Features

The relationship between Sri Lanka’s military politics is a topic that gets occasional media attention. However, there is hardly any serious scholarly work on the subject, despite the fact that maintaining a framework of balance in civil-military relations during and after the civil war has surely been a major policy preoccupation among the country’s civilian […]

Image: President Jayewardene did not appeal to stop the violence and never made a apology. [Extracted from the Report of The Presidential Truth Commission on Ethnic Violence (1981-1984)] On the night of 23rd July, around 11.30 p.m. 13 soldiers on a routine patrolling in the North, travelling in a jeep and a truck came under […]

(Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism on his mission to Sri Lanka) A. Conclusions 59. In 2015, Sri Lanka seemed to have turned a corner. New elections brought to power a coalition government and with it the promise of change. Human Rights Council resolution 30/1, co-sponsored by Sri […]

by Tisaranee Gunasekara. “There is no Viyath Mawatha; it is just a word for a programme. Clearly this is a carrying forward of Mahinda Chintanaya…”   ~ Mahinda Rajapaksa (4.7.2018)[i] ( July 15, 2018, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The news was sensational, yet it was downplayed. The chief incumbent of a temple in Ratnapura strangled a police […]

14th July, 2018 His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena The President Presidential Secretariat Colombo 01 Dear President Sirisena, IN SOLIDARITY WITH TAMIL FAMILIES OF THE DISAPPEARED PROTESTING FOR TRUTH AND JUSTICE IN THE NORTH AND EAST Enforced disappearance is one of the most horrific crimes known to humanity. For decades, the people of Sri Lanka have lived […]

(8 July, 2018/SO) There are two new developments in Sri Lanka’s contemporary politics which is getting crystalized and clearer these days. They are: (a) the consolidation of a hard right-wing alternative to a weak and shaky democratic regime option, and (b) the projection of an ex-military officer as the embodiment of the new right-wing agenda. […]

If there is one question that troubles many rights activists in Sri Lanka today, it is the current political instability within the coalition Government led by Ranil Wickremesinghe and Maithripala Sirisena government and their seeming inability to stop the Joint Opposition, unofficially spearheaded by the Rajapaksa family, from capturing power again. Both President Sirisena and […]

(24 June, 2018 Sunday Observer) Is Sri Lanka ready for an elected dictator? This is the latest question to enter the country’s current political debate. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s preparations to contest the next presidential election in 2019 have already precipitated a potentially explosive controversy that can last weeks and months. An admirer of Gotabaya Rajapaksa has […]

Image courtesy of the Indian Times. ( 16 June 2018) “The arc of the universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn’t bend on its own.” Barrak Obama (Speech on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington) Violence has no place in the teachings of the Buddha. Yet when violence was unleashed on Kandy’s Muslims, in […]

The Rajapaksas, who ruled the roost in the country some three years ago are seen now luring the Muslims, especially by appearing at Ifthar events, the events organised by various Muslim and non-Muslim groups for the Muslims to break their Ramadan fast. Large gatherings of Ifthar, which should be meant for helping the poor to […]

USA and Western Nations Wont Allow Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa Become President of Sri Lanka;Outgoing US Ambassador Atul Keshap Bluntly Tells Ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa. (12 June 2018) United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka Atul Keshap has reportedly shattered the political ambition of former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to become the next President of Sri […]

In retrospect, one of the greatest missed opportunities of the now doomed Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Unity Government was its failure to grab Sri Lanka’s legal system by its ears (metaphorically speaking), cleanse the Bench of corrupt and politically compromised judges against whom files were stacked up aplenty and demonstrate the power of criminal justice reforms for human […]

Among politically significant developments to have occurred during the past week or so, three stand out. They, not necessarily in the order of their importance, are: (a) Revelations made by MP Dayasiri Jayasekera about business donations to election funds of politicians, (b) the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution, and (c) Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s launching of […]

Image from @vikalpavoices. Travelling back to the final theatre of battle nine years later, where tens of thousands of civilians were trapped in the fighting, an activist reflects on the horrors of the final days of the war in 2009 and the inability of Sri Lankans in the north and south to connect to each other’s […]

Rajavarothiam Sampanthan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are debating the Policy Statement made by His Excellency President Maithripala Sirisena in Parliament on the 08th of this month. This Adjournment Motion has been requested by the Leader of the Joint Opposition, the Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena and has been seconded also by an Hon. Member of the […]

By I. Kaviratne  The pen, they say, is mightier than the sword, and in Sri Lanka, we have put that into question. As the world celebrates World Press Freedom Day, we take a moment to remember the journalists who were assassinated, forcefully disappeared, threatened and harassed in Sri Lanka. Journalist and cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda who […]

Image: Party leaders gives traditional Bulth Kola, as a sign of loyalty to  President Sirisena at SLFP May Day stage. ( Ada Derana photo) For a student of political institutions in Sri Lanka, things happening within political parties are great material for reflection and analysis. It appears that our political parties today are not what […]

The last twelve months, since World Press Freedom day 2017, has not been a good year for freedom of expression in Sri Lanka. The war ravaged North bore the brunt of repression, while there were also several incidents in other parts of the country. Victims included journalists, lawyers, activists, artists and in particular those speaking […]

In October 2017, feminism and social media were set aflame with a single hashtag – #MeToo. Most, if not all adult women have experienced harassment, assault, or abuse in some form. We know this. Didn’t we? Doesn’t the media constantly report cases of gang rape from Jaffna to Tissamaharama? Wasn’t it the media that made us aware […]

Written by Super User.  1. INTRODUCTION The end of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka saw a significantly increased level of military presence in civilian life across the country, with the military actively engaging in a variety of activities. These activities include humanitarian relief and participation in infrastructure projects, as well as engaging in profit […]

By Vimukthi Fernando and Husna Inayathullah.  New Year festivities in several parts of the country took a barbaric turn this year, with captive elephants used as participants in traditional avurudu games, sending shockwaves through the conservationist and animal activist community. The practice is entirely illegal, activists and lawyers told the Sunday Observer, and action can […]

All things considered, former Editor of The Nation, Keith Noyahr was one of the lucky few. Abducted and tortured in May 2008 during a time when dissenting journalists were hunted with impunity, at least he made it out alive. Murdered editor of The Sunday Leader Lasantha Wickrematunge and Journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda who disappeared without a […]

Northern terrorism is, thankfully, a thing of the past, but, sadly, southern terrorism is on the rise. Underworld figures, with political connections, remain above the law and terrorise hapless men, women and children, with impunity. It was thought that the law and order situation would improve considerably after the 2015 regime change, but there hasn’t […]

By Puyumi Fonseka. Prison Department’s Rehabilitation Commissioner and Magazine Prison’s former Superintendent Emil Ranjan Lamahewage and Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) Inspector Moses Rangajeewa Newamal are extolled as ‘heroes’ by some groups in our society for their alleged involvement into the killing of 27 inmates in Welikada Prison on November 09 and 10, 2012. Certain groups […]

(UNP and Allies versus the Rajapaksas abetted by underling Sirisena) Who is the scumbag, one of these or the elephant not in view? You decide. The dramatist personae for this column are a fainthearted, past his use-by-date, snob, a conspiratorial, deranged grama sevaka, and behind them the looming shadow of a resurgent ogre of despotism. […]

It was fairly clear even before yesterday’s debate that the Prime Minister would not easily be defeated on the no-confidence motion, given the configuration of party representation in the current Parliament. The motion relied on generalities instead of specific charges, on perceptions rather than concrete evidence, and it was given what life it had more […]

The Hon. Rajavarothiam Sampanthan – Leader of the Opposition). Mr. Speaker, we are debating today a Motion of No-Confidence against no less a person than the Prime Minister and the Motion substantially deals with the question of corruption. Corruption has been the worst disease that has afflicted our country. There was a time when there […]

Nirmala Kannagara. The DIG had instructed Sugathapala to remove the pages of the GCIB where he had entered the notes  When Sugathapala showed his disapproval, DIG Nanayakkara had warned Sugathapala and revealed that he was following a directive DIG Nanayakkara told him that the IGP had wanted to destroy the evidence leading to Wickrematunge’s murder Nanayakkara had further asked Sugathapala whether he would like to be killed if the IGP’s […]

Image: It is difficult to disagree with Mr Deshapriya when he categorically dismisses as ‘wrong’, claims that ‘a majority of the Sinhalese’ were against the recent attacks on Muslims. There is a cheery though dangerously complacent view articulated by senior Muslim politicians, (andechoed by others),that the recent communal violence in Ampara and Kandy was perpetrated […]

Racism is a political theme that has attracted a great deal of public attention in Sri Lanka last week. The attacks on the life and property of Muslim citizens in several locations in the Kandy District by Sinhalese mobs has provided the context for renewed public attention on the negative and destructive consequences of racist […]