The Execution of Rizana A serious Miscarriage of Islamic JusticeThe tragic and shocking news of exec

The tragic and shocking news of execution of Rizana Nafeek sends shock- waves to all corners of the island. It gives a wrong picture to the people on the nature and the application of the Islamic law as many people are under the impression...

Entertainment of a Motion a Speaker’s Duty

An extremely important and relevant question arose which matter is of the utmost importance to those who are concerned about and with the impeachment proceedings.

Shunning the guns

After 26 people died in the horrible Newtown school shooting in Connecticut last month, many American politicians are seriously contemplating stricter gun control.

Editorial - Bakthi in politics leads to dictatorship

With orders of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal being blatantly if not crudely violated during the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, right thinking people who uphold the rule of law are asking whether Sri Lanka has been turned into a lawless country.

A stunning African success

In an article last week, published in The Citizen of Tanzania, Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International...

Editorial : Fresh milk: Stop acting like buffaloes

With the cost of living soaring beyond the reach of millions, the Government needs to urgently work out a national...

Mali: Start of the second gang - rape of Africa

Within weeks of the dawn of the New Year, a new war has shattered world peace, as though we have...

Waning Economic Euphoria

The immediate post-civil war years of 2010 and 2011 in Sri Lanka were trumpeted as record-breaking eight percent or greater annual real growth rate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two consecutive years including the highest ever economic growth rate of 8.3% recorded in 2011.

Mohan Peiris: Before a tougher hurdle

Mohan Peiris, appointed as the country’s new Chief Justice on Tuesday, is the latest actor to enter the impeachment drama. As the spotlight shifts from impeached Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, his will be the most controversial selection to this high office.

Of Justice and Forgiveness

Like many I was saddened by the execution of the Sri Lankan housemaid Rizana Nafeek in Saudi Arabia last week. The UK had been actively supporting calls for clemency, not least because there is evidence to suggest that Rizana was a minor at the time of the alleged murder she committed.

Rebuilding justice - Editorial

Those who said and believed that justice was even-handed would not have heard of the country called Sri Lanka. The government, for the last few years, let its people get a glimpse of its multi-faceted course of justice in which the fundamentals are conveniently excluded and swiftness is a luxury granted solely for the selected few. And Rizana Nafeek was not one of them.

A NATIONAL STRATEGY PROPOSED

Can youth play a central role in securing a permanent peace? To answer this question it will help to ascertain whether youth played a role in generating conflict in the first place. In the case of Sri Lanka, it cannot be clearer: Initial youth uprisings which planted the seeds of the three-decade ethnic conflict are a fact in our country’s history.  Both the ignition of the ethnic conflict and the JVP insurrections have stemmed from ou

Doom-ward bound

The Parliament ‘debated’ the PSC Report, an illegal document according to court decisions, on January 10 and 11. The MPs (with an artificial majority) of the government voted by a 2/3 rd majority to impeach the Chief Justice on the evening of January 11. Accordingly, the President was able to ‘sack’ the CJ and appoint a ‘new CJ’ or an ‘Acting CJ’.

Editorial - New Constitutional Crisis with two CJs

In the aftermath of Sri Lanka’s gravest constitutional, legal and political crises since independence, right-thinking people and especially judges and lawyers were wondering whether Sri Lanka could recover from a virtual death blow to the independence and dignity of the Judiciary  amid speculation of Sri Lanka being suspended from the Commonwealth and facing other national and international repercussions.

Govt expediting

This is for the first time in our parliamentary history, that we are debating an impeachment against a Judge of the superior court namely the Chief Justice of the Republic.

“I am not proud of some of the recent actions of my former student” prof. G.L.

Prof. Peiris maintains that the decision by the Supreme Court, which deemed the Parliamentary Select Committee powerless to decide in the case of the impeachment of a Chief Justice, was an attempt by the judiciary to usurp the powers of Parliament to legislate.

Rizana’s unfortunate death: A wake-up call for authorities

Rizana’s unfortunate death is a wake-up call for the authorities in Sri Lanka on the need to sit back and take stock of their Foreign Employment policy – especially for housemaids. At the end of the day it is the Government’s responsibility as foreign employment is a major foreign exchange earner for the country.

Undiluted patriotism – Save fresh water - Editorial

With heavy rain continuing and hundreds of thousands of people affected by floods and earthslips, the Government, while generously helping and rehabilitating the victims, needs to give more attention to the preservation of our rivers and fresh water.

Thai Pon­gal her­alds in de­light­ful pros­pects, sig­ni­fies tri­umphs

Thai Pongal is a “Thanks giving ceremony” celebrated by farmers in particular to thank the nature spirit- the sun- and farm animals for bringing prosperity in agriculture with plentiful harvests.

Rule of Law is not confined to the legal profession

We meet today to honour the memory of Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam. To this audience, I need hardly dwell on his outstanding contribution to the development of our nation.

No power to remove CJ

The Government claims that there exists Supremacy of Parliament, its legislation is sovereign and the procedure prescribed in the Standing Order 78A is democratic and valid in law.

First Tibetan self-immolates in China this year

A Tibetan man has died after setting himself on fire in protest at China’s rule of the Himalayan region, a rights group and overseas media said, the first self-immolation this year.

Rizana, epitome of the plight of marginalised

Rizana Nafeek commanded newspaper headlines and editorial comments on several occasions for tragic reasons. She was an innocent damsel from a rustic rural locale who became the victim of her own pitiful circumstances.

Putting an end to thuggery - Editorial

Despite the democratic principles dictated and safeguarded by the Constitution, Sri Lankan political culture seems to be one that is empowered by gun-power more than the power of people.

Rizana Nafeek Pathetic Plight Of The Maid From Moothoor

When news of the loss of a loved one is heard, it is the practice of many Muslims to console each other by repeating part of a verse from the Holy Quran “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un”meaning “Surely we belong to God and to Him shall we return”

CONFLICT “UNACCOUNTABLE & UNNECESSARY”

The Friday Forum has previously drawn to your attention our concern that, from the inception, the impeachment proceedings against the Chief Justice did not conform to recognized norms of natural justice and due process.

Editorial - Good Friday for the Chief Justice

Lawyers declared yesterday as a Black Friday but it was more like a Good Friday for Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake. We know what followed after Good Friday and those who still cherish democracy, freedom, good governance

A REQUIEM FOR THE RULE OF LAW

The Court of Appeal, following the interpretation of the Constitution given by the Supreme Court has quashed by way of Certiorari...

Editorial : Clemency denied

For Sri Lankans, Rizana was more than a mere blurry black and white picture of a girl in a hijab. Having been forced...

Kashmir : A paradise or gateway to nuclear hell?

Years of hard work and painstaking diplomacy towards normalisation of ties between South Asia’s nuclear neighbours...