In a world of fakes!

The talk in the political circles these days is about party candidates for the upcoming presidential elections. None of the popular parties from the favourites to the ones that will ‘also run in the race’ has declared its representatives.

Empowering citizens to fight corruption

January 8, 2015 wmarked a turning point in the course of the Sri Lanka’s political history. A powerful President who was held in high regard for defeating the LTTE was rejected by the public at large. They instead placed their faith in the hands of the common candidate Maithripala Sirisena.

‘Every life is sacred’

At the outset we need to make it clear that we hold no brief for drug barons, convicts on death row or the death penalty but for the dignity of human life as best said by Pope Francis, “…since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes. I also offer encouragement to

Woe unto a country run by Dealers, not Leaders..

We are badly and desperately in need of leaders. No, not the ‘dealers’ of the type of the top three men who stake claims for ruling this country at present. Real Leaders!!

CONSTERNATION!

We are still struggling to come to terms with the fact that our country was attacked and it brought everything and everyone to a screeching halt. Thanks to the efficiency and commitment of our security forces, a sense of normalcy prevails. But there is an underlying unease and an apathetic lethargy that pervades. The need for more comprehensive and stringent operations

Free democracy or political inferno?

The United National Party (UNP) has become muted. The political party that championed the cause of democracy has lost its voice; an increasing tendency for retail politics has made it an anachronism in modern-day politics. Its machinery has lost its skipper; the one who is pretending is making incoherent statement after incoherent statement and the backbenchers do not

Start from Scratch - Editorial

Brian Lara once said that if he had to put anyone to bat for his life, it would be Jacques Kallis or Rahul Dravid. Even Lara, who came from the land of legendary Vivian Richards, could not count his life on a player from his own country.

Population Day: Focus on a just and fair society

In Sri Lanka, the population issue has become a crisis not because of overpopulation but due to baseless allegations that a doctor had sterilized hundreds of women or girls after caesarian section births. In any event, in most countries, fertility levels are declining rapidly. The allegations were made largely by the black media or fake media which are apparently misusing the freedom given by the 19th Amendment. United States President Donald Tru

Bodu Bala Sena’s newest political gambit

The Bodu Bala Sena, a Sinhala Buddhist nationalist group blamed on propagating Islamophobia converged in a large gathering in Kandy on Sunday. Around a thousand Buddhist monks and a large number of devotees answered the call by BBS chieftain Ven. Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara Thera, who is mobilizing grassroots of Sinhala Buddhist zealotry since his release from prison on a presidential pardon. Fearing the worst, local Muslims shut their shops. Howev

Scholar identifies factors behind extremism in Kattankudy

In his paper entitled, Kattankudy in Eastern Sri Lanka: A Mullah-Merchant Urban Complex Caught between Islamist Factionalism and Ethno-Nationalisms. Dr. Ameer Ali traced the history of the town and came to the ominou

Remnants of 19A rampaging a ransacked nation

Back to the People Before Chaos Reign Supreme... Sound incredible?, but it is the truth; a country that have been totally robbed, plundered and devastated by the politicians needs to go….

Presidential poll 2019: Sarath Amunugama as candidate?

Merry days are back again! Measuring life in elections participated- another, in the offing, will add an additional notch. Same old faces in a thousand posters, same electors with a cohort of additional youths to be left derelict....

LAW, DISORDER AND ANARCHY - EDITORIAL

In the aftermath of the Easter Sunday suicide bombings where over 250 persons lost their lives in all places of religious worship, even tourist hotels and schools have been provided security by the state in the form of armed military guards.

Fate of democracy in the face of rising nationalism

In Sri Lankan society, the word democracy is often referred to in a protesting manner against anyform of injustice or inequality. We hear people say this is a “democratic Country” in the presence of perceived injustice or discrimination.

Gruesome killing of five Tamil students in Trinco 13 years ago

Five Tamil students were killed near the beach in the Trincomalee town thirteen years ago on January 2, 2006. Two other students suffered injuries but survived. The names and dates of birth of the five victims were: Manoharan Rajiharan – 22.09.1985; Yogarajah Hemachandra – 04.03.1985; Logitharajah Rohan – 07.04.1985; Thangathurai Sivanantha – 06.04.1985 and Shanmugarajah Gajendran – 16.09.1985. The two injured youths were Yogarajah Poongulalon a

Be safe by being aware of food safety

The consumption of contaminated food has caused illnesses and deaths of millions of people. It has been recognized that food contamination is a global challenge and that “food contamination that occurs in one place may affect the health of consumers living on the other side of the planet.”

Cooperatives could help build a just society

Today is the United Nations International Day of Cooperatives and the world body in a statement says at a time when income inequality is rising around the world, it is good to be reminded that solutions to inequality do exist. The cooperative model is foremost among these solutions, since it contains aspects of sustainable development at its core and is based on ethical values and principles.

It is Sri Lanka that’s on the “Death Row” now

The economy is in total disarray despite numbers trotted out to insist there is economic growth. The Prime Minister was reported as having told his ministers to complete all “Development” projects within three months by October.

Who is genuinely against capital punishment?

We hear these days many voices against the statement made to the heads of media institutions last week by President Maithripala Sirisena that he had signed the documents for the implementation of the death sentence on four convicts.

Democracy’s cornerstone at stake - EDITORIAL

On Sunday, June 30 the United Nations marked the International Day of Parliamentarianism at a time in Sri Lanka’s Parliament, standards, values and principles have plunged to one of the lowest levels with some cynics....

How Lanka’s black media peddling racism

In journalism, dog does not bite dogs. Yet, there are times when, as civic conscious journalists, we need to, at least, bark. After all, we are watchdogs. In recent months and years, sections of Sri Lanka’s media....

Dr Shafi Sahabdeen and the proportionality of communalism

I want Dr. Seigu Shihabdeen Mohamed Shafi cleared of all charges levelled against him with respect to unethical and unwarranted sterilization. I want him cleared because I want to believe that our medical profession is made of impeccably honourable and competent people. I want to believe that those who graduate from state universities in Sri Lanka learn the relevant skills

Doing what’s wrong believing it’s right can be calamitous

“To be hanged by the neck until you are dead,” are the ominous and menacing words that a convicted criminal hears when the presiding Judge passes the death sentence. Whether these words are heard or registered in the mind of the convict standing in the dock amid all the confusion that must be coursing through the mind when his or her future is being determined with a finality,

Modi cites Bangladesh as example of political stability leading to economic gains

The success story of Bangladesh offers insight to Sri Lanka where unstable governance and lack of policy consistency hampered economic growth, discouraged Foreign Direct Investment and obstructed decision making

Need to abolish death penalty

he death penalty or Capital punishment or judicial hanging or sending to the “Gallows” is the killing of a person by legal statute. In this situation the head of state is literally the executioner as he gives the final order for execution, including the date, time and the place of

Gnanasara, Rathana and Asgiriya Chapter Seeds of a national crisis in the making

Being born a Buddhist, educated at one of the leading Buddhist schools in Colombo and for that matter by one of the greatest erudite scholarly monks at the time, I cannot help but feel very hurtful being witness to the total weaponising of our great and sublime philosophy by those uneducated street thugs who roam about all corners of our land pretending as the exclusive

Sustainable SL villages : no longer an old narrative - EDITORIAL

The melting roads in Germany say it all. Even Europe’s most technologically advanced nation was not prepared for a climate catastrophe of the magnitude of what it is experiencing right now. The heat wave has driven home a point to Europe and the rest of the world that the future buildings and infrastructure need greater emphasis on heat resistance.

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

We wonder if even God can help our country now. Our island was a beautiful paradise and its inhabitants were God-fearing. That was in the time of the benevolent and respected leaders who truly loved this country and its people. They fought long and hard to gain independence. They maintained the TRUE SPIRIT OF THAT INDEPENDENCE they fought so hard to gain.

Social media, national elections could be nasty combination

Sri Lanka has set the precedent. The rest of the world, at least some of them seem to be following through. As social media gained credence as the main interpersonal communication mode of the ordinary person, attention also focused on the means of monitoring and controlling the content.

19A, not totally bad

Almost all new Constitutions and Constitutional Amendments that have been brought in by Sri Lankan leaders after Independence - especially after 1978 - have been meant for the fulfilment of their immediate wishes.