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Issuing a press statement the Free Media Movement of Sri Lanka expresses its concern that a Muslim journalist has been barred from covering an event at one of the leading Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka, the Asiriya viharaya, in Kandy. FMM emphasises that it is especially the responsibility of the relevant authorities to ensure a conducive […]

SPECIAL STATEMENT BY HON. TILAK MARAPANA, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS IN PARLIAMENT – 25.07.19 It has been brought to my notice that last Tuesday (23 July) and Wednesday (24 July) several Members of the Parliament have brought up the issue of the visit of the Special Rapporteur on the freedom of assembly and of association, […]

CID Director SSP Shani Abeysekera. Picture by Gayan Pushpika, DN. Senior Superintendent of Police Shani Abeysekera, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department told the Parliament Select Committee on the Easter bombings yesterday that extensive investigations into the activities of Zahran Hashim by the CID had led them to Lactowatte, where the haul of explosives found […]

By reportedly asking the nation’s rulers to resign, Archbishop of Colombo, His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith may have crossed the Rubicon on politicising his Catholic faith more than already in this weeks and months after the Easter Sunday serial-blasts. By mentioning State Minister Ranjan Ramanayake’s Catholic faith while seeking action against him for his criticising […]

FILE PHOTO: A nun arrives as a Sri Lanka’s commando soldier stands guard in front of the main entrance to St. Lucia Cathedral as survivors and families of victims of Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday bombing arrive for a special mass for those who lost their lives, in Colombo, Sri Lanka May 11, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File […]

Let us not dissemble about the fact that the killing of five students of Tamil ethnicity in January 2006 was a cold blooded murder of innocents. The dead victims had been awaiting university entrance when they were mowed down. Bright, eager students, these were the best that Sri Lanka promised. No connection to ‘terrorist activities’ […]

By Skandha Gunasekara. Investigations have uncovered links between controversial military intelligence officer Major Prabhath Bulathwatte and a spate of attacks on journalists prior to 2015, sources at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) told The Sunday Morning. CID sources said that all new information uncovered through investigations has now been submitted to courts. CID sources added […]

The twists and turns in the ‘Dr Shafi Saga’ are never-ending and every new and sinister development points to a racially-charged political conspiracy. In the beginning, there was a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police. Then the Director of the Teaching Hospital. Last week, two complaints were filed with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) against […]

Cognisant of the political deadlock within the country, and as a means of ending it, President Maithripala Sirisena has referred to the need to abolish the 19th Amendment to the constitution. This as the landmark legislation that reduced the powers of the presidency and increased the autonomy of state institutions. Both of these measures have […]

  In April this year, Ahimsa Wickrematunge filed a lawsuit against former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the District Court of Central California, alleging his involvement in her father Lasantha Wickrematunge’s 2009 assassination. In response, on 27 June, a petition was filed on behalf of Rajapaksa before the District Court, requesting a dismissal of Ahimsa […]

This is another historic victory, not only for communities of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, but for humanity as a whole: In a defining vote, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution to renew the mandate of the Independent Expert focusing on the protection against violence and discrimination on the basis of […]

A woman hangs dresses at Timex garments factory in Wattala, Sri Lanka ,June 13, 2018. Credit: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters. By Sandya Hewamanne. The Modern Slavery Act was seen as a big achievement for combating the issue of forced labor. But since it was passed by the UK government in 2015, many have pointed out its shortcomings. In […]

There is a tragic disconnect between what Sri Lanka’s leaders say to the public and the patent disbelief with which these words are received. This will eventually have dangerous repercussions beyond the electoral defeat of those men, impacting on the nation as a whole as it is pushed in a perilous direction with raw bitterness […]

Image: Anti-Muslim riots at Digana, March 2018 file photo/SO. The recent Easter attacks targeting a number of churches and hotels devastated Sri Lanka. Over 250 people were killed, and many more injured. Within days of the attack, it emerged that the perpetrators of the attack were affiliated to radical Islamist groups in Sri Lanka. However, the […]

PLOT THICKENS: Hospital director, dentist Weera Bandara, fabricated evidence and misled court to save Kurunegala DIG Kithsiri Jayalath who sparked the sterilisation scare by planting a story in the Divaina newspaper against Dr. Shafi. Only 11 cases relevant: Here they are. Total of 615 complaints received by police. 468 of them after media reports that […]

By Bilesha Weeraratne. Remittances make an indispensable contribution to the Sri Lankan economy. In 2018, despite experiencing a decline for the second consecutive year, the country received remittances of over $ 7 billion, accounting for 7.9% of the GDP. Often, remittances to Sri Lanka are attributed to temporary migrant workers and viewed from a national […]

Image:BBS Secretary Gnanasara Thero. The 7 July ‘Rally of the Un-Enlightened’ (Colombo Telegraph, 4 July), that fizzled out without the expected turnout of 10,000 Buddhist monks, was the most emphatic demonstration yet by the majority Sinhala Buddhists that they would not allow hatred and bigotry to hijack the millennial legacy of peaceful coexistence of different […]

Speech delivered by Hon R Sampanthan MP, at Matara on 7th July 2019, at the event to felicitate Hon Mangala Samraweera MP, Minister completion of 30 years in active politics. Hon Mangala Samaraweera my dear friend for a long time, Hon Sajith Premadasa Minister, Hon Ministers Hon State Ministers, Hon Deputy Ministers Hon Members of […]

(Republic next) A senior constitutional expert has expressed concern over President Maithripala Sirisena’s appointment of a professional advisory board on national security chaired by Parliamentarian Dr. Sarath Amunugama earlier today. Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law Director Dr. Asanga Welikala speaking to RepublicNext said while the creation of such a body is not strictly unconstitutional in […]

Image: Upali thennaloon soon after the attack, January 23, 2009. (AP photo) Investigators have made a major breakthrough on the probe into the assault on former Editor Upali Tennakoon and are set to arrest a key suspect, The Sunday Morning learnt. Fingerprints found on Tennakoon’s vehicle on the day of the assault have been linked to […]

A father-and-son duo languish in jail under terrorism charges for possessing the deadly “C-4” explosive material when all they had in their Madhu rural home was just 234 grams of Chlorine powder. A successful specialist surgeon faces a ruined medical career while his wife and children are marooned in a social sea of race-hate and […]

There is palpable confusion in the air. Is Sri Lanka’s Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujitha Jayasundara, arrested this week along with former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando on a range of offences under the Penal Code, including murder and causing death by negligence, still holding the position of head of the police force, albeit being […]

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has been monitoring closely the situation of Muslims in Sri Lanka and remains concerned about the rise in incidents of intimidation, anti-Muslim rhetoric and hate speech promulgated by certain groups in the country. In line with the Final Communique of the 14th Islamic Summit Conference of OIC Heads of […]

Investigators of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) probing the Navy abductions case say former Navy Commander Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda has admitted to having knowledge of five youth being abducted from Dehiwala and that they were held at the Eastern Naval Command. In the B-report presented to courts, the CID also said Karannagoda had failed to […]

A month after hundreds of people were killed in Easter Sunday bomb attacks in Sri Lanka, a major local newspaper published a report claiming that a Muslim surgeon was a member of a terrorist group linked to the attacks and had secretly sterilised 4,000 Sinhala Buddhist women. The story was picked up by local television channels […]

In the midst of the ongoing sittings of the Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate the Easter Sunday bombings two senior officials in the public service have been arrested by the police. The charges against former Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara are that they did not take sufficient action to […]

Image: Atlas, a leading local stationary firm, said that it is caught in an anti-Muslim boycott campaign which flared up after the Easter Sunday attack. By Chandeepa Wettasinghe. ECONOMYNEXT- Students in Sri Lanka’s education system are being ridiculed and are facing ‘punishment’ for using stationary produced by a firm caught in an anti-Muslim boycott, an […]

Image courtesy of Tamil Diplomat. by Meera Srinivasan. Five students were shot dead in 2006 at Trincomalee. A magistrate court in Sri Lanka has acquitted Special Task Force (STF) and police personnel accused of killing five students in Trincomalee in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province, in 2006. According to the State-run Daily News, the Trincomalee Chief Magistrate on Wednesday released […]

Image: Sri Lankan security officers inspect vandalized shops owned by Muslims in Minuwangoda, a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, May 14, 2019.  © 2019 AP Photo/Chamila Karunarathne (New York) – Authorities in Sri Lanka should end arbitrary arrests and other abuses against Muslims and appropriately protect the community from violence, Human Rights Watch said today. Since the Easter […]

Vishwamithra. “A Boss in Heaven is the best excuse for a boss on earth, therefore If God did exist, he would have to be abolished.’’ ~ Mikhail Bakunin  Being born a Buddhist, educated at one of the leading Buddhist schools in Colombo and for that matter by one of the greatest erudite scholarly monks at […]