Black July 1983 PEACE: Ora et Labora

The day our greatest feat of communal hatred was shamefully exhibited to the whole wide world

Do away with Schol altogether

The continuing folly of the Grade Five examination has been attacked in the Daily Mirror of July 26 with great force but as usual the pundits of the Department of Education will take no notice. 

Imran bowls out opposition, but faces bouncers

Dubbed by the losers as the dirtiest election in Pakistan’s tryst with democracy, Wednesday’s parliamentary and provincial assembly polls were in many respects significant, for they have redrawn Pakistan’s political landscape for cohabitation between civilian and military authorities.  

Please release term test results!

Teachers have become news makers these days, not the hardworking students. July is a month where most students have to cram all their lessons within this period so as to obtain decent grades at school. 

Tragedy doctoring the Health Service What JVP MP Dr Nalinda Jayatissa proposes is to produce more do

Can more medical doctors reverse the continuing decline in our health service? JVP member in Parliament Dr Nalinda Jayatissa has moved two private member motions to establish medical faculties at the Uva Wellassa and Moratuwa Universities, with Badulla and Nagoda Hospitals proposed as “Teaching Hospitals”.   

Lessons not learnt From Black July and aftermath India had stressed that it would not accept a Tamil

So many articles had been published in newspapers this week about the 1983 ethnic riots, commonly known as the Black July.  

Grade 5 Scholarship Exam; are we to continue?

A ten-year old child finishes school at 1.30 pm. Then he/she takes a bite from his/her lunch and gets ready for the after school class slated for Grade 5 students. That class goes on till 3.30 pm. Afterwards the mother picks him/her and takes to a tuition class that starts at 4.30 pm. 

PC Polls: Mercury Rising Govt to face increased pressure to have PC Polls

The Government is bound to grapple with increased pressure to conduct the elections to the Provincial Councils this year. It is likely to happen particularly after the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) stands dissolved in October, this year. Already, the elections are overdue for three councils-North-Central, Sabaragamuwa and Eastern Provincial Councils.  

Are they playing Good Cop, Bad Cop? Has President Maithripala Sirisena declared war against the medi

President Maithripala Sirisena has declared war against the media and has done this in a subtle manner. President Sirisena cautioned the media about negative reporting and attempts made by them to attack, weaken and destroy the Government. This accusation was made when he launched the Moragahakanda Reservoir, on Monday.   

Executions and Article 11 of the Constitution

Recently, a large volume of writing has taken place discussing the merits and demerits of executing the death penalty imposed upon prisoners languishing in the country’s jails for committing a variety of capital offences. When I read those comments my mind immediately went back to the note of resignation submitted by Her Majesty’s executioner,

Inaction on Vijayakala’s LTTE cravings

UNP Member of Parliament and former State Minister for Child Affairs Vijayakala Maheswaran (VM) dropped her bombshell on July 03, during the ‘Janapathi Nila Mehewara’ gathering in Jaffna, in the presence of the Foreign Minister, Internal Affairs Ministers and NPC Chief Minister.   

US-China combine getting Yahapalanists to cough up sovereignty?

Sovereignty is about authority. In usage it is about a people or a nation or a state being able to control affairs independent of outside influence. In this globalized world there are no sovereign states, if you really think about it.   

Darkness of Black July; nothing has changed after 35 years

Yesterday, July 24 marked the 35th anniversary of the 1983 anti-Tamil riots or the commonly known “Black July.” Much water has flowed under the bridge since that national shame. It is an even bigger shame that the country is still without a clue as to how to find a lasting solution to the root cause of the issue -- ethnic problem -- that triggered the riots.

The never fading blackness of July

As yet another July passes by, the spectre of the Black July haunts the minds; the pogrom that took place in July 1983. Penning the very first installment of this column; exactly a year ago, I dedicated it to the memory of those victims of the dreaded Black July, who received neither justice, apology nor compensation. 

Rule of Law or the Law of Rule Our dilemma of Governing dichotomy

‘We are all in the gutter’, so said Oscar Wilde. It may well be a fact that Wilde has a lot of company from a great number of Sri Lankans surrounding him in that stinking gutter. The gutter is filled with snakes of deceit; its decrepit condition is a birthplace for all infectious diseases; its floor is crumbling under the very feet of 

WHERE ARE WE HEADING?

Where indeed is our country heading??? Capital Punishment has finally been introduced but to no avail!!! Murderers are NOT ENTITLED TO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT; taking the life of another does not warrant Capital Punishment in this country, only drug dealing does!!! While we applaud this long overdue Act being 

Human Trafficking: Skin removal and online porn the latest crimes

Next Monday, the United Nations marks the World Day against Trafficking in Persons – a crime that exploits women, children and men for numerous purposes including forced labour and sex.   

Why death sentence would be a disaster to the country and the economy

President Maithripala Sirisena has vowed to reintroduce the death sentence on drug offenders, ending 42 years of moratorium. His desperation at his government’s failure to decisively respond to the resurgence of the underworld is understandable. His desire to project himself as the strongman in the mold of his predecessor was also palpable.  

Landmark in the history of Lanka’s Fight against kidney disease

A landmark in Sri Lanka’s fight against kidney disease due to unknown causes, known in medical language as Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown etiology (CKDu) was created on July 21, when the President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena, laid the foundation of the National Nephrology Hospital in Polonnaruwa, in the North Central Province.  

Amarasiri Kalansuriya: Stuck in the summer

With each passing era, movies seem to demean the idea of manhood. If it’s difficult to think of a Gamini Fonseka today, it’s not only because no one can equal his erudition, it’s also because the film industry is fixated on a gender swap, in favour of the female, that hasn’t come about completely still.  The commercial movies advertise manliness

THE TIMES THEY ARE CHANGING - EDITORIAL

July marks the commencement of one of the darkest periods in this country. Following the ambushing and killing of 13 soldiers in the north, the government of this country....

Vijayakala’s outburst and Elephant in the room

The speech by the former State Minister of Children’s Affairs Vijayakala Maheswaran has been magnified in the media as a call by her for the return of an LTTE....

Mandela and the Trump Degeneration Syndrome

With the United States (US) President Donald Trump turning the world order downside up and behaving in a dangerously unpredictable manner that one US Intelligence Chief describes as treason, the United Nations on Wednesday celebrated the 100th birthday of the legendary South African Statesman Nelson Mandela.

Did Trump in Moscow give away the store ?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been in a benign mood after a perfectly organized World Cup which gave Russians and foreigners the rare freedom to mass in the street.

Are teachers a committed lot?

Sri Lanka’s teacher trade unions through their strike actions have time and again negatively impacted the studies of children. Yesterday (Thursday) they were set to launch strike action against the questionable appointments of many teachers to the education sector.   

The tragedy of the ‘Yahapalanist’ young

Sri Lanka needed a revolution, we were told. This was way back in 2014, when the Uva Provincial Council Elections confirmed that the UNP, far from being the eternally defeated, could wield enough support among the grassroots for it to come back to power.

Govt. should invest more in ‘Early Childhood Education and Development’

Investing in health, nutrition, education and protection from birth through to age five, also known as Early Childhood Development (ECD) enables children to reach their full brain capacity. 

Row over death Capital Punishment

When Parliamentarian Hirunika Premachandra brought an adjournment motion in Parliament for the implementation of Capital Punishment  in October 2015, the then Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe had to give an assurance to the International Community that Sri Lanka would not implement the death sentence.

Groggy Govt. & its fallout

Some smart guy who first stuck the label “Good Governance” on this unpalatable coalition perhaps guessed it could be the joke of this generation.

Coercing consensus on MMDA reforms

Muslim Personal Law Reforms Action Group (MPLRAG) is deeply disturbed and concerned over comments made by Minister of Justice & Prison Reforms Thalatha Atukorale regarding reforms of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) published on July 6th on the Jaffna Muslim website. Atukorale has commented that the Ministry is not able to take the reforms process forward because there is divided opinions among members of the 2009 Committee appointe