MPs of both sides have informed police and the Defence Ministry, Arresting an MP should be done in a manner which would not impair the honour and dignity of a ‘worthy-of-respect’ parliamentarian.

Just before the dawn of the New Year, two constitutional amendment Bills were presented as private member bills by parliamentarian Wijedasa Rajapakshe. These Bills; if enacted, would impact some of the progressive and....

In the early hours of Friday morning, the US, using drone-fired missiles killed Iranian General Soleimani just outside Baghdad’s international airport. Soleimani was the second most powerful man in Iran.

This is my third and final column in the trilogy of articles about the singing of Sri Lanka’s national anthem in Sinhala and Tamil languages. I would have very much liked to write about hot topics like Ranjan Ramanayake’s voice recordings or Pres

This year 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the ending of the Second World War, and the ending of the Holocaust. The year also marks the setting up of the United Nations, formed in response to atrocity crimes of the Holo

The crippling national debt problem which all recent governments of the post-independence era have been forced to face, has been a veritable eye-sore in the face of our dear motherland. Each successive government is guilty of having added to debt due

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s policy statement made in Parliament last Friday has been outshone by alleged telephone conversations -- between United National Party (UNP) MP Ranjan Ramanayake....

Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency has not seen the kind of comic interludes we saw building up in the first hundred days of the Sirisena presidency. At least, not yet. Sirisena bungled it up because he wasn’t satisfied with the reality....

The many rape and child abuse incidents reported in newspapers recently make us ponder whether our children are safe, sometimes even at home! What’s alarming is that there have been....

United States president Donald Trump is morally bankrupt and has no compunction in resorting to immoral and desperate acts to stay in power, no matter how disastrous the consequences....

As most parts of Colombo are noticing subtle changes to the weather, which is turning from wet to hot, the country as a whole is also noticing bigger changes to the work culture in state institutes and plans made to celebrate political and cultural c

Seven days ago Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the 7th executive President of the Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka delivered his policy speech at the fourth session of the eighth Parliament.

There are many ways to read the politics surrounding the raiding of Ranjan Ramanayake’s house, his subsequent arrest and the recorded phone conversations.

If a group of Sri Lankans are asked why they sing the national anthem there could be several answers. Some might not be able to remember all the words in the anthem, but now there is a drive by the majority to initiate a debate to ensure that ‘Sri

Looking back, reviewing all that has gone before and all that is ahead, how prepared are we to face the stark realities that we have to??? We are facing economic issues of dynamic proportions, poverty is widespread; the country is unable to repay the

History seems to be repeating itself. Fresh from a regime change consequent to the November 16 Presidential election, we are being reminded of the initial days following the last regime change which was deceptively called “yahapalanaya” or good g

All of a sudden, the 19th Amendment which was hailed as the main achievement of the yahapalana government sits like an unprotected and vulnerable virgin left by the way side by her parents. Those predators who have always eyed her with disdain and co

The Government’s January 15 deadline for bus operators to turn down the loud music in buses would be a welcoming move for many passengers who have been ‘suffering’ due to the taste of music enjoyed by most drivers and conductors. Transport Mini

Sri Lanka is one of these countries, where the Constitution, the mother of all laws, has always been a bone of contention – from the very day of the independence up until now. From the very beginning, Jaffna Tamil elites who opposed it, demanded, a

By the time Vijaya Kumaratunga played the lead role in Hanthane Kathawa, Gamini Fonseka had acted in over 20 films, consolidating his box office drawing power. The year was 1969, which, I rather feel, was to the Sinhala cinema what 1967 had been to t

Like Sri Lanka, Nepal has been struggling to make up its mind on accepting or rejecting America’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact. However, it now appears that Nepal will accept it despite internal opposition. Nepa

National anthem is generally a patriotic musical composition - typically in the form of a song of honour - that evokes and praises highly, the history, customs, or struggles of its people.

According to a recent newspaper report, Sri Lankan national anthem would be sung only in Sinhala during the 72nd Independence Day celebrations. This news created an emotional stir not only among Tamils in the North but also among right-minded citizen

On Thursday, January 3, as the world was still welcoming the New year, US President Trump gave his own New year’s gift to the world - ordering the assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani, leader of Iran’s ‘Revolutionary Guards’.

The new year and in fact a new decade have dawned under dark clouds in the region and the world more broadly. The concluding weeks of the last year have seen major protests in India...

2020 has dawned! Greetings for the new year to all readers. My article in this column last week about moves being contemplated to forbid the singing of Sri Lanka’s national anthem in Tamil at the 70th Independence Day event seems to have been rec

This month the United Nations marks the International Day of Education and the world body in a statement says education is a human right and points out that it is enshrined in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration

Judge Christopher Weeramantry passed away three years ago on January 5, 2017. He rendered unmatched service to humanity for a long period of time. Until he parted at the age of ninety he wrote and spoke so much on world peace.

Seventy-one years is a long time to govern a country without a sustainable economic development plan and clearly, Sri Lanka did not have such a long-term plan since independence in 1948. Hence, it is little wonder we have regressed economically. We s

A situation similar to the one that prevailed after the 2015 presidential poll has unfolded. On both occasions, the political party that mustered a majority in Parliament ceded to a smaller party – last time submissively and this time voluntarily.