Image: Mahinda Rajapaksa courtesy of FCA, Sri Lanka. by Hilmi Ahamed. Justice and Buddha Sasana Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe is seen as a blatant liar by the Muslim community. He has become Yahapalanaya’s unofficial patron of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and its controversial leader Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero. He has elevated this thuggish prelate (who […]

by R. Sampanthan. I extend my greetings and best wishes for the New Year to all the citizens of Sri Lanka. 2017 will be a crucial year in the history of our country. Our expectation, is that we should find a permanent and lasting solution to the national question. The new Constitution in the New […]

The need for the reform of state institutions to suit post-war conditions has become highlighted by a pattern of recent incidents. During the past year the rise of inter-religious tensions particularly in the North and East was marked, with an increase in hate speech, acts of physical violence and illegal constructions. Those who engaged in […]

By M.S.M. Ayub. The controversial Development (Special Provisions) Bill has been rejected by all nine provincial councils where it had so far been presented, thus reflecting that they would veto the Bill which, according to the opposition parties, would give rise to ‘two all-powerful Super Ministers.’ The Bill, seemingly a programme by the UNP-led government […]

Image: Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa addresses foreign media at a press event in Colombo yesterday – AFP. By Dharisha Bastians. Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday vowed to make it his mission to topple the National Unity Government and regain power in 2017, nearly two years after he was ousted in a shocking election […]

Artsy Editorial. By Molly Gottschalk. In September of this year, Facebook censored—and quickly reinstated—the iconic 1972 photograph of a nude, nine-year-old girl fleeing a napalm attack in Vietnam. The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph is a defining image of the horrors of the war and a catalyst for Western opposition. Throughout history, images such as Napalm Girl, […]

Image: A group  had come in motorbikes and attacked the house with bottles. An unknown group has attacked the residence of the Vavuniya provincial journalist of ‘Deepam’ newspaper Kumarasingham Gokulan say reports. In the attack the windows and doors of the house have been damaged though none of the occupants were injured. There have been […]

Hyshyama Hamin and Hasanah Cegu Isadeen. In November, we completed ‘Unequal Citizens: Muslim women’s struggle for justice and equality in Sri Lanka’ – a one-year study that sought answers as to why the reforms to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) was many decades overdue. In light of the constitutional reforms process, the study […]

Image: Sri Lanka Nurses, courtesy of News.lk. By Paneetha Ameresekere. Though Sri Lanka has a poor women’s labour force participation rate (LFPR), women comprised a massive 63. 65 per cent of all professionals, and men, a miserly 36.35 per cent, Census and Statistics Department’s (CSD’s) second quarter (2Q) 2016 Labour Survey report showed. Nonetheless, as […]

(Image cortesy of IRIN/Amantha Perera) By P K Balachandran. COLOMBO: The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, has refuted an allegation made by Muslim leaders, that his administration is discriminating against the Muslims in the matter of post-war resettlement. In a press statement issued on Tuesday, Wigneswaran said that among the 4307 […]

The Right to Information that has been much hyped by the leaders of the Yahapalanaya government in the recent past seems to be one of the main issues not or less understood by the same leaders and the officials under them. Some bigwigs arrogantly scorn at and ridicule the media men in public when the […]

H’tota port deal: JHU levels USD 100 mn bribery allegation The JHU yesterday vowed to do everything possible to torpedo the Hambantota Port deal as there were reports of government politicians taking a 100-million-US-dollar bribe from a Chinese firm. JHU strongman and Western Provincial Council member Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe told The Island that his party […]

Image:file photo of clearing land mines in Sri Lanka courtesy of Reuters. It will take 15 more years to de-mine Sri Lanka’s war-battered North and East regions, a group campaigning to ban anti-personal mines in the country said today while criticising the government for not acceding to the Ottawa Convention. “The de-mining work has slowed […]

Image: 5th  century Sigigiya frescoes in Sri Lanka; Will the rulers put on a   blouse with sleeves on them ? By P K Balachandran Sri Lankan woman in the now sanctioned sari and a COLOMBO: Female staff of the Sri Lankan parliament are barred from entering the Public Officers’ Box if they are wearing a sleeveless […]

By Editor  Colombo, December 25 (The New Indian Express): Trial by jury is not suitable for politically sensitive cases in which the defendants are Security Forces personnel and the victims seeking justice are from a minority community, says the leading Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and Member of Parliament, M.A.Sumanthiran. “Given the consistent pattern of the […]

Raviraj murder accused cleared, Sumanthiran faults all-Sinhala jury. COLOMBO, Dec. 24 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan court Saturday acquitted five men, including three navy intelligence officers, charged with assassinating an opposition Tamil legislator whose party immediately raised concerns about judicial integrity. Nadaraja Raviraj, who represented the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), was shot dead in 2006 […]

Image: Rehabilitated manual scavenger, Usha Chaumar, 40, stands on the stairs of her newly built three storey house in Alwar, Rajasthan, India on 24 September 2016. Credit: Anindito Banerjee. By Anindito Mukherjee  Nai Disha is an initiative that rehabilitates manual scavengers, especially women, and provides them with vocational training to find alternative livelihoods. She didn’t […]

The Police Chief has suspended the police news sent daily to private media institutions through emails with effect from Wednesday, a senior officer at the Police Headquarters said today. He said the Police Chief had instructed that the daily updates be sent only to state media institutions. He said this step had been taken after […]

Cynthia M. Wong, Senior Researcher, Internet and Human Rights. This week, the European Union’s top court once again found that blanket data retention mandates are hostile to privacy and democratic freedoms, and incompatible with EU law. Such mandates require service providers to store data on all of the provider’s users for a set period. The […]

Five accused including three Navy intelligence officers who were accused over the murder of former TNA Jaffna district MP Nadaraja Raviraj were yesterday night acquitted and released after they were found not guilty by the Colombo High Court. The verdict delivered by High Court Judge Manilal Waidyatilleke yesterday night as per the unanimous decision reached […]

Civil society grouping Purawesi Balaya yesterday urged the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government to go ahead with the planned referendum to pave the way for a brand new constitution. Purawesi Balaya emphasised that a new constitution was required to achieve objectives of the incumbent administration as well as post-war national reconciliation process. Addressing the media at the Centre […]

Seven Chief Ministers had already expressed their vehement opposition to the proposed Development (Special Provisions) Bill, which would confer extraordinary powers on a super ministry to curtail the powers vested in the provincial councils, Western Province Chief Minister Isura Devapriya said yesterday. Addressing a press conference at the Western Provincial Council (WPC) in Colombo, CM […]

Despite the progress made over a few minor matters, since the silent revolution on January 8, 2015, which established the coalition government, no good governance has been established thus far and Sri Lanka is dangerously getting closer to relapsing into a “Rajapaksa dictatorship”, a renowned economist warned this week. According to Institute of Policy Studies […]

Image: FM Ravi Kauananayeka facing many allegations of curuption including ranting 58 vehicles. Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Ministry Secretary Nimal Bopage yesterday reiterated his firm refusal to sign the document pertaining to the leasing of 58 vehicles to be given to MPs. Responding to a question by journalists at a press conference in the […]

Image: For Gotabhaya Rajapaksa feisty journalists and lowly civil society activists were formless, hapless disgusting creatures who needed to be put in their place. Two weeks ago, Navy Commander Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne assaulted provincial journalist Rohan Pradeep Kumara who was covering the protesting port workers at Hambantota port. The assault was videod, widely reported […]

Image:A gate at the entrance to the Pray Sar prison near Phnom Penh, 8 December 2016,  AP Photo/Heng Sinith. This joint statement was originally published on cchrcambodia.org on 18 December 2016. Our organisations welcome the recent Opinion adopted by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) that recognises the arbitrary nature of the […]

Apologists for the incumbent government claim that some powers of the executive presidency have been curtailed. True, there has been some tinkering with the JRJ Constitution. But, the fact remains that the pledge to abolish the executive presidency has been reneged on and the promised radical break from the past has become will-o’-the-wisp. We are […]

Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has warned the government against antagonising the Sinhala majority by “appeasing” the country’s Tamil community by mulling to grant more powers to provincial chief ministers in the proposed constitutional reform process. In the recent weeks there has been a debate over a reported demand by the main Tamil Party […]

Speech made by the TNA MP  M.A. Sumanthiranon 10th December 2016 at the budget debate. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for giving me the opportunity to speak at the concluding stages of the Committee Stage Discussion. One could hear the words “හොරා“, “හොරු” continuously in the Chamber. ගරු මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙක් (மாண்புமிகு உறுப்பினர் ஒருவர்) (An Hon. Member) හොරා. […]

Image: Ranil Wickremesinghe and Malik Samarawickrama; Daily FT photo. Ravi Ladduwahetty. Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. – Former US President Abraham Lincoln. As the Ceylon Today Sunday Edition reported in its lead story, now the latest is that the government […]