Bone of contention - Editorial

The arrest of Azath Salley has made its way into newspaper headlines and has become a bone of contention in public and political debate. He was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID)

Southeast Asia’s human trafficking conundrum

Tens of thousands of people are vulnerable to being trafficked in Southeast Asia, with governments struggling to understand and respond collectively to the problem, say experts and government officials.

Silent no more! We should react Beyond anger and outrage…

What is happening in Sri Lanka is frightening. But more horrific is the fact that such incidents continue to occur in higher levels if we remain a country of onlookers.

The New Cabinet Proposal A ray of hope towards fostering universal harmony

Laws of the state are a double-edged sword, and we are often oblivious of its danger. We have profound faith in the legal instrument to ensure the protection of the citizens, while maintaining social order.

C’wealth summit: conflicts within conflicts - Editorial

After months of doubts and disputes, India reportedly intervened on behalf of Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting in London on April 26 to pave the way for the summit to be held in Colombo.

IN THEIR GILDED CAGES

I recall as though it happened the other day, little A. C. S. Hameed, the former ineffective Foreign Minister in J. R. Jayewardena’s Government and later Minister in charge of various ministries in R. Premadasa’s Government, putting on what I term his ‘wise look’,

DIPLOMATS AND DIPLOMACY

Looking back at the history of nations, it can be attributed that diplomacy at the very beginning originated in the system of conducting relations between the states of classical Greece.

Militancy in West Asia

Southwest Asia is once again sliding into a state of anarchy. The Taliban and the like are on a rampage, and recent incidents in Afghanistan and Pakistan suggest that law enforcement authorities have taken a backseat.

What is the Law or Who is the Law? - Editorial

The Rajapaksa regime - finding itself or plunging itself into crisis after crisis, conflict after conflict and conflicts within conflicts - has sparked off the latest national and international row over the arrest and detention of the Tamil Muslim Alliance leader, Azath Sally.

UNP Govt. will reduce tariff by 43.5 per cent

UNP MP Ravi Karunanayaka spoke to the Daily Mirror on the electricity concession given at the May Day rallies, the no-confidence motion against the Minister of Energy, and the release of MP Duminda Silva .

Many Sri Lankans have become ‘Positive Thinkers’

Many Sri Lankans have become positive thinkers in the Rajapaksa era. Before people start congratulating themselves on this development, however, there is need to give the matter a little thought.

Russia Pivots North

Solitude within a new system of international relations is fraught with big risks. Although just like the United States, Russia has access to both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, Moscow takes no part in the integration processes in the West or the East.

Editorial - Is there a hope for tomorrow

The voice for the masses that we have been trying desperately to be, seems to have been of little avail. The repeated clarion calls to rectify the innumerable acts of mismanagement, corruption, nepotism and don’t care attitude of the powers that be, leave a sad blemish on the history of our nation and a sense of frustration in us.

It was on a May Day that LTTE assassinated President Ranasinghe Premadasa

This week saw the commemoration of another political giant Ranasinghe Premadasa, who was assassinated by a suicide bomber while at a May Day procession at Armour Street in Colombo, eight weeks after his main political rival at the time, Lalith Athulathmudali was gunned down.

Moral elegance does not necessarily follow professional brilliance

A frequently heard view expressed of late is about the inefficiency of the police force. Yet, it is no one’s concern to delve deep into the reasons that led to the losing of face that once could be looked at directly in the eyes of the public.

The Logic of Power Sharing

There are many things around us, besides alcohol and drugs, which are addictive. Two of these are wealth and power. Those who have tasted power and enjoyed wealth would like to have more of both, unless society takes effective measures to restrain them.

Editorial - Money, Money, Money: It’s a rich man’s world

Whatever the advocates of the globalised capitalist market economic policy may say, the nett result of it is that it has produced societies where priority number one is money, priority number two is money and priority number three is also money.

The political chemistry of chemical weapons in Syria

If Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has not crossed the red line or won’t cross it, then take the red line...

Editorial : 13th Amendment is not a football

There are two things fundamentally wrong with the 13th Amendment.  The first is its illegality, as has been...

OBSERVING Press Freedom in Sri Lanka

T homas Jefferson in a letter to James Currie on January 28, 1786 wrote “our liberty depends on the freedom of the press...

Northern polls a political disaster

The University Student movement against Indo-Lanka Accord, Janatha Mithuro, National Movement Against Terrorism (NMAT), Sihala Urumaya and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) – in this unbroken twenty five year history of the nationalist movement in modern Sri Lanka  Patali Champika Ranawaka remains the consistent common factor. At a time his government is gearing for the Northern Provincial polls the Minister of Technology, Research and A

Let us dump the Provincial Council system now

India foisted the Thirteenth Amendment and with it the Provincial Council system on this country to suit their own purposes - their intervention to stop the Vadamarachchi Operation

Political manoeuvring and the people's woes - Editorial

President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the UPFA May Day rally yesterday announced a reduction to low-end users on the recently-approved electricity tariffs. At the outset this act reflects a people-friendly ruler who is deeply concerned about the welfare of his people, especially the underprivileged and the poor.

Bylines Lost On the Frontline

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers recorded 68 journalist deaths in 2012, with the on-going Syrian conflict responsible for the highest number of casualties.

FATHER OF THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

Born on May 1,1891 in Kandy, A.E. Goonesinghe was educated at Dharmaraja College. On leaving school he sought employment as a clerk in the Railway Department, at the start. Later he took to Journalism, publishing the Journal “Search Light” to support the National Movement for freedom.

The steady deterioration of a ‘GREAT GRIP’

 The grip of the ruler based on Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism is breaking down. It is thanks to this grip which subdued the Sinhala petty bourgeoisie, that Keheliya Rambukwella the government spokesman, could ignore the fact that parliamentarians pay just Rs.2000/- per month for electricity in their free official residences and intimidates the poor.

‘May Day, May Day’— a distress signal for workers - Editorial

Since 1956 when socialist Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike declared May Day or workers’ day as a public holiday, the occasion was deeply significant not only because of the huge colourful processions but also life-long benefits like the Employee’s Provident Fund (EPF), vibrant and powerful trade unions and other facilities.

Combating corruption

That corruption is widespread in Sri Lanka is an accepted fact.  That it has become so much a part of the fabric of our society as to be unquestioned and unassailable is also an accepted fact.

REDEFINING SOUTH ASIA

Salma Yusuf in conversation with Ambassador Nihal Rodrigo, formerly Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC); Honorary Advisor to the President of Sri Lanka on Foreign Affairs; Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary, and Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the United Nations and China.

Protect the Sources

Journalism is not a profession. It is the exercise by occupation of the right to freedom of expression, guaranteed by all international and regional human rights treaties. That guarantee is given to editors and