Though not an avowed Buddhist, I’ve come to understand that the words of the Buddha, the Buddha Vachana, have in them a profound meaning which gets lost and obscured in the fog of ideology. Put simply, they are more adhered to in the letter than th

Tears in the eyes of the families mourning the loss of Easter Sunday terror victims had not dried up when Sri Lankans heard that another group of citizens- Muslims- had come under attack by angry mobs on Monday (May 13).

Mrs Ishvari Corea, former Chief Librarian of the Colombo Public Library, who passed away on Tuesday (14) at the age of 94 had been a towering figure in the public and library service for more than 35 years.

Sirs, in January 2015, you were given a mandate and appointed the custodians of this nation by its people for the safety, security and prosperity of Sri Lanka. But the horrendous tragedy that unfolded on Easter Sunday has brought to light the nature

Daylight in Wayamba gives its residents the opportunity to assess the situation of their neighbourhood, following a grim and fearful start to the holy Vesak week. The Police curfew enforced early Monday (May 13) evening in the North Western Province

Submerged in our current encounter with terrorism, devastation and anger provoke us to impulsively ascribe suicide bombing to the lunacy of the bombers themselves, or to something inherent in the ‘ideals’ of the bomber’s ethnic or religious gro

I came across a book called “Sufism -A Celebration of Love” published in India in 2012. It’s a collection of articles on the subject in English, published by the Foundation of SAAARC Writers and Literature, which is an Apex body of SAARC in New

The Forum on Disarmament and Development (FDD) said it was deeply shocked and saddened by the suicide bombings at churches and hotels across Sri Lanka on April 21, which caused the loss of over 250 lives and injured over 500 innocent people including

After the horrific events of Easter Sunday, the universal principles of harmonious co-existence and reconciliation espoused by my late father, Judge C.G.Weeramantry, reverberate with deep relevance. This is an opportune moment in time to pause and re

In his influential essay “The People of the Lion”, Professor R. A. L. H. Gunawardena argues for a national historiography devoid of Western ideology. He does not refute or call for the doing away of the latter

Now my dreams are of explosions In the stillness of the nights slumber Loud deafening sounds ring through my ears

“Fathers and Sons” by Prof. Sumathi Sivamohan is a very unusual movie. It is rich in texture, combining a fascinating mix of bleak storytelling counter-balanced by the richness of its music and some of the visuals.

Nihal Seneviratne as Clerk and Secretary-General to Parliament at Galle Face and Diyawanna Oya, served six Prime Ministers, seven Speakers and about 2000-3000 Members of Parliament, while the country went through two insurgencies and a civil war.

On May 6, 2019, the official opening of the ‘XIV Ramadan Tent’ Muslim cultural event took place at the Memorial Mosque on Poklonnaya Hill near the VictoryMuseum in Moscow.

From the age of three, I have vivid memories of all the astounding times I had with my beloved mother, together in this riddle called life, for which I thank my samsaric karma, for creating my existence as the only child of such an exceptional lady,

Terrorist attacks unfortunately are a fact of life in the 21st century. Almost all Western countries such as the US, UK, France, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and Australia have experienced terrorist attacks in the not-too-distant past. These leaders

Owing to government inaction to pass the proposed Animal Welfare Bill, a group of petitioners from animal welfare and religious organisations filed a case in the Court of Appeal (CA) to draw attention to the urgency of getting such a bill passed.

The response of civil society, the harbingers of political radicalism, was telling. It took days for the activists (and I don’t mean the Friday Forum, English-speaking, Colombo ones) to get up on stage and condemn what happened.

We commemorate Lord Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and parinirvana in this month of Vesak, amidst one of the worst calamities Sri Lanka has encountered – a carnage caused by misguided fanatics as a result of extremist beliefs.

I’m a survivor with battle wounds I’m an orphan from the bombers tools I’m a husband with no wife to love

Most of the developing countries in the third world receive almost unlimited assistance for local social development from international non-government organizations (NGO). Sri Lanka is one among those recipients scattered in the third world. Most of

“Colombo” by Mohan Raj Madawala is an ambitious book, set in the early part of the 20th century with a story line that spans three generations. This is his fifth novel, and he has four previous novels and three short story collections to his cre

There was a collective anguish over helplessness and isolation inside the garage of a police station in Negombo, Sri Lanka where dozens of asylum seekers and refugees, having fled Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Yemen, were staying for 17 days fearin

Nearly two week have gone by, and yet we cannot overcome our shock and disbelief that such dastardly acts were committed in this country.

In a much hailed landmark judgment delivered in early April, the Supreme Court ordered the Northern Power Company to pay compensation amounting to Rs. 20 million to residents in Chunnakam who have been adversely affected by the contamination of groun

If Sri Lankan communities are going to unite NOW, it is the time. In fact they must do so and defeat the purpose of ISIS or whoever was behind the Easter bombings that rocked our beautiful island. We all have close Muslim friends. Those who are my ag

“What have they planned for us?” the boy next to me asked, bewildered, as the van we all were in drove up past the gates. He got the answer immediately: a procession of students lined up before a budhu medura, boys on one side, girls on the other

Open Letter to the President, the Prime Minister, members of the Cabinet and Members of Parliament regarding the situation in Sri Lanka Your Excellencies, We, the undersigned women and men, are members of civil society....

In celebration of its 125th Anniversary, the Wildlife & Nature Protection Society (WNPS) hosts a special for its members, interactive edition of its monthly lecture series with short presentations (15 minutes each) to be made by four experts....

It was in the mid-1980s, I joined The Island newspaper as Deputy Features and Culture Page editor. At that time prominent journalists were working for the paper. Most of them are or were Editors in Chief of various English language papers and some of