Pakistan’s schizophrenia

Pakistan is a country that seems sometimes to be on the verge of collapse- a scenario that frightens the US, Europe...

Editorial - Dalai Lama’s wisdom for our leaders

One of the most respected Buddhist leaders and philosophers the Dalai Lama has often spoken words of wisdom that stung people into...

war crimes ?

It has been reported that Australian Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon has demanded that Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner Thisara Samarasinghe be expelled from Australia.

Child abuse and death penalty

The subject of imposing the death penalty revives every time brutal and heinous crimes are committed in the country. The death penalty has not been executed in Sri Lanka after 1978. However with the recent wave of crime against children,

North Korean apathy

Pyongyang perhaps never believes in change. Its obsession to maintain the iron-jacket status quo has become a laughing stock. Such an impression was reinforced as North Korea strongly denied the euphoric views expressed

Editorial - Some heroes die twice

Sadly, Shakespeare was proved wrong. The news about vandalizing the Mahatma Gandhi statue in a community hall in Jaffna, hits the newsrooms at a time when the state of safety in the country is constantly questioned.

Editorial - Austerity and a simple lifestyle

The Central Bank has confessed that export earnings have dropped drastically. Our expenditure on imports is double the amount we earn from exports. This means we are spending twice as much as we are earning, and surviving on loans.

Independence of the Judiciary

In the year 1983, Vivienne Goonewardene filed a Fundamental Rights Application against Hector Perera and Others. The Supreme Court held that the State was liable for the transgression of fundamental rights the police committed when he was enforcing the law and ordered the State to pay Rs.2,500/- as compensation to Vivienne for infringement of her fundamental rights as safeguarded by Article 13 (1) of the Constitution.

Romney’s boo-boo

Mitt Romney has blundered on the foreign policy front. Hardly out of the woods for not being a politician in his credentials to lead the world’s superpower, the Republican presidential candidate seems to have walked the suicide path of his career.

25 Years of India-Sri Lanka Agreement

Not all, but some of the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora consider it as India’s diplomatic failure. The Agreement represented a strategic rather than a mere diplomatic initiative. The Agreement was signed after India arm-twisted Sri Lanka's President JR Jayewardane to sign it. He had little option but to do so as no external help was forthcoming particularly after India carried out Operation Poomalai when Indian air force planes dropped much

Transitional justice: Rehabilitation in review

Post–war rehabilitation of ex-combatants is a relatively new discipline in the field of international transitional justice. What is even newer is the increasing recognition of the inextricable link between successful rehabilitation programmes

THOUGHTS OF CBK

Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga calls it “the first serious political interview I have given in six and a half years” referring to the interview she gave Sanjana Hattotuwa, editor of the website Groundviews.

Southwest Asia’s dilemma

The geostrategic vulnerability of South Asia is far from being defined. With the mess in Afghanistan yet to be sorted out, peace and development are largely in a state of limbo.

Editorial - The need for liberation from selfishness

It was Henry David Thoreau, who said, “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavour.”

Revisiting the realities

No debate or discourse in contemporary Sri Lanka or on Sri Lanka will be complete without a reference to India. Depending on the issue, like the ‘national problem’, strategic security or economy, ‘factors’ such as Tamil Nadu, China

The writing on the campus wall

A nation-wide strike by university teachers since the beginning of this month reflects new tensions in post-war Sri Lanka As with most other societies ravaged by civil war, Sri Lanka’s public institutions have all suffered.

The social conundrum

The tragedy of politics in Pakistan is that the same people, despite their dismal performance, get elected again and again. This is especially true in the  rural areas of the country. And since this is where the majority of the population live,

Editorial - Don’t paw the Olympians

The fact that the Tigers putting their paws into any international event with a Sri Lankan participation, is nothing new. Despite tight security measures, the pro-LTTE sects of the Diaspora always find ways and means to make their presence felt to the rest

Tamils Must Live Without Caste And Class

Anyone keen to know and understand the dynamics of Sri Lanka’s conflict will need to also realize that the cries of discrimination by the Sinhalese was an orchestrated plan to keep hidden from the world the fact that Tamils were and wanted to continue to remain divided by caste

Politics of heritage

Yet again, communal politics has insidiously turned a potentially significant archaeological site into a theatre of violence and vandalism. A complacent government, oblivious to the vulnerability of historical remains in religious zones, failed to prevent it from happening.

Editorial - Elections more a way of thinking than of voting

The Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Nayake Thera, in a prophetic message on Wednesday called on right-thinking people to come forward and speak out to restore democracy, social justice and the rule of law in Sri Lanka.

War escalates in Syria, but who’s afraid of peace?

The West’s moves aimed at regime change in Syria are on a  fast track. But regime change won’t come about as easily as the West thinks. Syria is certainly not going...

WHEN BRITAIN WELCOMES THE WORLD

At 9pm tonight (UK time), a newly cast bell that is larger than Big Ben will ring out from London’s Olympic Stadium and the eyes of one billion people across the globe will be...

Transition in Egypt

There is no dearth of alternatives when it comes to forming a government in Egypt. The nomination of   as the new Prime Minister must have surprised many, but it has gone...

Editorial - The people’s right to know

With staggered power cuts being imposed in different areas and the country surviving on billions of dollars in debts, we need to stress again the urgent need for a Right to Information Bill...

Expeditious disposal of cases – key to reducing crime

Newly appointed Attorney-General (AG) Palitha Fernando, in an interview with the Daily Mirror, outlines his vision for the Department and opines that expeditious disposal of cases is the key to reducing the country’s crime rate.

Abuse of the Act to Prevent Domestic Violence

The Act to Prevent Domestic Violence (PVDA) covering physical and psychological abuse was legislated in 2005 and is seen as helpful tool to protect abused women, men and children. Children who suffer enormously due to domestic violence in the hands of overbearing or violent parents and men who often face abusive women at home have in large measure not benefited yet from the PVDA. 38 and 55 cases have been reported in 2010 and 2011 respectively of

A for Accountability - Editorial

Every crime has a perpetrator. Likewise, every wrong doing has a culprit. And then there are victims, who, in the current Sri Lankan context, are rendered absolutely helpless by the lack of transparency and accountability of the government high heads.

HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION IN SRI LANKA -THE FORGOTTEN HALF OF THE STORY

Much ink has been spilt over the years on the subject of human rights in Sri Lanka. The opinions, observations and indeed ultimatums have emanated from official, unofficial, international and domestic quarters.

From nation-state to just state

There are a number of reasons why the educated and talented youth of this country desire to leave Sri Lanka.  I do not wish to pass judgment on those who want to migrate but to explore reasons why they want to do so at various levels; state, society, family and personal.