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Fri, 03 May 2024 Today's Paper
27 Apr 2024 - 0 - 7929
The first part of this article published in the “Daily Mirror” on April 20, 2024 under the heading “Ranil Wickremesinghe caravan moves on despite barking dogs” evoked a lot of reader responses. In a climate of Ranil-bashing, many seem to be happy that Wickremesinghe’s courageous decision to accept the challenge of leading the country on the road to economic recovery and the limited yet commendable progress achieved by his Government has been ack
20 Apr 2024 - 0 - 11602
“The Dogs bark but the Caravan moves on” is a proverbial saying of supposedly Turkish origin. A caravan refers to a group of people, animals or vehicles on the move. As is natural members of the canine species respond to the strange sight of a caravan in their midst by barking. This is especially so if there are animals in the caravan. Despite the dogs barking, the caravan proceeds on its journey. The moral is that an individual or group mu
15 Apr 2024 - 0 - 11110
The encounter between the fox and crow is an ancient tale heard by most Sri Lankans in their childhood days. The crow has a vadai or kavun or piece of cheese in its beak. The crafty fox wants it and flatters the crow into thinking it is a harmonious singer with a sweet voice. The fox entreats the crow to sing. The foolishly vain crow opens its mouth to sing and drops the titbit it has in its beak. The smart fox runs off with it, leaving behind a
06 Apr 2024 - 0 - 10789
The once-powerful Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) waged war against the Sri Lankan state for over thirty years. The LTTE known popularly as the Tigers was the determining force in Sri Lankan politics for nearly two decades. The decline of the LTTE began in 2004 when its Batticaloa and Amparai district special commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralidharan alias “Col” Karuna led an eastern tiger revolt against the LTTE supremo Veluppillai Prabha
30 Mar 2024 - 0 - 10330
The course of war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan armed forces was drastically altered by the 2004 Eastern revolt headed by former tiger commander of the Batticaloa and Amparai districts Vinayagamoorthy Muralidharan alias “Col” Karuna. The LTTE was split vertically and horizontally as a result and gradually weakened. By 2007 the LTTE ceased having territorial control in the Eastern province. This article
23 Mar 2024 - 0 - 10423
In the first article published last week (“Col” Karuna’s Eastern Tiger revolt against LTTE 20 years ago) the background and reasons for the Eastern Tiger revolt were discussed in detail. In this second article, the course of events leading to the eruption of the intra-tiger fratricidal conflict in the aftermath of “Col”Karuna’s rebellion will be recounted, relying on some of my earlier writings. All hell was expected to break loose after “Col”K
16 Mar 2024 - 0 - 12707
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) organization fought the armed forces of Sri Lanka for 33 years in pursuance of its political goal of establishing a separate state called Tamil Eelam in the Northern and Eastern provinces of the Island. The LTTE known generally as the Tigers had the reputation of monolithic unity. This image was seriously dented in 1993 when the LTTE’s former Deputy Leader Gopalswamy Mahendrarajah alias “Mahathaya” was
02 Mar 2024 - 0 - 9231
The ascension of Junius Richard Jayewardene to the premier seat of political power in 1977 paved the way for a drastic transformation of Sri Lanka’s politico-economic landscape and environment. J.R. Jayewardene known popularly as “JR” ushered in political, economic, and electoral changes that utterly changed Sri Lanka. In the words of William Butler Yeats “All changed, changed utterly.” The advent of JR as Prime Minister in 1977 and as the firs
24 Feb 2024 - 0 - 11214
The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) known in English as the Federal Party (FP) is in the eye of a legal storm. The premier political party representing the Sri Lankan Tamils of the Northern and Eastern provinces is currently undergoing an internal crisis mainly due to recently held inner-party elections. Issues relating to the intra-party elections have brought about a clearly visible divide within the ITAK. This in turn has led to an unpre
17 Feb 2024 - 0 - 12040
Today (Feb 17) is the birthday of Sri Lanka’s popular business magnate Philip Upali Wijewardene. If Upali Wijewardene were among the living now, he would have celebrated his 86th birthday this year. Alas, this was not to be as the Lear Jet he was travelling in disappeared on 13 February 1983, just 4 days before his 45th birthday. It was my privilege to be associated with Upali Wijewardene slightly and briefly during the years 1978 to 1983. As a
10 Feb 2024 - 0 - 12627
“The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry,” penned the Scottish bard, Robert Burns in his poem, “To A Mouse”. This truth was brought home in an explosive manner to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), 37 years ago, when a massive explosion rocked the Kaithady area in the Thenmaratchi division of the Jaffna peninsula.
27 Jan 2024 - 0 - 12267
The media spotlight is focused to a great extent on Jaffna District Parliamentarian, Sivagnanam Shritharan these days. The 55 year old former school principal has been elected as the President of Sri Lanka’s premier Tamil political party, the Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi (ITAK) known in English as the Federal Party (FP). Shritharan has been elected an MP continuously since 2010. Shritharan contested the ITAK Presidential election on a pro-LTTE pl
20 Jan 2024 - 0 - 10446
Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa was portrayed as a monument of efficiency who could uplift Sri Lanka by his ‘Viyathmaga’ cronies and his family party the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) at the Presidential elections of 2019. More than 6.9 million people voted him to stupendous success, Barely three years later Gotabaya fled Sri Lanka and resigned as President due to a mass uprising against him that was described as the “Aragalaya”. A large numbe
13 Jan 2024 - 0 - 11490
“Suma, Shri and Yohes in Triangular Contest for ITAK/FP Leadership” was the heading of my article published in the “Daily Mirror” of 16 December 2024. The article was about the forthcoming election for the party Presidency of the Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi (ITAK). The ITAK known as the Federal Party (FP) in English is the premier political party of the Northern and Eastern Tamils of Sri Lanka. Currently, the ITAK/FP has six MPs in Parliament re
06 Jan 2024 - 0 - 10796
Had the LTTE transformed its military strength into political bargaining power at the appropriate time, the Tamil people would certainly be in a better position. But this did not happen, and today the Tamils as a people are in a difficult situation
30 Dec 2023 - 0 - 8366
The focus of this two-part article is the tragic plight of Lionair 602 flight twenty-five years ago. The first part of this article published last week related how the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) shot down an Antonov 24 carrying 48 passengers and 7 crew on 29 September 1998.
23 Dec 2023 - 0 - 10757
Twenty-five years ago an Antonov 24 aircraft carrying fifty-five civilians from Jaffna to Colombo was shot down over the Gulf of Mannar by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on 29 September 1998.
16 Dec 2023 - 0 - 11025
The Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi (ITAK) known in English as the Federal Party (FP) is the premier political party of the Northern and Eastern Sri Lankan Tamils. The ITAK/FP was formed on 18 December 1949.
18 Nov 2023 - 0 - 10509
Veteran scribes who have been enriching journalism for decades are like great oaks that leave lasting voids when they fall. Gamma was unarguably one of them.”
11 Nov 2023 - 0 - 15783
Today November 11th is observed in many parts of the World including Sri Lanka as Remembrance Day or War Memorial Day.
04 Nov 2023 - 0 - 11506
As stated last week, one of the CID officers quizzing me on the fourth floor had told me confidentially that I was going to be detained indefinitely to prevent me from reporting on the fighting between the Indian Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Though I had been taken into custody under the emergency regulations, I was going to be charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)soon. While conversing further this Police O
30 Oct 2023 - 0 - 11230
The first and second parts of this article published on 14 and 21 October respectively narrated the story of how I was arrested by the CID in October 1987 and detained on the 4th floor for having exposed....
21 Oct 2023 - 0 - 13483
As stated last week, the CID director DIG Bennet Perera showed me the letter written by Defence Secretary Gen. Sepala Attygalle instructing the Police to question me for information regarding the murder of four Rupavahini employees in Jaffna.
14 Oct 2023 - 2 - 13711
Thirty-six years ago in October 1987, I was arrested by the Sri Lankan Police and detained at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Office on the fourth floor of the Police Secretariat in Fort, Colombo.
30 Sep 2023 - 0 - 11956
The first part of this article was published in the Daily Mirror of 16 September 2023 under the heading Who is Hanzeer Azad Maulana the Whistleblower on Channel 4?.
23 Sep 2023 - 0 - 13659
The first part of the article titled Who is Hanzeer Azad Maulana the Whistleblower on Channel 4? Was published in these columns last week. Even as I was writing the second part of the article, I received some interesting information about an event in Geneva relating to the Channel 4 TV documentary and Hanzeer Azad Maulana the chief whistl eblower featured in the film.
16 Sep 2023 - 1 - 19395
Britain’s Channel 4 TV aired the documentary Sri Lanka’s Easter Bombings in its Dispatches programme on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, at 11. 05 p.m.
02 Sep 2023 - 0 - 8161
The Tamil cinema firmament has produced a galaxy of stellar comedians over the years. Arguably the greatest comedian ever seen in Tamil cinema was Nagesh.
26 Aug 2023 - 0 - 15299
Sri Lanka’s one and only Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka is very much in the news lately. The Gampaha District MP and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Chairman launched a People’s Revolution protest campaign against waste, corruption, irregularities and mismanagementon August 11, 2023.
19 Aug 2023 - 0 - 7590
The conduct and pronouncements of some prominent Sinhala Buddhist monks have in recent times contributed greatly towards the deterioration of inter-ethnic amity and inter-faith relations in this country. It is indeed a matter of grave concern that the “antics” of these “patriotic” Buddhist monks have created a very negative image of the Buddhist clergy among the Island’s non -Buddhists in general and North-eastern Tamils in particular.
02 May 2024