At the UNHRC spin is truth and truth is spin

The UN’s top human rights official, High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet has expressed disappointment regarding ‘the spin that had been put’ on her ‘discussion with the Sri Lankan Government delegation.’ Apparently, it was reported that the Northern Province Governor Suren Raghavan had claimed that Bachelet had ‘agreed’ that certain facts incorporated in the

May Blue for Buses Make it Better for Road Users

The new rules and regulations introduced on April 1 by the Western Province Road Passenger Transport Authority (WPRTA) makes it compulsory for all private buses in the Western Province to be in blue instead of the garish colours some of the buses are painted in.

The April 5 and the legacy of rebellion …

OnApril 5, 1971, a political movement known popularly then as the Che Guevara Group, made an unprecedented and unexpected attack on all the Police stations and other crucial state institutions in a bid to grab political power in a single night. Their leader was Rohana Wijeweera, who after a botched scholarship course at the Lumumba University in Russia had started a

revised traffic fines

The government has introduced revised traffic fines from April 1, and it is absolutely a welcome sign. Fines and penalties can minimize the traffic violation that the laws cannot, could not. Due to the current competitiveness, the bus operators are so keen to earn money but never want to lose through paying traffic fines.

Some shocking reasons for power cuts

Millions of people are suffering and most are blaming the government for the current four-hour daily power cuts in most parts of the country. Difficult times or times of struggle are widely known to be the time when we should deeply ponder on what we have done or fail to do as responsible eco-friendly citizens in this era of global warming and climate change.

In search of a leader who loves discipline

Sri Lanka is guilty on many counts like committing war crimes, aiding the narcotics industry and squandering state funds and as of now not being committed to solving its power crisis. This could be why Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe the other day said that Sri Lankans should be provided with military training. The Premier took Singapore as an example for a country

Sirisena spearheads war against drugs

The centerpiece of President Maithripala Sirisena’s war against drugs and narcotics will take place when the nation takes a pledge to create a ‘Drug Free Country’ this morning. The main event of taking the ‘April Pledge’ for a Drug Free Country will be held at the Independence Square at 8.30 this morning graced by President Sirisena. President Sirisena takes a personal

Power Cuts: Democracy does not mean passivity

The present power crisis is not the first of its kind in the country. We have been running into such crises occasionally for the past several decades including long drawn power cuts in the late 1990s and in 2001, during the height of the ethnic war. The irony and the pathetic side of the story is that the cou

Dr. NM Perera Vs Speaker: Police Evicted NM on Speaker’s Orders 60 years ago

When the Second State Council met for the first time on March 17, 1936, the 30-year-old Double Doctor N. M. Perera, who defeated Molamure Kumarihamy of the Meedeniya Walauwa in Ruwanwella, seconded the name of Duraiswamy for the post of Speaker.

World Water Day - March 22: Leaving no one behind!

As of today, billions of people in the world still live without safe water – their households, schools, workplaces, farms and factories struggling to survive and thrive. Marginalized groups including women, children....

Inequality and its Persistence in Jaffna

Inequality is now one of the most internationally researched and debated social issues. Rising income inequalities between and within countries after the neo-liberal turn of the 1970s gained further attention with the global economic crisis of 2008.

Sinhala-Tamil New Year, Earth Day and the Environment - EDITORIAL

As the month of April dawns this morning, many of us will be pranking our friends, relations and fellow citizens with ‘April fool jokes’. Yet, in the month of April we celebrate many more serious events. For us Sri Lankans....

Cinematic Triple Gems Among The Films Of Lester James Peries

Lester James Peries is regarded by many including this writer as Sri Lanka’s greatest film director. The birth centenary of the master film maker born on April 5, 1919 will be commemorated this week.

Human rights: and the right to the truth

This week the United Nations marked the International day for the right to the truth concerning gross human rights violations and for the dignity of victims. In a statement, the world body says, the right to the truth is often invoked in the context of gross violations of human rights and grave breaches of humanitarian law.

Trump does not like Russia

President Donald Trump has been exonerated of collusion with Russia. As I wrote a while back I expected this conclusion from the investigation carried out by Robert Mueller.

A divided Sri Lanka and the UNHRC Report - EDITORIAL

Sri Lanka may consider being granted two years to implement outstanding matters from the previous UNHRC 2015 resolution (30/1) as a slight victory, but it has to sort out the tussle in progress between parties supportive of the commission’s...

Security, water and oil: Hidden reasons why Golan matters to Israel

In yet another blow to international law, the United States President Donald Trump, with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his side, on Monday signed a proclamation, officially recognising Syria’s Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

Where are People in these Expert talks?

The Daily Mirror on Thursday 21 March, carried a very detailed and exhaustive analysis on Sri Lanka’s Free Trade Agreements (FTA) and their returns in terms of economic gain titled Sri Lanka FTA debate: What have we gained and what can we achieve.

Local rhetoric amidst submission to foreign pressure

Both the current and the former Governments have been lying to the people in respect of their respective dealings with the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Both the governments have been attempting.....

Empowering the elderly in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka boasts of one of the most advanced free health care systems in Asia. Whatever the drawbacks are, our government health system is well standardised and attempts to integrate high tech medical advancements. Our life expectancy at birth is 77 years which is better than Russia (71), India (69), China (76) and even Malaysia (75). We also have one of the fastest

Rajapaksa’s hollow call: Discipline for them freedom for us?

It is time that a debate of classical genre between freedom and discipline emerged in the socio-political spheres in Sri Lanka. Engagement of the country’s learned ones, academics, intellectuals, professionals and thinking politicians is an indispensable component for a lively, robust and meaningful exchange of ideas, ideals and enlightening thoughts.

In the wake of future elections Buddhist Sri Lanka at a crossroads

Sri Lanka is a proud Buddhist country and it’s a well-known fact that the island even attracts foreigners who wish to get ordained here as novice monks and learn the rudiments of Gautama Buddha’s philosophy.

PM now a septuagenarian with fresh hopes Draws parallel with China’s Deng Xiaoping

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe turned seventy on March 24, and hosted his MPs and political party leaders for a birthday dinner on Monday. In his short address to the audience, he drew inspiration from iconic Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. He said Deng Xiaoping steered China to a great economic heights through

Tilak Marapana’s efforts should not go waste

On the face of it, the intervention by Foreign Affairs Minister Tilak Marapana at the Geneva sessions of the UNHRC, appears apt and even laudable. He has stated, on behalf of the Government, certain incontrovertible truths pertaining to the post-conflict situation in Sri Lanka. Naturally, he’s bound and even hindered by the relevant protocols, most seriously by what the

Water is a treasure none can do without

Most of us are familiar with Poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s lines in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, where a sailor on a becalmed ship is surrounded by salt water saying, ‘Water water everywhere nor a drop to drink’.

Bathiudeen’s ‘spiring’ has affected Wilpattu

Minister Rishad Bathiudeen has shown during the past that he is more important to the Governments that have been in power than to the Muslim community.

Mysterious Mystery

When this column first reported that a ‘RED’ NOTICE had been issued on Mahendran, questions were asked, and eyebrows were raised!!! Now we are told that, at the request of the President, INTERPOL has issued a second notice on Mahendran!!! The MYSTERY IS WHY HAS IT STILL NOT BEEN POSSIBLE TO ARREST AND BRING MAHENDRAN IN??? Is

BJP bad mouths rule Indian poll campaign

As a belligerent Congress and a beleaguered Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) battle it out for the crucial general elections next month, political ethics have started hitting a new nadir in India. Taking on Congress over its comments on recent Indian air strikes in Pakistan, the BJP Minister of Energy in Uttar Pradesh government a few days back tweeted “The comments issued at

Christchurch attacks changed online journalism irrevocably

From the boiler room level 34C in Colombo, I had just landed in the cooler levels of 20C of Kathmandu for a few days and was looking forward to the drop in heat. I was preparing for a talk with a group of transnational journalists later in the morning, when a message appeared on my twitter feed that said that there was a shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand. Tragic news, but

UNHRC: Not for parties to gain political mileage

A new resolution on Sri Lanka has been adopted at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva last week with the co-sponsorship of Sri Lanka. The resolution provides another two years for Sri Lanka to implement its commitments, thrust upon it by the resolution adopted at the Council in 2015, which also Sri Lanka Co-sponsored. Main among the commitments- Sri Lanka ha