Eliminating Corruption

Developing countries are currently experiencing many problems, including climate change, corruption, drug abuse and addiction, and road accidents. We all have to pay great attention to handle these potentially catastrophic problems.

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

Solidarity for poverty eradication

Amid intensified moves to consolidate an inter-religious solidarity alliance to bring about a just society, lasting peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, the United Nations yesterday marked the International Human Solidarity Day.

Crisis of the new left and the new left intelligentsia

The JVP which received the support of literary critics, artists, intellectuals, and activists this year has lost the support it desperately needs now: that of the people. The shrinkage has in one sense been inevitable, partly because of the JVP and partly because of electoral forces outside the control of the JVP. Within a political framework like the one we have in Sri Lanka, to hope for a party like the JVP to secure second place is indeed wish

Street art that’s infectious !

The new trend to beautify Colombo has attracted both bouquets and brickbats. There is new found purpose in these creations which have come up largely in the Colombo and Kandy city limits. These artists seem to have the will, skill and spending power as they go on decorating the walls of cities. The new culture which is breeding is a little too hot to handle. Why? There are two reasons for th

Sri Lanka in the polity of Nations

With the inauguration of the new President, the seventh Executive in Sri Lanka, many legitimate concerns as well as disturbing questions and issues are being raised vis-s-vis our foreign policy. On the one hand, though a very tiny tear-drop island in the Indian ocean, we live today in a global village, where all countries in many ways are inter-connected, finding themselves drawn invariably into a large net-work of inter-active relationships in o

Can the President replace devolution with development?

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s recent statements that he would replace devolution with development as a solution to the problems facing the Tamils in the Northern and Eastern Provinces might run counter to his wishes to win over the Tamil people. It also counteracts with the pledges made by his brother and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to Tamils prior to the presidential poll.

Nobel Peace Prize and Identity Politics

Two Nobel Peace Prize laureates have thus far disappointed me to the core. First was Barack Obama. Awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to him was shockingly surprising. Swearing in as the 44th President of the US on January 20, 2009, he wasn’t in the White House for even 10 months when on October 9 he was decided for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation among people.” That h

Will the fate that befell SLFP befall the UNP?

When Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa hurried home after his defeat after the 2015 Presidential polls, his supporters crowded around his residence in Medamulana and urged him to make a comeback to politics. He listened to the call and abandoned plans of retirement from politics. After a couple of years, a new party called ‘Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)’

Time to get public service ethics right

There is a general perception that ethical standards in Sri Lankan public service are in serious decline. This raises the question about the cost of misconduct on the part of those who have been entrusted with guarding public interest and resources. These costs include the losses in trust and confidence in public institutions and losses in precious resources which were meant

The new populism is to resist populism and populists

A general election will be held soon. That much is certain. Indeed, if not for the term-related clause in the 19th Amendment Parliament would be dissolved by now. This Parliament feels old. Older than a little over four years. Those of the UNP (United National Party) and the SLFP

Are we doing enough to save Mother Earth ? - EDITORIAL

We focus today on 16-year-old Swedish Environmental Activist, Greta Thunberg, who was featured on the Time’s cover page of May 27, 2019, as the ‘Teenager on Strike for the Planet’ and currently on the cover page of Time magazine as the ‘2019 Person of the Year’, an honour that US President Donald Trump is nown to have coveted for himself.

Was Ranil the only cause for UNP defeat?

“In my previous column I emphasised the need for any political party, if it were to be successful, to name its candidate well ahead of time. However, I do repeat my argument so that its appeal to the reader is surpassed by its urgency to the one leader who has shown some remarkable ability to keep ahead of his followers by avoiding doing just that. The need to retain the

Will we ever learn?

Some time ago, kids were going to be given free TABS; why could they have not assessed what they really needed in each school district and ensured that they got it ?Moving from global warming and energy crisis to school crisis, rising prices, mega sales, train crisis, medical, environmental, salaries, the country is riddled in CRISES!!! The world over it is worse, natural and

Age of viral optics: #Wall_Art_In_Sri_Lanka

In a new documentary on her life, Imelda Marcos, the lady with the thousand pairs of shoes comes up with a gem. She is quite deadpan when she says “perception is real, truth is not.” This is not wisdom, this is worldly experience that is talking here.

Shall we have forests in Colombo ? - Editorial

Dubai has its own indoor rainforest now. India is creating mini-forests in all big cities following the ‘Akira Miyawaki’ method while Brazil, the home of Amazon forest, is doing the same. China which is creating forests in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai at a rate is in the process of building a fully-fledged forest city. Once completed, the Liuzhou Forest City will have all its

Posters, paintings leave room for expression of ideas

The wall painting trend that has emerged after the Presidential Election among the youth who had got together reportedly through social media is a unique phenomenon. Youth get together in their respective localities and clean public walls in towns and cities, reportedly collect funds from friends and businessmen in the area and draw murals on them, giving a pleasant look not only to the walls but also to the entire vicinity. Most of these w

Street art vs patriotic arts Downside of in your face ‘patriotism’

After Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s assuming of the office of presidency, a wave of street art sprung up and spread across the country like a bushfire. The official version is that it was spontaneous civic-minded volunteerism by disparate groups of local youth who felt inspired by the unfolding political ‘change’. Mr Rajapaksa’s graduation to civilian affairs after the end of the war was via the secretary of the urban development ministry. A city beaut

waiting for the tsunami Some thoughts on Somaratne Dissanayake

I know a friend who can’t wait to watch Tsunami because, as the trailer makes it clear, it’s a movie with a strong anti-racist message. Exactly 18 years ago when Saroja came out, I would have been eight: younger than he was by more than a half. Both films, of course, were made by Somaratne Dissanayake, who now seems to have come back full circle to his favourite theme: racism. As of today he may well

Lanka and Japan to enhance ties based on past goodwill

Japan, which was the single largest source of development funds for Sri Lanka before the muscular entry of China following the end of the civil war in 2009, is now keen to re-establish its presence in the island to contain China’s inroads.

Who Burnt One of South Asia’s Biggest Libraries?

Retired DIG Edward Gunewardene [EG]’s speculative allegations sans provable facts on the Jaffna library inferno in June 1981, stirred up a hornets’ nest six years ago when he accused the LTTE rebels of the crime.

TEACHER TRAINING IS VITAL

Educational Reform is on every educator’s mind and already we can see that this reform is taking place. While sensible results are being sought may I say that one area has not been much mentioned....

A tale of two elections - EDITORIAL

The general elections in the UK are now over and done with. Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party whose platform was Brexit now, swept the board so-to-say, seizing seats from the Labour party in its traditional heartlands.

Democracy, Ideology and the Radical Right

The Right wing slide in global politics continues with the recent parliamentary election in the UK. The victory of Prime Minister Boris Johnson is a major political shift in the UK – with the hope of a Left come back....

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

Crisis of the new left and the new left intelligentsia

Why is the left in Sri Lanka so weak? From a distance, it doesn’t look so brittle; every other day we see and hear of protests, demonstrations, and rallies. Indeed if protests and rallies indicated strength and solidarity,

Don’t throw the baby with the bathtub

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had stated in an interview with “The Hindu” during his visit to India between November 29 and 30 that if his party, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna(SLPP) got a two-thirds majority in parliament at the forthcoming parliamentary elections he would take action to scrap the 19th Amendment to the Constitution which has created a mess in governance, and much more so in party politics.

13 A Just a cudgel in India’s hand

It was India that first sent its External Affairs Minister to Sri Lanka within 24 hours after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s President on November 18.

New Rajapaksa government in “power” crisis

“Since 2011, over 700 renewable energy projects totalling 2,400 MW, had been stalled due to opposition in the CEB” read a news report, quoting sources at a meeting the new Minister of Power and Energy Mahinda Amaraweera....

A pilgrimage that sets aside differences - EDITORIAL

The beginning of the annual pilgrimage to Sri Pada, also known as Adam’s Peak, makes us reflect on the cultural harmony that exists when pilgrims make the journey together as one.