Vedda cries from Vakarai lost in the sound of sea

Veddas, said to be descendants of King Vijaya, are known to be the earliest inhabitants of this land. Referring to themselves as forest-dwellers, the Vedda communities are shrouded in secrecy, mythology and mystery than any other group of people in the country. 

UK and Sri Lanka working together to stop illegal wildlife trade

Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom and Minister for Asia and the Pacific   - UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office 

Studies show refugees and immigrants are an asset, not a threat

A great deal of phobia has been generated throughout the world about refugees and immigrants. Both in the West and the East, refugees are seen as an unbearable economic burden, as job snatchers, environmental and cultural polluters and as terrorists. But actual experience tells another story – that they have been an asset and not a threat, and that host countries have been gainers and not losers.   

Learning from the lessons of recent events

“My question to all people’s representatives in the legislature and key public officials is this. Was the legislation, referred to by the former Minister, brought to Parliament? Was it passed? If not what statutory measures exist through either the existing codes or specific statutes-,

Sri Lanka was a pearl which became a teardrop

Eighty-three-year-old Gnanatheepam (Gethsie) Shanmugam, a Sri Lankan teacher and a psychosocial counsellor, who counselled war widows and orphans, was one of the six winners to win the Ramon Magsaysay Awards, considered to be Asia’s equivalent to a Nobel Prize. In an interview with the  she shared her 

Does the govt. have political will to make it happen?

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has remarked during a recent visit to a public school in Colombo, that his government would soon introduce a 21st century education system. What that education system entails is not yet clear, and, many past reforms coated in such blissful slogans had delivered very little

Police excesses should be checked

An ASP attached to the Hambantota Police Division was caught on camera last Thursday assaulting a man during a protest led by the joint opposition against the leasing of the loss-making Mattala Airport, with the video going viral in the mainstream electronic and social media. The ASP was seen unashamedly assaulting the man while he was held by two fellow policemen.   

NATIONAL BUDGET, PEOPLE’S EXPECTATIONS AND ELECTIONS - EDITORIAL

Next month our Finance Minister will present this country’s budget to parliament. It is the country’s financial plan for the....

Corruption: causes, consequences and remedies

As is well known, corruption has become a pervasive social issue in the country in recent years, cutting across all segments....

A drive through Vegas, Catalonia to Iraqi Kurdistan

October is analogous with political upheavals and cataclysmic political events from Mahatma Gandhi’s birth, Indira Gandhi’s....

Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity and Constitutional Reform in Sri Lanka

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly recently, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that sovereignty....

India up and then down.

Recent reports estimate that India’s annual economic growth rate is now down to 5.5%. The government of Narendra Modi which until recently seemed to be on a public opinion roll could fall off its log- but that depends on the Indian electorate ending its self-deceit.Three years ago Modi at the helm of his Hindu nationalist party, the BJP, gave Congress a thumping defeat. Suave and persuasive on the podium, Modi rammed home a simple message-

The most powerful weapon to change the world

With the highest priority being given to education, Sri Lanka yesterday joined the international community in celebrating “World Teacher’s Day” on the theme “Teaching in Freedom, Empowering Teachers”.   

Eat wisely to become more healthy

The government today will launch a food production week as a vital aspect of the sustainable economic strategy outlined in Vision 2025 and to consolidate the foundation for a just, peaceful and all-inclusive society.  

Show me a leader who has not supported federalism

Whenever the discourse on Constitution-making came to fore during the past two decades, the bone of contention was the nature of the state with the Tamils wanting a federal mode of governance and the Sinhalese insisting on a unitary state.

New PC Election Law not passed on general merits and principles

Former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, who petitioned the Supreme Court against the newly enacted Provincial Councils Elections (Amendment) Act, in an interview with the Dailymirror  aired his views about its consequences. Following are excerpts of the interview.

Rohingya refugees in our Constitution

“These are Muslim ‘terrorists’ who have killed Buddhist monks. Sri Lanka is not for them. They should be sent out immediately,” shouted protesting Buddhist monks who broke into the UNHCR safe house sheltering 31 Rohingya refugees at Mt. Lavinia. 

Sons of guns behind the Las Vegas killer

Violence begets violence.  Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword.  It does not mean that the 59 people who died at the Las Vegas concert shooting and those who were injured in the worst ever mass shooting in the United States, were promoters of violence.  But the collective soul of the United States is. 

What will come first... Referendum or LG Polls?

It is still puzzling for many in political circles whether the government will opt for a referendum on the proposed new Constitution or conduct the elections to the local authorities first. What will come first? That is the question being asked by many in this regard.   

Govts. should groom competitive business leadership - Fadnavis

Hyderabad: Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis sought to emphasize a positive future for Indo-Lanka ties, adding that trade between the neighbours must be encouraged.

Malwatte Mahanayaka Thera and errors spawned by misplaced trust

The Mahanayaka of the Malwatte Chapter, the Most Venerable Tibbotuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera has made an interesting pronouncement. Referring to the fact that President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had 

To make the blind to see, the deaf to hear

Sri Lanka marked World Youth Day on October 1 by launching several important long-term programmes, perhaps the most important being the provision of life and health insurance for some 4.5 million children in about 11,000 schools countrywide.  

The present Constitution Is it Federal or not?

At the moment when proposals for drafting a new Constitution or amending the present Constitution are underway, it would be extremely relevant to understand the true face (nature) of the present Constitution, since it is from this premise that we will have to proceed either to abolish or amend it. 

Dark side of politics and its play on the local stage

Politics is scarcely pure. Its intrinsic quality of being sinister and cynical is concealed by its practitioners; without that concealment, the drama is disgustingly gross; its heroes and heroines are plain culprits of the worst kind.

PC Elections Increasing of PR ratio will help for a wider representation

The continuous delay in conducting Local Government and Provincial Councils polls after the expiry of their terms of office has created quite a controversy and made political parties, the public and the election monitoring NGOs impatient. 

PC elections: When will they be ever held?

Notwithstanding his political affiliations, former Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva’s fundamental rights petition challenging the enactment of the Provincial Councils Elections Amendment Act would no doubt be a landmark case.

Some Above the Law Ignoring the Elephant in the room

The Constitution is the supreme law; or that is what we generally believe. And the Constitution says that all persons are equal before the law. In fact the whole edifice of a constitutionally governed democracy hinges on the rule of law which derives from the premise that all citizens are equal before the law.

Govt. circumvented Referendum in enacting law to delay PC Polls -GL

In the wake of the enactment of the new Act postponing Provincial Council Elections, former External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris of the Joint Opposition spoke about its implications. Following are excerpts of the interview.  

Govt. bracing for referendum on new Constitution -Kiriella

The Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella, in an interview with the , said that amendments were incorporated into the Provincial Councils Elections act in keeping with the Standing Orders after consulting the Attorney General. Kiriella, who is also the Highways and Higher Education Minister, said that there is nothing wrong in the procedure adopted by the Government as a result. Following are excerpts of the interview.  

Is Buddhist extremism less dangerous than other extremisms?

Last week’s extremist monks-led mob attack on a safe house for Rohingya refugees in Mount Lavinia marked a dangerous new low in Buddhist extremism in Sri Lanka. Some government ministers had the guts to condemn it. Finance Minister Mangala