Yearly Archives: 2011

The ties that bind

My Darling Ma-hinder
I knew your sibling Chum-al was a great many things dearie, but not even at your annual family dansala did you let slip that the chap was also a nifty sub editor of sorts.
If the local rags are to be believed – and you would know – there was your Chum-al come lately, […]

By Staff Correspondent | Published on December 5, 2011 at 10:53 am

Protect Sri Lanka’s workers from slavery in the Middle East

Can I see another’s woe and not be in sorrow too? Can I see another’s grief and not seek for kind relief? ( William Blake’s Sorrow)
The story of 17 year old Rizana Nafeek who went to Saudi Arabia on fabricated papers to hide her actual age to serve as a maid in order to bring happiness to […]

By Lakshman Indranath Keerthisinghe | Published on December 5, 2011 at 10:47 am

‘Philosophy above all else teaches the correct and incorrect use of force’

The book that I wrote entails reflections on the ethics of violence as part of political transformation. It did not come entirely out of an academic exercise. It came as the result of an attempt to apply ideas and also to reflect on action and the deflection of those ideas by reality. Sri Lanka as […]

By Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka | Published on December 5, 2011 at 10:14 am

Time for Sri Lanka to keep its promises in return for Int’l help with war

There is a hope that Sri Lanka is on the verge of economic take-off, which is yet to happen. The government takes the public position that all is well with its plans to make the country an economic success story. The growth figure of 7 to 8 percent is given as proof that development is […]

By Dr. Jehan Perera | Published on December 5, 2011 at 8:20 am

Sri Lanka: An arrogant fourth estate and a populace indoctrinated by myth

“They will capture me,
They will put me In jail;
They may torture me and they may even kill me.
Then they will have my dead body, not my obedience”
(Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in South Africa in early 1900s)
Ever since the beginnings of chronicling our history, while it’s the survivor who always pens it, the written tale of our […]

By Vishnuguptha | Published on December 3, 2011 at 2:50 am

The Govt has violated Int’l agreements by filing action against Fonseka – Ranil

Amidst some attempts to sabotage the initiative by internal elements opposed to him, opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe last week took the lead in organising a massive demonstration in Colombo
against the continued incarceration of former army Commander General Fonseka, .
In parliament Last Tuesday the UNP leader removed his tie bearing the logo of the Commonwealth Parliamentary […]

By Sonali Samarasinghe Wickrematunge | Published on December 3, 2011 at 2:42 am

The right to free elections cannot be superseded by emergency laws

1. In the meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009 agreed to the “Affirmation of Commonwealth Principles”. They also mandated the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group to report on making the Commonwealth more relevant to its times and its people.
The Report of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group recommended the appointment […]

By Ranil Wickremasinghe | Published on December 3, 2011 at 2:38 am

Sri Lankan govt gave orders to commit war crimes, new evidence shows — The International

The Sri Lankan army ordered extra-judicial killings and assassinations during the final days of the country’s civil war,
according to allegations made by a former member of the army. The source made the statements in an affidavit, obtained by The International as a part of an investigative report on the civil war, published today. The allegations […]

By Staff Correspondent | Published on December 1, 2011 at 10:51 am

MR not boon to entire world as state media suggests

POSITIVE CHANGES NEED TO BE SUPPORTED BY PROPER PROCESSES
Although commentators not affiliated to the government are inclined to be severely critical of it for its many lapses, there is another side to the story. This can be seen in the government media which presents a story that is fulsome in praise of the
present developments in […]

By Dr. Jehan Perera | Published on November 28, 2011 at 1:14 pm

LLRC report:The Need for Transparency

“Our challenge is strongly to encourage the Sri Lankan government to embrace reconciliation,
accountability, and respect for human rights, while trying not to push the country towards Burma-like isolation from the west” Patricia A. Butenis Former US Ambassador in Sri Lanka as revealed in Wikileaks cables.
The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) presented its final report […]

By Lakshman Indranath Keerthisinghe | Published on November 27, 2011 at 11:01 am