Relevance of Dhamma in Today’s Politics

2258 years ago, the 32 year-old Arhant Mahinda Thera undertook the enormous task of introducing Buddhism to Sri Lanka. He delayed....

From ‘Gota Go Home’ to realities on the ground - EDITORIAL

It is over 50 days since the ‘GotaGoHome’ campaign kicked off. The campaign which started off as non violent protests.....

Re-visiting the “Sniper” killing of Robert 19 years ago

The armed struggle launched by Tamil militant groups to achieve the objective of a separate Tamil state caused massive loss of life and bloodshed.

Their name is ‘tomorrow’

Tomorrow the United Nations marks the World Day against Child Labour with this year’s theme being “Universal Child Protection to End Child Labour”. In a statement the UN calls for increased investment in social protection systems and schemes to establish solid social protection floors and protect children from child labour.

Food crisis and home gardening

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been alarming the people, especially the low-income communities of a famine-like situation in the upcoming months due to the current foreign exchange crisis.

Food Security: 4.9 mn currently in need of food assistance - UN Official

UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, in an interview with Daily Mirror, speaks about the looming food crisis and the initiatives by her office to assist the country. She also shares....

Sri Lankans must heed the calls to grow at home - EDITORIAL

There are calls from the government and experts in food and agriculture to start growing food in home gardens. Many years ago such a call would have been seen as an added burden by a person.....

Foreign policy-making: Lessons for Lanka from India’s diplomatic crisis with Islamic states

There are foreign policy lessons Sri Lanka could learn in the diplomatic crisis between India and Islamic nations, including the super-rich Gulf countries. At the core.....

#aragalayaleft?

‘Left’ in internet parlance refers, apparently, to an individual who has withdrawn from a group, for example one on WhatsApp created for like-minded people or those who share some common attribute (for example being a member of a particular sports team or a political collective).

Surviving on two meals, when even one meal is uncertain

“To be ignorant of one’s ignorance is the malady of the ignorant” – Alcott Bronson Lest we forget to remember, we begin today’s column by once again highlighting the fact that those most affected by Sri Lanka’s unprecedented economic and political crises are those in no way responsible for causing it. In that case who is?

The need for foolproof mechanisms of governance

Whatever happens from here onwards, Sri Lanka as a country is going to go through a few years, at least, of hardship, shortages, scarcity.....

Grounding of flight and SL-Russia relations - EDITORIAL

On June 2, 2022, Russian Aeroflot flight A330-343 was detained in Colombo by aviation authorities, at the request of Irish Aircraft .....

Nobody is to take the blame

Sri Lankan Finance Ministers have been presenting annual budgets with an ever-expanding deficit for the past several decades. Past or present governments neither took it seriously nor were serious measures taken to reverse the situation.

PROS AND CONS OF LIFTING BAN ON OIL PALM CULTIVATION Experts differ over environmental issues

On June 2, the Palm Oil Industry Association of Sri Lanka (POIASL) appealed to the government to allow the cultivation of oil palm to boost the economy, save forex and increase employment. But the Sri Lankan scientific community may oppose it as it did in a report in 2018. The POIASL told the gov

Govt. used Sinhala-Buddhist shield to its maximum benefit Ven. Galkande Dhammananda Thera

Ven. Galkande Dhammananda Thera who currently heads the Walpola Rahula Institute for Buddhist Studies has been addressing issues related to social justice and harmony while promoting an inclusive and plural society. Having gathered a wealth of experience during the height of war for instance and having encountered various incidents d

Presidential pardons and Courts of Justice - EDITORIAL

‘Presidential pardons’ are once again in the news. Earlier this month the Supreme Court of the country overturned the presidential pardon on a particular former Member of Parliament. The verdict....

Ranil W. and Rajapaksas

On that fateful April day this whirlwind of peaceful protests began, I sensed a profound change in people. When the Galle Face green became the epicentre of protests with its highly creative.....

Left with Tweedledum and Tweedledee

Sri Lanka is being ripped apart by an economic crisis shaking our very existential foundations. Incomes for the large majority of our people making the informal sector are collapsing. And people.....

Will 21A pave way for a 22A?

A debate on another controversial issue over adding one more patch to the arbitrarily tinkered Constitution. G.G. Ponnambalam, Queen’s Counsel, the senior defence lawyer at Trial-at-Bar....

“Que Sera Sera”: Doris Day’s Song of Cheerful Fatalism

The first part of my article on Ranil’s return was published in the “Daily Mirror”of May 21st 2022. In that I made a brief reference to the song “Que Sera Sera” sung by the American singer com actress Doris Day. This was in the context of speculation about Ranil Wickremesinghe’s political future. This is what I wrote then – “However as Doris Day sang in ‘The man who knew too much’ movie- “Que Sera, Sera, Whatever will be, will be.”

Is Aragalaya dying down?

A common agreement has been developed among all those who are politically conscious, at least for some extent that an immediate economic solution has to be found for the current economic mess that has engulfed the country while the political crisis which is a direct upshot of the economic mess has also to be addressed politically.

Climate crisis: A do-or-die battle

Tomorrow the United Nations marks World Environment Day 2022 and the issues, precepts and principles are so important that we should effectively and actively participate in the battle against climate change. Literally it is a do-or-die crisis because if it is not tackled on a worldwide scale, the generations to come will be forced to breathe poison and suffer the physical and mental consequences. Beautiful and wonderful nature itself will be dist

We had no option but to choose Ranil - Dr. Wijeydasa Rajapakshe

The recent appointment of a new Prime Minister and a new Cabinet has drawn mixed reactions. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Cabinet have been accused of attempting.....

Is Sri Lanka forced to wake up to child deaths? - EDITORIAL

Sri Lanka has been in the news for some time as a nation where one often hears of child murders. The latest victim was a nine-year-old child from Atalugama in Bandaragama. Sexual.....

If we do not take interest in political affairs, then we’re doomed to live under rule of rogues

If ‘con’ is the antonym of ‘pro’, then constitution is the antonym of prostitution. So goes the joke. But in Sri Lanka, since the introduction of the 1978 constitution, constitution-making.....

Govt. loses its way amid shortages and queues

We begin this column with an excerpt from a statement made by International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva to India’s NDTV at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Raising Kachchativu issue was both needless and ill-timed

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister rendered a disservice to India and its relations with Sri Lanka by raising the Kachchativu issue with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a public function in Chennai on May 27.

Agro-forestry and easing Lanka’s food crisis - EDITORIAL

Not so long ago, our country - a nation of 22 million people - had achieved near self-sufficiency in food production. However bad.....

Why are journalists feeling exhausted and betrayed?

Is public anger against the media rising? There are some indications that protesters have reacted angrily and at times violently.....

21 A should be a genuine move

As we editorially commented a few weeks ago, the reintroduction of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in the form of 21st Amendment as the solution to the current political impasse, it would not definitely be a solution to the immediate economic issu