Relic worship- Unravelling the hidden facets of devotion

‘Shraddha’ or devotion is the first door that reveals the marvels in the path to ultimate wisdom. Unwavering faith in a devotee can land him/ her on the shores of nibbhana, where the former plays a vital role in combining the more sophisticated essentials such as courage, wisdom and self-awareness. Ever since Buddhism emerged as an established philosophy and religion, pilgrims were not scarce and pilgrimages were not rare. 

Moving From Tamil Eelam to Eelam Tamil

Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) leader M Karunanidhi seems to have quietly acquiesced to New Delhi’s pressure to shift the focus of his widely publicised “Eelam Tamils’ Rights Protection Conference” on August 12 from ‘Tamil Eelam’ to ‘Eelam Tamil.’

Back to square one

Goodwill gestures, official meetings, accusations, denials and track-two diplomacy. Set this sequence on repeat mode and it gives you an apt sense of the schizophrenic relations between India and Pakistan during the past decade.

Editorial - Markets are not politics!

Today you are against the executive power and tomorrow you are with the ruling party and voting for it. In those good old days you shouted for the rights of the young and now you may be feeling that it’s your patriotic duty to restrain the rights of the same group who have now grown old.

TRADE UNIONISM IS NOT CONFINED TO HIGHER WAGE DEMANDS

Some people have made an argument that the Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) has exceeded the mandate of a trade union when it demands the government to allocate 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to education.

Much ado about song

A few months back had you asked someone to tell you what Pussy Riot is, the answer would have been nothing more than a quizzical look or a shake of the head.

Swimming Against The Tide: Australia’s New Asylum-Seeker Package

Though launched with much fanfare and media acclaim, Australia’s new raft of proposals embodied in the Houston package to handle the surge in asylum-seekers is simply treading water and will get the country nowhere.

Pancha Maha Balavegaya on the Streets - Editorial

The Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera, who leads the National Movement for Social Justice, has again called for the immediate abolition of the executive presidency saying it is the only way to save Sri Lanka from a calamity.

Learning from TESO meeting

If there is one thing that the recently-held TESO conference at Chennai, capital of the south Indian State of Tamil Nadu, that stake-holders and other protagonists from all sides, in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, have to understand, it is this. There is truth in the considered view that the understanding of the ethnic issue

Why Sri Lanka Does Not Trust India?

We cannot expect either gratitude or apology from India but it is our right to set the story straight as far as India’s role is concerned in establishing terrorism in Sri Lanka. We now need the world especially the Indian people to understand how its Government had launched the separatist struggle in Sri Lanka

Another brazen attack

Just when the Pakistani army was preparing to finally undertake a military operation to crush the intransigent Haqqani network in North Waziristan, it has again come under another brazen attack.

Editorial - Don’t play with the students’ future

For some reason, the GCE Advanced Level examination has become a death trap for students who build their future around it. It is no more the hurdle that could be overcome with some effort, nor does it guarantee a place in the academia for those who get through with flying colours.

The LLRC and the prospects of reconcilation in Sri Lanka

It is now over three years since the LTTE was decisively defeated by the Government of Sri Lanka. Since then the government and the international community have been grappling with the issue of winning peace, addressing the causes which gave rise to the deadly conflict, issues of accountability, and reconciliation. 

China factor reaches crisis level - Editorial

Since independenc e, Sri Lanka has maintained a balanced foreign policy. So much so that in 1976 the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Government had the privilege of hosting the Non-Aligned-Movement summit attended by leaders of more than 75 countries.

Syria is not Libya; it may explode region-wide

Kofi Annan, until recently the UN and Arab League envoy for Syria, has warned, “Syria is not Libya — it will not implode, it will explode...

Editorial - Act fast for reconciliation

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, opening the Defence Seminar 2012, said much progress had been made since the end of the war in the five...

Hunting down the war criminals

There can be no question that if President Bashar al-Assad of Syria falls the International Criminal Court will want to put him on trial for war crimes...

People’s belief in the opposition is doubtful - - Harin Fernando

UNP MP Harin Fernando spoke to the Daily Mirror on the upcoming provincial Council elections and the conflict within the UNP, as well as the various accusations being levelled against the leader of the UNP. The MP from the Badulla district also discusses the pressures of being a young MP.

Absence of a National Ideology of Reconciliation

There are many views about what we must achieve in post-war Sri Lanka.  There appears to be a general acceptance that reconciliation among the various ethnic groups in the country is of topmost priority.

Let’s get back to local fresh milk - Editorial

With the unprecedented drought and the sharp decline in the value of the rupee sending the cost of living soaring to levels beyond the reach of millions, the Government needs to take effective measures to bring down the cost of living by encouraging local production.

Implementation of the LLRC recommendations needs to be expanded

An eagerly awaited National Action Plan (NAP) or the road map to implement the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC report of 2011 November) was tabled in July 2012 by the presidential Secretariat and also made available for the general public two days later. 

Should We Remake Old Mistakes?

Independent Ceylon was just a few months old when she won her first ever silver medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. For the new nation it would have been a proud moment; and a propitious omen of triumphs to come.

Bold shake-up in Egypt

The brazen attack by militants in Sinai came as a shock for all. But for Mohamed Mursi, it was nothing short of a golden opportunity.

Editorial - Militarization myths

Time and again, the purpose of retaining army camps in the liberated North is vehemently questioned. It was, in fact, one of the sensitive nerves pricked by the US allied countries during the UNHRC sessions earlier this year, where the former passed a resolution against the island nation. 

Women in aftermath of war

Peace activist Lillian Wald once said that women, more than men, have the ability to strip war of its glamour - its outdated heroisms, patriotisms and perceive it for what it really is; a demon of destruction and hideous wrong.

The Rise of Far-Right Extremism: Is the West Complacent?

The West is confronted with a new enemy. The face of this enemy is that of a familiar one, and is no alien to the Western soil unlike Islamic extremism that was imported from across the continent. The new enemy is an indigenous phenomenon which has been lurking under the surface for years,

Essentials of Post-Conflict Resolution & India’s Concerns

Today, Tamil families no more fear the so-called Tigers’ forced recruitment of their children, disruption of their education, and various forms of brutalization and abuses. The extortion of funds from civilians to finance the terrorist operations of the LTTE has also ended.

A new dawn

Libya is in a midst of a momentous power transition. The interim National Transitional Council, by handing over power to the newly elected constituent assembly, will institutionalise genuine representation in the strife-torn country.

Editorial - Work to put on the new self

Most of us have worked for material comfort and financial security, yet there could be deep emptiness within. We believe that if we have what the affluent enjoy, then we too would be happy. Yet the bitter truth has shown that generally the rich and the powerful have to contend with psychological upheavals

SL Consultant whose love for all things civil in aviation kept him away from politics

This is an interview with a Sri Lankan consultant who served this country first, then received international recognition in Singapore and the Middle East. Dayanthe is publicity shy, but I got him talking with just a simple question. Hardly anyone remembers all the technical first’s you introduced to the infrastructure of Sri Lanka’s aviation.