Killing of Premachandra and conviction of Duminda Silva

The Government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa achieved a significant victory last week when the 20th Constitutional Amendment was passed in Parliament with 156 MP’s voting in support and 65 Voting against.

From JR’s 2nd Amendment to Gota’s 20th Amendment

How C.P. de Silva voted against the “Totalitarianism” of his own Government

Charles Percival de Silva known as C.P. de Silva or CP was a mercurial personality who strode across the Sri Lankan - known then as Ceylon- political scene like a colossus.

Murder most foul

Sixty-one years ago on September 25, 1959 Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (SWRDB) the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka known as Ceylon then was shot and seriously wounded by a Buddhist monk. Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike succumbed to his injuries and passed away the following day. Therefore September 26, 1959 got etched as an important date in the post-independence history annals of Sri Lanka.

Internal strife within ITAK takes disturbing turn

The “Mathiya Seyal Kuzhu” (central working committee) of the Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi (ITAK) also known as the Federal Party will be meeting today (Aug 29) in Vavuniya. The committee is generally referred to as “Mathiya Kuzhu”(Central committee). The Central Working committee is the key representative body of the ITAK. It comprises representatives elected by each district as well as ex-officio members. The ITAK is the premier political party

Future course of defeated ITAK leader “Maavai” Senathirajah

The recently concluded Sri Lankan parliamentary election resulted in the defeat of several veteran politicians.

Did Sumanthiran Win In Jaffna By “Stealing” Sashikala’s Votes?

The one-word answer to the question “Did M. A. Sumanthiran of the Tamil National Alliance win in the Jaffna Electoral district by “stealing” the preference votes cast for another TNA candidate Ms. Sashikala Raviraj?

TNA suffers electoral setback in North and East polls

The long awaited 2020 Parliamentary Elections has concluded with a 71% voter turn out despite the difficulties imposed by the COVID -19 Pandemic threat. Appropriate health procedures were followed by the authorities with enthusiastic cooperation of the people.

TNA Must Seek India’s Help To Protect 13th Amendment

The Rajapaksa regime is all out to get a two-thirds majority in parliament through the forthcoming elections on August 5. The avowed objective of such a steam-roller majority is to promulgate a new Constitution or enact Constitutional amendments unilaterally.

CWC, Jeevan Thondaman and Nuwara- Eliya Tamils

The hills of Nuwara Eliya are vibrantly alive with the hectic sounds of parliamentary electioneering! Nuwara Eliya district with its picturesque landscape and salubrious climate elects eight members in the 225 member parliament of Sri Lanka. 577,717 registered voters in the district are eligible to cast their ballots at the forthcoming elections scheduled for August 5.

Comrade Shan and the Tamil Militant Armed Struggle

The China of today is vastly different to the China that I knew of in my younger days.

“Col” Karuna’s Eastern Tiger Revolt Against LTTE Chief Prabhakaran.

inayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias “Karuna Amman” a.k.a. “Col” Karuna has got himself into hot water by shooting his mouth off at an election meeting in the East. Currently Karuna Ammaan is the chief candidate on the Amparai District list of the ‘AhilaIlankai Thamizh Maha Sabha’ (All Ceylon Greater Tamil Council). With an intense election campaign being conducted, political party speakers and propagandists are engaged in banter and riposte with ea

Plot within TNA targeting party spokesman Sumanthiran

Mathiaparanan Abraham Sumanthiran was in the eye of a raging political storm some weeks ago due to a YouTube interview given by the 56-year-old President’s Counsel cum politician to the ‘Truth with Chamuditha’ show.

When Thondaman clashed with MR…

Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) leader and Cabinet Minister of Livestock and Rural Community Development, SaumiyamoorthyArumugam Ramanathan Thondaman died of a cardiac arrest on May 26.

Did the Tigers form TNA in 2001?

Former Jaffna District Parliamentarian and Spokesperson of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Illankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), Mathiaparanan Abraham Sumanthiran is currently in the eye of a political storm. The YouTube interview given by the 56-year-old President’s Counsel cum politician to the “Truth with Chamuditha” show conducted by senior journalist Chamuditha Samarawickrama is the reported cause of the controversy.

Will President Gazette a Fresh Date For Convening a ‘New’ Parliament If Elections Are Postponed Again?

The Elections Commission has scheduled June 20 as the new date for the postponed election of April 25. Eight Fundamental Rights petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court regarding the holding of elections on June 20.

Politics of Postponing Parliamentary Elections Amid a Pandemic

The world including Sri Lanka is undergoing a pandemic crisis of colossal proportions. The Island nation however is in double jeopardy as it is in the grip of two crises simultaneously.

Despite Covid-19, can Sri Lanka conduct safe elections like South Korea?

Sri Lanka’s Election Commission, comprising former Commissioner of Elections Mahinda Deshapriya, retired Legal Draftsman Nalin Abeyesekera PC and Ex-Jaffna.....

’’We must abandon the idea of elections anytime soon’’- Sumanthiran

Former Jaffna District Parliamentarian and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Spokesman M. A. Sumanthiran PC engaged in an informative conversation with the “Daily Mirror”...

How Will the TNA fare at Parliamentary Election?

The deadline for the 2020 Parliamentary Elections nominations scheduled for April 25 ended at noon on Thursday, March 19th

Ranasinghe Premadasa’s “Citizen’s Front” revolt in UNP

“Gedara Hitiya Rosa Kekula Rosa, Rosa” was the opening line of a lilting Baila song in Sinhala that was hugely popular in the seventies of the last century.

Arrest, detention and release of ‘Tiger Twelve’ in Malaysia

In October last year, twelve Malaysian nationals of Tamil origin were arrested by the Malaysian Police over suspected links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and alleged involvement in terrorist activity.

SL’s Chinese connection and Pompeo’s designation of Shavendra Silva

“May you live in interesting times” is a saying that is believed to be an ancient Chinese curse. Many writers and speakers often use this expression or phrase and attribute Chinese origins to it. In spite of the widely-held belief about Chinese links, recent studies by etymologist scholars and linguistic researchers have revealed that there is no evidence of this saying having a Chinese origin.

Charismatic actor-politician may have changed the nation’s destiny

The political landscape of Sri Lanka seems gloomy and desolate. Most of the actors who strut about the political stage posing as visionaries and leaders are in actuality empty vessels devoid of substance. Proverbial wisdom tells us empty vessels make most sound.

Tamils want to sing national anthem in their mother tongue

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 President Gotabaya’s policy speech or internal troubles of the UNP,

Past under Mahinda resurfacing under Gota

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 received well, judging by the positive responses I have been getting from readers this week. What makes me most happy is the fact that an overwhelming number of these responses have been from Sinhala reade

Singing national anthem in Sinhala and Tamil languages

The news item appearing in Dailymirror last week was like a bolt out of the blue. It said the national anthem would be sung in Sinhala language only at the forthcoming celebratory event of Sri Lanka or Ceylon gaining full independence from the United Kingdom in 1948. The practice adopted since 2016 of singing the anthem in Tamil too would not be followed. This is what the news item penned by Sandun A. Jayasekera said:

Dawn of Ceylon independence and birth of Tamil Federal Party

December 18, 1949 was a red letter day in the political history of Sri Lankan Tamils known as “Ilangaith Thamizhar” in their mother tongue. On that day, a group of sixty Tamils including two parliamentarians and two senators launched a new political party with the avowed goal of establishing an autonomous State for Tamil-speaking people of Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was known then) within a united island. The new party was named in Tamil as “Illankai T

Switzerland connection in LTTE fundraising activity

Recent events have focused the media spotlight on the Federal Republic of Switzerland known officially as the Swiss Confederation. The landlocked European nation is respected highly on a global scale due to its policy of armed neutrality. Despite the impeccable credentials of Switzerland, the country is being viewed negatively by influential sections of the Sri Lankan people. There is suspicion that an orchestrated campaign is being pursued by ce

“New” Rajapaksa regime under President Gotabaya

The election of Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the seventh Executive President has effectively demonstrated that the “Ruhunu Rajapaksas” have come to stay as a dynastic political force in the country. As stated last week in the first of this two-part article, the patriarch of “Medamulana Dynasty” was Don Alvin Rajapaksa (D.A. Rajapaksa), the father of Chamal, Mahinda, Gotabaya, Basil and five other children.