The cry of Sri Lanka’s people: “Give us a Mandela”

With the Rajapaksa Government facing an unprecedented Aragalaya or public revolt and the protests going on in most parts of the country for three months, Sri Lanka desperately needs a statesperson who will work for the next generation and not for the election.

People’s power and thinking of July 9 - EDITORIAL

People taking the law into their hands is a common sight at queues and at fuel stations. People are frustrated to the brim, but that doesn’t give them the power to behave like hooligans. Just the other....

The creators and profiteers of our misery

Sri Lanka is in the depth of an economic and political crisis of apocalyptic proportions. Many millions in the most vulnerable sections are skipping meals; Inflation has crossed 50% ( unofficial figures.....

Recipes for co-opting and subverting #peoplepower

Ram Manikkalingam, Visiting Professor of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam has sketched ‘An Agenda for Change’ (Sunday Times, July 3, 2022). Now change is an easy and cheap term.

Give heed to the cry of a people in pain

In the aftermath of all the available stocks of fuel being used up and as usual, different dates being mentioned by government spokesmen as to when the next fuel shipment is due;

The bias of ‘international media’ - EDITORIAL

The media play an important role in shaping public awareness and providing information that shapes attitudes and public opinion. Media also.....

When your electoral wishes come true….

Diplomacy depends on decency

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara who was in Qatar with Environment Minister Nazeer Ahmed on June 30, said that Sri Lanka had decided to lift the ban on ‘Qatar Charity’ which had been imposed following the Easter Sunday terro

Mr. President, it’s not too late!

The current state of our beloved nation could be broadly described as a story, a story that is excruciatingly painful to hear, w

Japan’s Altruism: Bombed us on Easter ‘42; we ‘Recompensed’ in ‘51

In choosing my title I feel it may seem rather an arrogant one; but, when examined, it will be seen that exactly the opposite is the case. Have they, the Japanese....

It’s time to reconcile energy policy with long term generation plan

Energy is a vital factor for any country’s economy and in Sri Lanka there is much public focus on the subject because of the power cuts the people are experiencing every day. The power cuts....

Fuel shortages, spiraling costs, falling wages and corruption - EDITORIAL

Sri Lanka is in the grip of simultaneous fuel and food crises, brought on by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused a downturn in tourism and led to a shortage of foreign currency. To make....

When they can’t govern, they must Go Home

Protests come in waves and July will be a month of struggle. The great mass of people are all talking politics. They are questioning the rulers for hours while waiting on petrol queues. Farmers....

Kamal Haasan returns to cinema with blockbuster ‘Vikram’

Are we learning anything from the crisis?

Almost all Sri Lankans have reposed or they have been made by their leaders to repose all their hopes on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for their economic salvation.

Revive the co-operative movement in Sri Lanka

With the Aragalaya or the public revolt against the Rajapaksa Government continuing for the 85th day and the crisis getting worse day by day with political leaders warning of a possible famine and hundreds of people surviving with one meal a day,

Schoolchildren need a hug and not a lecture! - EDITORIAL

The life of schoolchildren has once again become chaotic. Most Colombo schools have been closed till July 10 after the government announced several professions which went into an essential....

Lesson for Lanka from Ecuador’s crises, its relations with US and China

In faraway Ecuador, a crisis similar to the one Sri Lanka is facing, is threatening to unseat a President. Similarities of the crises in the two countries are striking in some....

Some mill owners sell imported rice under local brands - Dudley Sirisena

President of Rice Millers’ Association and Chairman of Araliya Group Dudley Sirisena takes questions from DailyMirror on the current status of the rice market. Rice is the staple food.....

#De-dollarizenow

Sometime in the year 1992, an Economics student at the University of Peradeniya confessed confusion over a comment by Dr S. B. De Silva regarding multinational corporations.

Sri Lanka in dire straits: Begging bowl not a long-term answer

The headlines in the print and electronic media these days are depressing to say the least. They describe, in vivid detail Sri Lanka’s sad state of affairs.

Spotlight on losses associated with so called development projects

Many of the projects aimed at developing the country have only become a burden to the regime. Mattala Airport, Lotus Tower, the Conference....

The need for a reset

The last column I wrote on why the media is increasingly in the firing line of public anger elicited some interesting responses. A few wrote....

The Biblical seven lean years - EDITORIAL

According to the biblical story, the Pharaoh of Egypt had a dream that no one could interpret for him. Joseph, then a prisoner with a history.....

IMPROVING PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Following are three paragraphs from an article written by Professor Amal Kumarage of the Department of Transport and Logistics Management, University of Moratuwa and published in the Daily FT last week. These three paragraphs thr

Free-fall of the nation Where is the alternative to ruinous Gotabaya regime?

There is a great deal of ruin in a nation, Adam Smith once said - meaning that the modern states are innately strong enough to withstand a good deal of external and internal pressure. It takes serious and serial bungling by the policymakers to break a nation. Gotabaya Rajapaksa has shown how a country could be ruined on a fast track. Consider these n

Without a Plan will Sri Lanka Overcome?

Nomination of Droupadi Murmu for the Indian Presidency should help uplift India’s Tribals

The 104 million Tribal population has been languishing at the bottom of India’s social, economic and political ladder since the earliest times.

Growing disillusion among young Lankans - EDITORIAL

Since 2020, there has been a growing trend of disillusionment among young people in our country. At the presidential election of 2019 and the general election which followed, they came out in droves.....

A just tax system

Government revenue plummeted since President Gotabaya Rajapaksa came to power. This was driven by tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy, in a bid to increase investment and spur economic....