Aman Ahamed Ashraff is the only son of legendary Muslim Congress leader the late Mr. M.H.M. Ashraff and Ms. Ferial Ashraff who was Sri Lanka’s first Muslim woman cabinet minister. In spite of this family background 36- year- old Aman Ashraff wh

Tamil secessionism in the island of Sri Lanka came to an effective end in May 2009, when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Organization was militarily defeated by the Armed forces of the Government of Sri Lanka.

Popular Sinhala movie actress Geetha Kumarasinghe, who was elected Member of Parliament from the Galle electoral District on the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) ticket in August 2015 has been unseated as an MP by rulings of the Sri Lank

President Maithripala Sirisena held successive discussions with two Tamil delegations in Colombo on Thursday (19) on the issue of Tamils detained in various prisons under the Prevention of Terrorism Act(PTA) in general and the hunger strike undertake

Reputed American Writer and Humourist Samuel Clemens, known to the world as Mark Twain was in London in May 1897 on a lecture tour. A rumour began circulating in the USA that Mark Twain was gravely ill and on the verge of death. Subsequently another

The coalition government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has - as one of its primary objectives - the political project of enacting and passing a new Constitution. This requires a two-thirds majority in Parli

The Constitutional Assembly Steering Committee chaired by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has laboured mightily and brought forth the Interim Report of proposals for an envisaged new Constitution. It would be premature to prognosticate on the rep

The recent spat - if one may call it that - between two former commanders of the Sri Lankan Army has caused quite a furore. Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka and Lieutenant-General Jagath Jayasuriya have engaged in a heated exchange over issues of comman

The month of August saw a flurry of hectic political activity in Sri Lanka. The statement made by controversial Minister Ravi Karunanayake at the Presidential Commission of inquiry followed by his resignation, the move to postpone Provincial Council

Thirty years ago on this day (July 29th 1987) an accord was signed by the then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Junius Richard Jayewardene the then President of Sri Lanka in Colombo that had far reaching implications for both the tear drop isla

“Ram Nath Kovind was on Thursday declared elected as India’s 14th President polling 65.6% of the vote defeating the Opposition’s joint candidate, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who secured 34% of the vote. Mr. Kovind will be

45-year-old Ananthy Sasitharan made history when she was sworn in before Northern Province Governor Reginald Cooray in Jaffna as Northern Provincial Minister of Women’s Affairs, 

Jaffna District MP, Mathiaparanam Abraham Sumanthiran waxed eloquent during the course of the adjournment debate in Parliament on June 6th 2017. M. A. Sumanthiran who is also the official Spokesperson of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and its prem

The Oxford English dictionary defines the word ‘compromise’ as being “an agreement or settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions”. Sri Lanka witnessed a political compromise of sorts between Presid

Vesak festivity in Sri Lanka acquired an international dimension this year with the Island nation hosting the United Nations International Vesak day.

Well-known Sri Lankan Journalist-activist Poddala Jayantha was in the news last week when he sent a letter to the Director-General of Information, Dr. Ranga Kalansuriya, who is also the Secretary to the Cabinet Sub Committee on granting measures of r

Kumara Vidugalage Dona Geetha Samanmalee Kumarasingha popularly known as Geetha Kumarasinghe is in the eye of a politico-legal storm. The glamorous actress turned politician who was elected to Parliament in August 2015 from the Galle district on the

Northern Province chief Minister Canagasabapathy Visuvalingam Wigneswaran, who possesses a remarkable flair for getting embroiled in controversial issues, is in the eye of a storm again. 

Octogenarian leader of the Opposition Rajavarothayam Sampanthan in a hard-hitting Parliamentary speech made four weeks ago drew attention to the prevailing practice of persons being condemned as Traitors 

That “Politics is a blood sport” was a famous saying by former Sri Lankan President Junius Richard Jayewardene. In the cut-throat competitive world of Sri Lankan politics there have been many casualties,

Case No. B 85/17 concerning the assassination attempt targeting Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna district MP M. A. Sumanthiran was taken up at the Kilinochchi courts before Kilinochchi 

The ongoing investigation conducted by the Police Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) into the assassination plot targeting Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna district MP Mathiaparanam Abraham Sumanthiran has unearthed more details about the c

Upali Wijewardene known widely as Upali was arguably Sri Lanka’s first home-grown tycoon of the post - Independence era who captured the popular imagination of the people at large.

“What was your first military operation”? was a question posed to Veluppillai Prabhakaran in a media interview many years ago. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader replied “ Alfred Durayappah”.

“Nallavan” (not his real name) is a Tamil youth living in a Northern village. He was a former member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization who had surrendered to the armed forces in May 2009. He was incarcerated for

January 17, 2017 was declared a holiday in the Southern Tamil Nadu State of India. This was to acknowledge and celebrate the....

“Rekava”(line of Destiny) directed by Lester James Peris premiered 60 years ago at the Regal Theatre in Colombo on December 28th 1956. It was a path-breaking venture in Sinhala cinema that notched many “firsts”.

December 28, 1956 remains a red letter day in the cinematic history of Sri  Lanka (formerly Ceylon). The maiden feature film of 37-year-old director Lester James Peries premiered at the upmarket ‘Regal’ theatre in Colombo on that day

Ten years ago in the third week of November 2006, I received a telephone call from London. It was from Anton Stanislaus Balasingham....

November 27, 1989, was the day on which the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) first observed its annual “Maaveerar Naal” or Great Heroes Day (GHD). 27 years have passed since then and the 27th anniversary of the event fell on Nov 27