Articles

By Kalinga Seneviratne  On January 8, 2015 when President Mahinda Rajapakse’s former Cabinet colleague Maithripala Sirisena defeated his old boss in a shock election result campaigning on heralding a non-corruptible ‘yahapalana’ (good governance) regime, people of Sri Lanka took a..

(Courtesy for The Island)  By Kamalika pieris  The 13th Amendment gave the Provincial Councils rights over “Land, land tenure, transfer and alienation of land, land use, land settlement and land improvement.” It specifically says “Land shall be a Provincial Council..

Janaka Perera The first ever attempt to overthrow a legally elected government in post independence Sri Lanka was made 54 years ago on January 27.   The conspirators were a group of military and police officers that belonged to a generation,..

MALINDA SENEVIRATN​E “That said, you really cannot ‘ban’ a word. You can indulge in ‘hate’ discourse with specific actions, ideological positions and intentions stated but when it comes to prohibition you are on shaky ground. If Jehan were to read..

By Ranjith Soysa The Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe of Batalanda fame launched a bitter campaign in the Parliament against the journalists claiming that their hands are not clean. The main thrust of his speech was that the journalists are not doing..

The two forces that come forward to protect the nation not surprisingly originate from the Deep South and represent the rural masses. Majority of the Sangha and the members of the armed forces are Sinhala literate, from poor homes and..

Part VI H. L. D. Mahindapala “Instead of emotional discussions as to our historic origins and glorious pasts, let us come into grips with what we during the last 68 years after Independence have lived and suffered. By reflecting on..

By Shenali D Waduge   While foreign envoys and even clueless Sinhala politicians and Government officials are chirping reconciliation and drawing up reconciliation plans and proposals, the organizations that the GOSL recently de-proscribed have issued a joint statement commemorating the..

(Courtesy of The Island) By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana Dear Father Pieris, after reading your wonderful piece titled ‘I am a war criminal’ in ‘The Island’ of 16th and 18th January, I said to myself, something which I never thought I..

By Dr Palitha Kohona (Former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in NY, previously Head of the UN Treaty Section. Dr Kohona was closely involved with the Uruguay Round of Trade negotiations). Q. 1. There is considerable..