on young lovers

Matara beach had been a very popular place attracting many from all walks of life, keen on spending a day in a relaxed manner. This place had become very popular with lovers, who spent time with each other, whispering sweet nothings.

We have not attacked any religious place

Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera, Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena Organisation, in a recent interview spoke of the organisation’s objectives and activities amid various emerging ideologies.

The killing thriller and the baby killer

Mammals are the most advanced class of life known to us. Characteristically, they have hair, three little bones in their middle ear and show maternal care with milk production. This care for the young is....

Getting the act together

With all the controversy surrounding the continuing entry of women from the entertainment industry, including several actresses and at least one pop singer, into politics, a comment by the chairperson.....

Reading Election Results

At the rehearsal a marquee was propped to entertain voters - it need be reassembled at the next outing with future elections getting hotter and closer. Who will stand on the victory stand? Is it the obvious candidate, as always?.....

Editorial - Ban sale of cigarettes to anyone born in this century

Setting an enlightened example to Sri Lanka, British doctors have called for a permanent ban on selling cigarettes to anyone born in this century in a bid to eradicate smoking from Britain entirely.

Geneva was not a debacle

The Minister of External Affairs, Professor G.L Peiris rejected the notion that the recent resolution against Sri Lanka passed by the United Nations Human Rights Council was in fact a debacle.

End of ideology and present political crisis

Sri Lanka, like many other ex-colonial countries in the developing world, was a hotbed of ideological debate around the time of decolonisation. Newly-formed political parties thrived on the sharpness.....

Editorial - Red Light for Government

Shunned by the middle class and feted by the celebrity zealots the provincial polls on Saturday no doubt have gone to spoil the euphoric victory that the UPFA was planning to observe.

A bigger plan by the LTTE nipped in the bud

Hectic events over the past few weeks in Sri Lanka have driven home three salient truths on the security front relating to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organisation.

Putin and his Crimea speech

President Vladimir Putin’s speech to both houses of the Russian parliament last week got negative responses.

Reading ‘Geneva’ after the vote

It’s all done.  The annual Geneva circus, that is. It was played for the most part according to script.

Death sentence for a free Egypt

An Egyptian court on Monday sentenced to death 529 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood for killing one policeman. Although the ruling has been condemned worldwide, it underscores a reality in Egyptian politics: The Deep State runs the show

Charges have got to be brought if there is any justice in this world: Nasser Shaikh

It would have been six months into the actual incident itself; I was quite naïve to think that investigations would be completed by then and charges would have been brought.

TNCs trying to hijack our food supplies - Editorial

The Daily Mirror in its editorial yesterday spotlighted the plight of tens of thousands of families in the fishing community who were facing danger on one side, and destitution, despair and degradation on the other.

‘People and communities should unite for better future’

The outgoing South Korean ambassador, Jong-moon Choi speaks to the Daily Mirror about his experience in Sri Lanka, the exchanges between the two countries and his perspective about the social and economic development of Sri Lanka.

The fishy dispute

What is ‘fishy’ in the so-called `fishing dispute’ between Sri Lanka and India is not the conduct of the fishermen concerned but that of the ‘patrons’ of the Indian thieves.  By Indian thieves I mean the Indian fishermen; and by their ‘patrons’ I mean the twin clowns of the political scene of Tamil Nadu,  Jayalalithaa and.....

All eyes on Mahinda Deshapriya

As the country focuses on the outcome of the Provincial Council elections in the Western and Southern provinces scheduled for Saturday all eyes will be on the man who will preside over the poll, Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya.

Fishing community facing raging waters - Editorial

For the fishing community comprising tens of thousands of hardworking and courageous fishermen and their families, life has often if not always been fraught with danger, despair and destitution.

The least important sector in political agendas

The ageing population in Sri Lanka is one of the fastest growing aging populations in Asia. Economic and Social analysts have predicted that  the population of those over  60 years of  age will double in less than 20 years with the percentage of the over 60’s  rising to 18% in 2020 and 27% in 2040.

Song, dance and a night to remember

On a balmy evening, as the Galle Fort was basked in the golden glow of the setting sun, traditional, electro, rock, folk and other types of music from all over the world came together at the Galle Music Festival 2014.

“Opposition is no competition For us” - Udaya Gammanpila

A software engineer from Monash University, Australia and a Constitutional lawyer Udaya Prabhath Gammanpila is a forerunner if not the key contender for the post of chief minister of the Western Provincial Council. The Legal Adviser of the JHU, Gammanpila who had been the Western Provincial Minister of ......

“Give us five years to prove ourselves” - Lal Kantha

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) District leader for Colombo District, K.D. Lal Kantha says that this election would be a turning point for the party. In a discussion with the Daily Mirror he said Marxism was a philosophy that would be suitable to Sri Lanka if it was applied in the right way.

Bash the US then what?

Tamil ultras, it is reported, are planning a march in Geneva next week to burn copies of the US sponsored resolution against alleged human rights violations in Lanka. At the same time some Tamil websites report approvingly of Tamil Nadu students burning the resolution, implicitly encourage others to do so.......

Misdeeds on seeds and weeds - Editorial

With an economic cold war erupting in the aftermath of the Russian Federation’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in neighbouring Ukraine, Sri Lanka needs to focus more on sophisticated economic neo-colonialism through which the rich countries and their trans-national corporations (TNCs) are continuing to....

SL will soon be another Somalia - Nanda Muruttettuwegama

Attorney-at-Law and legal educationist, Nanda Muruttettuwegama is contesting for the Western Provincial Council Election from the United National Party (UNP). In a discussion with the Daily Mirror he said, what the country had was a criminal economy and Sri Lanka would be another Somalia in the near future.

Towards a rational and educated society - Randima Gamage

Randima Gamage, a second time contestant for the Southern Provincial Council election from the UPFA, spoke to the Daily Mirror on his candidacy for the upcoming elections, his vision and allegations against his party. Gamage is an old boy of Royal College Colombo and a graduate in law, having completed his .............