The Rajagiriya flyover and the parliament road are two stretches that motorists prefer to take any day. While the flyover offers a panoramic view the tree lined parliament road is a lush green haven in the country’s capital. Till a few days back bo

Two weeks back Dayasiri Jayasekara, MP told the Parliamentary Select Committee probing the Easter Sunday attacks that it was not the Islamic State that was behind the attack. He alleged that certain foreign countries have used Mohammed Zahran ‘to f

The Trump administration’s initiative to combat the drug epidemic aims to reduce drug demand, curtail illicit drug supply and expand addiction treatment. But the aspect that caught headlines was President Trump’s....

First three lines of song ‘Hangknot, Slipknot’, written and sung by Woodrow Wilson Guthrie 1912–1967, popularly known as Woody Guthrie -- the American folk music singer/songwriter of “This Land Is Your Land” fame.

July 23 marks the 36th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s month of shame -- the month in which the then government of the country, permitted, aided and abetted armed mobs to attack a section of its citizens -- the Tamils.

There has been considerable public discussion in recent months about the need to find a meaningful and real alternative to the existing two mainstream political formations in Sri Lanka.

It is election time again in Sri Lanka and as usual we see different party political leaders vying for nomination, though most people see most leaders as seeking mainly personnel gain or glory. More than 70 years after Independence most people say th

The United States and the UK have been traditional friends for decades. Britain regularly boasts of a ‘special relationship.’ Relations took a severe beating during the past couple of days.

Germany’s Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen has been elected President of the European Union (EU) commission following a secret ballot among Members of the European Parliament. She is the first woman to be elected President of the EU commission

Presidential aspirants from all shades and shapes on political and apolitical platforms promise a ‘Prosperous, corruption-free Sri Lanka’ when elected. That is the most common single slogan, all have accepted without contradictions and deviations

Finally, after more than sixty years of efforts by various Muslim groups, Sri Lankan Muslims have arrived at an agreement to amend certain clauses of the law that governs matters pertaining to their marriage and divorce.

Sri Lanka’s present generation, comprising the young, must continue with the habit of promoting cultural harmony. The present generation, specially schoolchildren and undergraduates, are seen moving freely with fellow students who belong to differe

The name Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been pestering and annoying the ruling party for a long time; the unexplained procrastination of naming the obvious choice by the brother is puzzling.

Sri Lankans are talking about the absence of elections in the country, but no one is taking to the street in protest of voters being denied of using their franchise.

President Maithripala Sirisena is a politician who springs surprises. He sometimes stuns the entire country with his political steps. He took the entire country by surprise when he brought about a regime change last year through the new Government he

Ideological battles are often marked by a deliberate misnaming of things. One could argue that perspective prompts different kinds of definitions, labels and elaboration, of course, but these choices are not always innocent. Some are used so often th

It now seems that President Maithripala Sirisena is having second thoughts on writing to the Supreme Court for a determination on whether his term of office begins on January 9, 2015, the day on which he was sworn-in or on May 15, 2015, the day on wh

The power struggle in the United National Party (UNP) is now in the open. Candidature for the forthcoming Presidential Elections is at stake. In fact, this time those stakes are quite high. Sajith Premadasa is making a bid through his surrogates. Unf

The very large billboard that does not fail to attract attention says “I LOVE MY COUNTRY, BUT I AM ASHAMED OF THE GOVERNMENT!” The saying is so true!!! To make a good impression, we, meaning all of us from the President down, must live according

Some people tend to be more expressive online, depending on the situation. They tend to let out their emotions in ways they probably would not offline. Last week a former colleague of mine faced this situation. Marianne David was very expressive in w

Muslim political and religious leaders must be commended and encouraged for agreeing finally after ten long years of deliberations on the reformation of the Muslim Marriages and Divorce Act (MMDA) in spite of the agreed reforms being far short of nat

Political, religious, business and other leaders, when tackling vital issues ranging from education to the economy and climate-change, need to give top priority to the young generation and generations to come. Though it is often quoted it is worth sa

The United National Party is in a predicament. Contest for its candidacy for the Presidential Election is becoming a freak show. If this sorry state of affair persists, already existing differences within the party will loom large and the UNP will lo

Many catastrophes have followed in the wake of the Easter Sunday blasts, resulting in some positive, some negative thinking. Most people with the right values, abhor the attacks on innocent people and boycott of their companies, shops and so on. It i

The repression of insurgency and terrorism are hard to achieve, yet what is even more difficult is the containment and sustainability of the victories. In Sri Lankan context, in 2009 Sri Lankan government claimed an emphatic victory by defeating the

Nearly three months since the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka, the forward strategies and policies of preventing future terror attacks are lost in fierce political debates, elections buildup and conspiracy theories which are further.....

The Presidential Election later this year is going to bring out the worst of politics. The Easter Attacks and their fallout have set the stage for chauvinist and xenophobic politics. Anti-Muslim discourses long in the making are now being spread like

The supremacy of the people stands as the cornerstone of any democracy and the Constitution of Sri Lanka states in its 1st Chapter that ‘In the Republic of Sri Lanka sovereignty is in the people’.

On July 18 this year, the world remembers one of its famous sons, South Africa’s -Nelson Mandela- the leader of the African National Congress (ANC), who from his youth, embraced the fight against the system of Apartheid.

The cruelly tragic killing of five Tamil students by members of the security forces thirteen years ago in the Trincomalee town was revisited in these columns last week. This week’s column seeks to revive memories about a murder most foul perpetrate