Importance of psychosocial interventions in post conflict Sri Lanka

By Mangala Fernando The war ended in May 2009 saw over 280,000 people being displaced for about one to two years largely in IDP camps before returning to their original villages in north and east of Sri Lanka. The returning process is not yet fully completed as pockets of IDPs still lingering in smaller IDP camps due to issues such as their lands being allotted for high security zones, and slow de-mining process, among other things.

Addiction to Alcohol and Cigarettes – Is it a Mental Illness?

One would be surprised if it were stated that addiction to alcohol and cigarettes can be considered as a mental illness.

The Indian Ocean: In need of a regional organisation to match its growing influence

The Indian Ocean is a region of growing strategic significance. The nations of this region are home to 2.6 billion people, almost 40 per cent of the world’s population, accounting for 10 per cent of global GDP – and rising rapidly. 

Efficient management, not ownership, determines success

As acknowledged by experts, privatization of state-owned enterprises is one of the most radical policy developments of the last quarter century. It became a trend that gathered momentum in Sri Lanka after 1989 following the liberalizing of the economy.

Quotes of the Week

The areas of social justice and climate change require no further discussion but immediate action President Mahinda Rajapaksa, speaking at the 17th SAARC summit in Maldives

Everything is defined by the Rajapaksas

Sri Lanka was the focus last week both locally and internationally due to a bill being passed in parliament. The revival of the underperforming enterprises and underutilized assets bill now holds an important place in the law and its implementation.

Mirror Opinion

The death of a Presidential advisor and former PA, MP Mr. Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and near death of UPFA, MP  Duminda Silva bring into focus the pathetic state of our law enforcement authorities, namely the Police. Despite constant shouting from roof tops that ‘nobody is above the law’ everybody in Sri Lanka knows that the truth is exactly the opposite.

Evaluation of Norwegian Peace Efforts in Sri Lanka

Pawns of Peace Norwegian peace efforts in Sri Lanka have been the subject of heated debate and controversy, ever since they became public in December 1999. This debate has spawned many different stories about Norway’s involvement in Sri Lanka, some of them very critical.

Assad’s moment to decide

What’s next for Syria? The Arab League has done the needful by suspending Damascus membership, and unequivocally castigating it for alleged human rights excesses.The question is will President Bashar Al Assad follow suit and order his uncanny administration to behave? This is so because the president is on record saying that he had in principle agreed to the terms and conditions of a thaw with the 22-member Arab League, and was in the proce

When majority voting needs a braking system

President Barack Obama has a new slogan - ‘We Can’t Wait’. Delayed by a divided Congress, he has resorted to issuing executive orders to get things moving. Although not having such difficulties in Parliament, President Rajapaksa’s government is in an equal hurry. Thus certain legislative proposals are being pushed through Parliament as ‘urgent bills’. Around a year ago, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution wa

What about the small fish?

The great American investor and one of the richest men in the world Warren Buffet once said “I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful”. When one applies this advice to the Colombo stock market he would find that both the former and the latter are an inherent part of investing within the bourse for all those ‘big players’ who are a part and par

Arab League votes to suspend Syria

In a surprisingly sharp move, the Arab League voted on Saturday to suspend Syria over the country's crackdown on an eight-month uprising and stepped up calls on the army to stop killing civilians.

Delineating democracy and State security

With the ethnic war full two years behind Sri Lanka, the Government and the Tamil community/polity are still finding it difficult to delineate security concerns and democratic rights of the individual in ways that form part of the reconciliation regime. That is at the bottom of their inability to arrive at a political solution acceptable to all stake-holders from within the country. Yet, it also needs to be understood that mutual mistrust, be it

Foiling the Palestinian bid

A leaked draft report from the United Nations Security Council membership committee suggests that the Palestinian bid for statehood is likely to fail. Though a US veto rendering the bid is imminent, the question at this point is whether it will even gain the requisite nine votes in the 15-member Council. According to the leaked draft report, the Council members remain divided on admitting the Palestinian territories as a state on the world stage

Controversial assets bill passed with a majority vote

In what appeared to be another action packed day in the Legislature, most benches of either side of the House remained occupied on Wednesday. Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa started the day’s business. The opposition members were in a frenzied mood.  They were murmuring with their colleagues, and referring to books which later appeared to be the copies of the constitution and the parliamentary standing orders.   A few minutes later,

ATTACK ON PARITHY IN PARIS: INTRA-TIGER POWER STRUGGLE

The October 30th nocturnal attack on senior French Tiger leader Parithy in Paris is a symptom of a malady currently afflicting Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora politics. Overseas structures of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) are currently experiencing  a power struggle  between leading stalwarts of the movement. The Paris attack on Parithy was due to this factional fratricide.

Editor’s Blog - Expropriation bill .....

Despite very little consultation the government successfully passed the “Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilised Assets" bill in parliament on Wednesday with, what would seem like, a high level of consensus in parliament. Legislation of this nature gives unrestrained power to the government to take over assets and enterprises as it deems prudent. There is yet to be a detailing of the criteria for the definition of &ldq

SAARC: the sham behind the shine at summit

As leaders of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries meet in the Maldivian atoll of Addu for the 17th summit, it is time to take stock and see whether the grouping representing one fifth of the humanity has achieved its goals.

Your Voice - Where do we stand on gay rights?........

Sri Lanka is a country of high moral and religious values which treats homosexuality as un-natural and a cardinal sin. Cameron seems to be a profound atheist with a lost memory of the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Let us not follow the whims of the devil at whatever cost.

‘Ensure the humane treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails’

The Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories presents its 43rd report.

We won’t let the expropriation bill be implemented: Dissanayake

Q: At a recently held press conference you called for a Tunisia-style revolution. Do you think our people and the prevailing political system is ready for a revolution of this nature? Definitely. Because in the world today and in our country the myth that power is centered in the hands of the executive is beginning to be dispelled. Power is in the hands of the people; this was proven by the revolution that took place in Tunisia, Egypt and a numb

Moscow sounds reason

The eurozone crisis has brought to the fore the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) indispensability.  But at the same time, there are concerns that the world governments nurse when it comes to the supersonic say of the few elite members and, moreover, the undervalued treatment that many of the Third World and emerging economies get at the hands of the lending organisation.

The killer on the road

Sri Lanka recorded 2483 fatal accidents killing 2630 persons in 2010 according to statistics compiled by the police. In the same year 6021 persons were seriously injured and 12,451 received minor injuries.

Where Do We Stand On Gay Rights?

Amidst British Prime Minster, David Cameron’s statement at the CHOGM on the issue of states treating homosexuality as a crime it brings up an interesting debacle as to what exactly its the legal position in Sri Lanka.

More work needed to address issues of internal armed conflicts

Speech by Minister of Justice Rauff Hakeem, on the Report of the International Law Commission at its sixty-third session.

Quotes of the Week

Use people’s power as in Tunisia and Egypt to pre-empt anti-democratic moves Anura Kumara Dissanayake, JVP Parliamentary Group Leader calling people to revolution

The real threat of 'law of the jungle'

One could surmise that the masses are pushed towards unlawful action in the belief that the law does not take its due course. This has spread from setting fire to a bus after a fatal accident to attacking and setting fire to police stations.

Your Voice - Private medical colleges – A growing concern....

What about the students paying  nearly 1000000  to 150000 Rs to Bangladesh, Indian Chinese and Russian universities...a staggering 500 to 600 students a year...do you mind losing foreign investment  outside Sri Lanka where it could be used for own growth,,......

Internationalising the ethnic issue – or, else?

N Sathiya Moorthy If anything is to flow out of the US-Canada visit of the TNA leadership, it could only be more confusion and greater complexity to the back-home exchanges with the Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. If the idea was to use the ‘good offices’ of the international community (read: West) to pressure the Colombo dispensation to move faster and further on the post-war issues of rehabilitation, reconstruction and r

Adoption; an alternative to abandonment

There are nearly 500,000 new babies born in the world each day whose lives are influenced and determined by their mothers and fathers who are responsible for their children. While many have the good fortune of receiving love and security from their families, thousands of children are abandoned, displaced or murdered and ultimately become nobody’s children.