Uncouth, behind that digital veil

I showed this recent online advert to two colleagues. One had no clue about Sri Lanka and did not speak or read Sinhala.

COVID-19 and lessons from the pre-77 economy - EDITORIAL

Since the Covid-19 hit our country in March last year, our countrymen and women, irrespective of race, religion, ethnicity, poor or rich have seen our life situation drop.

Passara bus accident: Who’s to be blamed?

A day prior to the final match of the Road Safety World Series T20 tournament was played at Raipur in India on Sunday, 14 people were killed and 47 injured in a major road accident at Passara on Monaragala-Badulla main road. The trage

UNHRC: Government burnt bridges with India & Muslim world, and now pleads for help

As Sri Lanka is heading towards a showdown in the UN Human Rights Council, which will vote on an adverse resolution on Sri Lanka today, leaders in Colombo are scrambling to avoid a near-certain defeat. On Sunday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa called the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Yousef A. Al-Othaimeen and ‘discussed with him the existing relations between the OIC and Sri Lanka as wel

Has the UNHRC delivered the goods?

With political interests clouding rights issues, the UNHRC’s record is a mix of the good and the bad

Bonded Sugar Bitterness Goes Beyond Bank Bonds?Sugar Coated Pill to Divert Attention from Perk & Privilege Enhancement?

One is reminded of ‘Archie’s Comedy Hour’ and its timeless animated song, “Sugar, Sugar-Honey, Honey…” shown on CBS-TV five decades ago and the famous fables of “Andare”, the celebrated court jester and our childhood hero. In the

Sri Lanka to advance relationship with China despite concerns – Dr. Palitha Kohona

Moves to sign free trade deal

Commission on Easter Sunday Attacks: Inaccurate narratives will be wrongfully exploited in international fora

International Day against Racism - EDITORIAL

On October 26, 1966, the UN proclaimed March 21 as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination....

Geneva, Hopscotch, and Meaningful Reconciliation

Like a great sporting event that comes every other year, Geneva is the venue and the time for Sri Lanka’s post-conflict national sport: hopscotch.

Zahran Hashim, Kattankudy and the Islamic State in Sri Lanka

The final report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into the Easter Sunday attacks was handed over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa by the Chairman of the Commission, Supreme Court Judge Janak de Silva at the Presidential Secretariat on February 01, 2021.

WHEN A CHILD ENCOUNTERS RACISM

When my son was five years old, a fellow camper said to him that he “wasn’t any colour on the rainbow.” According to his little friend, this meant that he was an alien.

Slavery, a crime against humanity

In Sri Lanka, the slave trade is not seen as a major problem though some families are known to use poor children for domestic work while unscrupulous traders and bussnessmen also employ poor children under the age of 18.

A country obsessed with racial and religious conflicts

Sri Lanka, as a nation has been wasting time debating sensitive racial and religious issues for the past several years....

Burqa ban: Security, human rights and male chauvinism

A few years ago, on a Turkish beach exclusively for women, a bikini-clad woman offered her prayers. The video clip of the woman going.....

Let’s have one law for Sri Lanka - EDITORIAL

The law of the country should be equal to everyone. That’s what the law books say. Then we also have religion which is used as a tool....

Secret US document reveals Lanka’s ‘Indo-Pacific’ role?

The launch in Colombo of a Trilateral Maritime Security Secretariat, for cooperation between Sri Lanka, India and the Maldives, merits closer scrutiny. This is on account of revelations contained in a newly declassified document from Washington that could throw light on the provenance of the new entity.

4/21: Friends exposed?

Former Chief of State Intelligence Nilantha Jayawardena says that as of April 11, about 15,000 people were aware of information received from a foreign intelligence service about the Easter Sunday attacks.

Govt. needs PC polls for political reasons

The leaders of the political parties which are aligned with the government resolved on Tuesday evening to have elections to the provincial councils at the earliest.

In search of a ruthlessly efficient leader

Cheerio EU, hello EA (and more, hopefully!)

EU. That’s the European Union. EA stands for East Asia. It’s a crude categorization in terms of what’s happening right now in Geneva with regard to Sri Lanka.

Concentrate on Consistency, not Contradiction

It was not too long ago that the Sri Lankan government was to some extent, able to resolve the cremation or burial dilemma by permitting the burial of Muslims, who die of Covid-related ailments. The approval for such a move came after months of protests especially by Muslims locally and abroad. Burials are currently being carried out with the assistance of the army at a burial site at Ottamavadi in the Batticaloa district.

Fears over Covid-19 vaccines - EDITORIAL

Over the past year - from 2020 to date, the Covid virus held the world in an iron grip of fear and paralysis. Worldwide around 120 million....

Racism is a very dangerous tool of governance!

This government is no different from any other that ruled Sri Lanka in the past. They all use the same kind of ruse, trick, facade....

Analysis of food delivery Ultimate convenience or a bitter taste

Don’t we all love food delivery platforms? They bring us food when we are short on time and introduce us to new spots we did not know existed.

Locals oppose sand mining in Malawenna

Locals from Number 65 Grama Niladhari division in Malawenna in Hikkaduwa Divisional Secretariat said sand mining activities....

Money printing does not lead to inflation – Dr. Kenneth de Zilva

Dr. Kenneth de Zilwa, a capital markets expert and business cycle economist, shares his views with the in an interview on the financial challenges confronting Sri Lanka.

Identify extremism clearly, before implementing gazette

The extraordinary gazette (2218/68) that has been issued under the highly controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on March 12 for the “De-radicalization from holding violent extremist religious ideology” seems to have stemmed from the recently released report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the t

Burqa ban: Right decision – perhaps at the wrong time

Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara last week said that he had signed a Cabinet paper to ‘ban the wearing of burqa’ for national security reasons. The paper should be presented to the Cabinet for approval and then pass a vote in Parl

Women’s Co-operation

During a research visit to Karainagar, an Island connected by a causeway to Jaffna, I listened to a single mother’s struggle to educate her three children.