Message of the Janabalaya

Not even the strongest supporter of the Joint opposition (JO) or the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) would have expected their protest march on Wednesday to bring down the Government, in spite of the Mahinda Rajapaksa...

Watergate hero Woodward drops bombshell on Trump

In two weeks, world leaders will gather in New York for the annual sessions of the United Nations General Assembly.  They need to put away diplomatic niceties and pluck up....

UNP braces for elections

It has become apparent that the election mode has been activated in the country. So to speak, the United National Party (UNP) has called for a meeting of its Kandy District electoral organization on September 9. It clearly sends the message that the party is gearing up for the elections.   

Notes for a Manifesto: Education Reforms

If anyone doubts that the entire educational system should be reformed, a quick listen to statements made by Higher Education Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe (WR) would force a re-think. On the one hand he extols the virtues of private education and insists that this way lies the future, then he submits a Cabinet Paper to take over 

Whither ‘Janabalaya’?

The joint opposition’s ‘Janabalaya’ or People’s power protest in Colombo yesterday appeared to be a success in terms of party politics. From early yesterday, on the streets of Colombo the number of vehicles was drastically reduced, in buses and trains the number of passengers was less. Several schools closed early and allowed the 

Importance of hearing voices of dissent

The Government’s planned Tsunami Warning Rehearsal scheduled in the morning yesterday (September 5) was perhaps a little gimmick to take the attention away from the ‘Janabalaya Colombata’ protest campaign which was expected to enter Colombo any moment, at the time of writing.   

Patchwork art at Devi Balika junction - EDITORIAL

The junction next to Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Borella has the unique distinction of being a meeting place of some 15 road lanes. These include four lanes each from Kotte and Horton place, two lanes each from Pelpola Vipassi Mawatha, Borella Kanatte road and the road that connects junction with Cotta Road and one from Shady Grove Avenue.  

Kamer’s predicament doesn’t describe him! Says his former school principal at AIS

I have been a teacher for over 50 years and a Principal for at least 30. During that time hundreds of students have passed through my hands and have touched my life in one way or another.   

Will Kamer be cleared of accusations? Shocking arrest of popular Sri Lankan PhD student in Australi

It is too early to comment on the detention of 25-year-old Kamer Nizamdeen, a popular PhD student affiliated to the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia as the matter is under investigation by the NSW Joint Counter-Terrorism Team. His arrest on accusations of planning terror attacks has shocked 

CLINICAL ATTACK ON SURGEON What action have the line ministries taken?

The Daily Mirror edition of 17 August 2018 carried an article in which an appeal was made by Sunil, a paddy cultivator in Badulla, whose wife Jayanthi (34) had been diagnosed with Meningothelial Meningioma, a rare disease that needed further treatment at a cost of Rs. 400,000. Follow-up surgery by a highly skilled neurosurgeon 

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

What does the future hold for this country??? Two members of the Youth Parliament rape a girl and nothing happens!!! Conversely, in India two boys aged 20 and 24 years gang-raped an eight-year-old girl and were given capital punishment; the headline said ‘DEATH SENTENCE FOR RAPE OF EIGHT YEAR OLD’!!! This column 

UNP Janabala - 2001 Protest against Prorogation of Parliament and Referendum

“Police fired at me with rubber bullets after I went behind the blockade with their consent to calm the protesting masses,” said UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. He accused the Presidential Security Division of trying to kill him. Later addressing the media he said that PSD men in civvies had allegedly fired rubber bullets at him 

Hithumathe Jeewithe: Stray life of the Criminal Justice System

As a columnist some of the news that hits you on a daily basis is good raw material to work upon. Specially for a column not exclusively dealing with the political, a news item which might not capture headlines could still ignite the spark to write. The harrowing tale of Hithumathe Jeewithe is one such story.   

FEASTING ON PUBLIC FUNDS

A series of recent news reports begs attention of the people. They point the scant regard shown by the so-called people’s representatives -- the members of the Parliament, provincial councils and the local government bodies, on the plights of the people they are said to be representing. Here are some of the reports:   The proposal to increas

Wanted a candidate for 2019 Myth and fallacy Of 50% plus for Presidency

“Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile.”

Peace Building and Capacity

There is no doubt that the government has the greater responsibility to ensure that the requisite legal frameworks, policy implementation mechanisms for peace to be sustainable and for reconciliation to be meaningful. In present context of increasing direct internal regulation, it appears that when the international community calls for greater transparency and accountability 

A woman and a leopard - EDITORIAL

Some days ago, journalist Uditha Devapriya posted on Facebook a thought-provoking post. It highlighted a disturbing realty in modern-day South Asia.

Floating, Latent and Stagnant: The Northern Predicament

For close to three decades, the people of the North and East were wedged in by war, uprooted from their lands by multiple displacements, and shut off from the market....

State obligation with regard to torture, and failed governance

A meeting held by the Kandy Regional Office of the Human Rights Commission in support of victims of torture on June 29, 2018....

US and Britain involved in killing Yemen’s schoolchildren

The evidence that has come out from the UN and NGOs makes clear, without any reservation or ambiguity, that on August 9, dozens of schoolchildren on a bus in Yemen were killed by a Saudi Arabian air-strike, and that American-supplied weapons had been used, and probably British too. Criticism of Saudi Arabia and its partner in crime, the United Arab Republic, has been increasing over the last year.  

Charity’s value lasts forever

Widely accepted spiritual and ethical values tell us that our care for others is the measure of our greatness. That means we need to be other-centred. If we are selfish or self-centred with its related vices such as greed, envy and cut-throat competitiveness, we are like suicide bombers. We will spiritually and morally destroy ourselves and others.  

Sri Lanka needs to be alert big time!

Sri Lanka was made a one of the taking points by India’s External Affairs Minister Susma Swaraj at the 3rd edition of the Indian Ocean Conference held in Hanoi, Vietnam.  

Tamil leaders bogged down in new controversy: Developmen

With only a month remaining for the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) to end its term, the long-drawn tussle between Chief Minister of the Province, C.V.Wigneswaran and the leadership of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has found a new bone of contention, the Presidential Task Force for the Development of Northern and Eastern Provinces, to fight over.  

Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act Reforms

About fifty years ago when I started my journalistic career with the now defunct Sun Newspaper, the then Justice Minister K.W. Devanayagam asked me; why are the Quazi Courts so corrupt? Why don’t the community reform it to prevent divorces and misery to families?     

Dictatorship in UN and politicisation of genocide

On Monday, the United Nations behaving like Popeye the Sailor after a spinach drink, fired from all cylinders at Myanmar. 

Notes for a Manifesto: Understanding the executive

There was a time when the ‘executive’ in relation to the State consisted of the Cabinet of Ministers led by the Prime Minister. Things were pretty simple back then. And clear. The rest of the Parliament made the laws. The judges did their thing. There was no confusion about the boundaries that separated the executive, judicial and 

Japan’s interest in Trincomalee and the ‘great game’ in the Indian Ocean

The visit of Japan’s Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera to Sri Lanka (Aug 20-22) has significance that goes beyond the fact that it is the first ever by a Japanese Defence Minister to this country. Onodera’s visit took the form of a tour of Sri Lanka’s major ports – Colombo, Trincomalee and Hambantota. It took place within a web 

President Maithripala Sirisena Time to look beyond the ripples in reservoirs

President Maithripala Sirisena seems to believe that focusing on North Central and North Western Provinces would secure his future at upcoming elections. Being an individual from the village, his focus has been on irrigation and cultivation. Very recently Sirisena launched the ‘Water to Wayamba’ Programme at Polpethigama, giving

The ‘Manasa’ that resides in us

On my way home after watching Jayantha Chandrasiri’s Garasarapa a month or so ago, I began to think about the theme at the centre of that film: is demonology really psychology? Scholars will contend that there is a fine line to be drawn somewhere between the two and that most if not all those mythical practices we indulge in 

Presidential Elections likely in January Only if MS, MR join hands

New political alliances and formations are common occurrence when the national elections are around the corner. The presidential elections are scheduled to be conducted at the end of next year. Now, the country’s political air is pregnant with preparations for such happenings. The latest is a move to forge an electoral pact