In as much as we expressed our gratitude and appreciation to the members of our Intelligence Services, Armed Forces, Police and the STF for the effective and efficient manner in which they carried out search operations, arrested the suspects and seiz

Arabization of the local Muslims finally made way for the emergence of militants who blew themselves up on April 21 causing immeasurable damage to the country and its people. Only after the serial bombings that rocked the nation on April 21, some pe

After more than two weeks after the Easter Sunday bombings we are trying to understand two things; one is what these ruthless terrorists want and the other is whether the Holy Quran propagates violence of any kind.

Delivering the inaugural speech at the ceremonial sitting held last Monday at the Court of Appeal (CA), the 47th and newly-appointed CA President Justice Yasantha Kodagoda expressed his concerns over reforms that could be introduced to the administra

When a government stands divided among themselves, when the Prime Minister and the State Minister of Defence are left out of Security Council meetings and even the venues are kept secret to them; what kind of a democratic government are we looking at

Sri Lanka is once again in the spotlight of the world; regretfully for ugly and vile reasons. This is Sri Lanka’s 4/21 moment (9/11 in the USA and 11/26 in India). The Easter Sunday massacre of gigantic proportions (253 dead and still counting amon

With Sri Lankan religious leaders meeting almost daily for a dialogue to promote inter-religious and inter-racial unity in diversity in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday massacres, the United Nations today and tomorrow also marks a related event. It

As I ponder sadly on the Easter Sunday disaster still wiping my tears, our hearts go out to the hundreds killed, and those injured and most of all, to those who lost their nearest and dearest ones in the blasts. The murderers have left in their wake

In light of the current terrorist threat that is haunting the country, this is a time when the entire nation should stand together to defeat the common enemy. The threat is being aimed at every citizen irrespective of his caste, creed, religion, race

Sri Lanka’s battle against Islamic extremism would involve two integral parts: (a) an intelligence driven kinetic approach to flush out, arrest or neutralize violent extremists; and (b) a State facilitated and community- led approach to combat non-

Sri Lanka was caught completely off guard by the string of bomb attacks that ripped through the capital Colombo and multiple other locations in the island. Adding to the fear and confusion, further explosives are being found across the country, in a

The objective of terrorism is to intimidate both targeted factions and larger segments of society that share the values of beleaguered groups by causing them ‘anxiety, intense fear, apprehension, pa

The sharp rise of Jehadi terrorism in response to the Western nations’ continued atrocities against Islamic countries in the Middle East and Afghanistan, has created, in many countries, a need to curb extremist propaganda. Some of the countrie

Every suicide bomber has a dream, a fantasy of how their destruction will consummate cataclysmic change. Sri Lanka stamped out such heinous desires once before. Now we are called upon to do so again.

“Pakistan is a country where suicide bombings happen on a regular basis, mobs gather and kill minorities and people who think differently, houses and settlements are attacked, people are forced to leave their homes.

Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) marks World Press Freedom Day with UNESCO on May 3, 2019 under the theme “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation”. It is at a quite critical juncture that Sri Lanka....

To Sri Lankans the events of April 21, 2019, commonly referred to as the ‘Easter Sunday massacre’, or the ‘4/11 of Sri Lanka’, is deeply etched into our hearts and minds. In the short space of two hours, over 300 persons lost their lives and

Fear is ever present now. There is fear in the way people look at each other. There is fear at the site of a vehicle or a bag. Some even fear to go out of their homes. People throughout the country live in a state of fear after the Easter attacks....

It is apparent that the outgoing Secretary of Defence by his controversial statement on national security, inferred that protecting luxury hotels was not the responsibility of the Security forces, on the basis that these hotels earn large profits and

Mohammed Zahran the founder-leader of the National Thawheed Jama’at and suspected ring leader of the Islamic State (IS) inspired attacks on Easter Sunday has been officially reported dead by the Sri Lankan Police.

Amid an unprecedented catastrophe, which could be turned into a blessing with religious leaders holding regular dialogues on how to restore peace, harmony and unity in diversity, the United Nations yesterday marked World Press Freedom Day.

Dust is settling down in Sri Lanka after one of the most devastating and heinous terrorist attacks against Christians and foreign visitors (civilians) on April 21, 2019. It was supposed to be a day of glory and celebrations for Christians the world o

President Maithripala Sirisena, using emergency powers, banned all forms of face covering - burqa and niqab - in public on Sunday 27 April 2019. The restriction came into effect within 24 hours - on the following day, Monday.

One week has gone by since the brutal massacre of innocent people on Easter Sunday. Whatever happened, has happened and we can do very little to undo that. Many opinions have been expressed on the fact that everyone who is responsible to provide secu

I’m a few thousand miles away from my motherland as I pen these thoughts. A routine and simple visit to family living overseas, rich with the promise of fun and laughter has turned into sleepless....

What’s the aftermath of the Easter Sunday “terror” attack? On what is being reported, more than 150 have been arrested on suspicion by Tuesday last. Four from the list of six wanted suspects have also been arrested while two have died in clashe

Thawheed, a household word in Sri Lanka and Christian communities around the world these days is not alien to Muslims. In fact, the concept of Thawheed is the foundation of Islam. In a way, it is what Islam is all about.

The security situation in the country fell to such a low ebb during the Easter Sunday carnage that it was hard to believe that this was a country that once defeated the world’s most ruthless terrorist outfit.

Quashing rumours about his death, terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared in a video clip released by the ISIS – the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The terror incorporate is also known as IS or Islamic State, implying that its reach is glo

As if the nearly three-decade long war, which killed tens of thousands of combatants and several thousands of civilians caught in the crossfire was not enough and complacently thinking all the while that nothing of that nature would ever again take p