News

Sutirtho Patranobis,/ June 11, 2011     India has conveyed to Sri Lanka that it was up to the island nation’s government to change the 13th Amendment to bring in a suitable political resolution that will enable all communities in the country to live together. The 13th Amendment to the Lankan Constitution was made in 1987 as […]

 11 June 2011,/ By Janith AranzeSince the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) viewed Channel 4’s startling documentary Killing Fields, depicting Tamil prisoners being summarily executed by Sri Lankan soldiers, the government refuses to acknowledge the documentary as a credible source.Jon Snow will present “Killing Fields” on June 14 – pic: Guardian.co.uk However, an extensive […]

Excerpt of the letter handed over to the UN High Commission for Human Rights – Ms. Navaneetham Pillai.As an organization which consistently pays careful attention to realities in Sri Lanka, we would like to present our observations below for your kind consideration.During the 16th session of the Human Rights Council, Sri Lanka Minister, Mr. Mahinda […]

 12 June 2011Taking part in a meeting organized by a London based Tamil media association in Southall in London on Saturday, celebrated writer Arundhati Roy termed the war on Eezham Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka as genocide that was allowed to happen by the world. “The most horrific things I have seen and […]

12 June 2011A 41-year-old Sinhala policeman from Ki’linochchi police station was found beaten to death at Umaiyaa’lpuram in Paranthan in Vanni Sunday morning. The dead body in civil, with beaten injuries on face and chest, was first believed to be a civilian and was taken to the mortuary at Ki’linochchil hospital. Later, the body was […]

R. K. RadhakrishnanTaking into consideration “the tendency of the major Opposition parties to blame the government for all problems,” Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance have lobbed the ball back at the Opposition on what kind of autonomy the Northern Province should get.Mr. Rajapaksa had earlier stated that he […]

 Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne read his script with dutiful assiduity, requesting the parliament to support the Emergency, because ‘the security authorities are continuing to hunt for LTTE remnants in the South’. By Tisaranee Gunasekara“Any excuse will serve a tyrant” Aesop (Fables)It was the time of the month to conjure the Tiger from the dead, […]

By Dr. Vickramabahu KarunaratneMany decades ago in1947 June 5, comrade Velupillai Kandasamy a young member of the GCSU, was killed while participating in a demonstration. He was a clerical officer of the department of health and sanitary services and was killed by police firing ordered by the British police superintendent Robins. He was participating in […]

11 June 2011 Visiting Indian National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon said that it is up to the Sri Lankan government to find a political solution which it is comfortable with and India is not interfering in the matter.Mr. Menon stated that India would refrain from interfering in the matter which was “up to the Sri […]

Colombo, June 12Sri Lanka has told India it will not concede key land and police powers to provincial councils under a New Delhi-initiated political plan aimed at resolving the long-drawn Tamil issue, a media report said today, warning that it could bring the two sides on ”a collision course.” President Mahinda Rajapaksa told a visiting […]

The Sri Lanka government is accused of ordering police attack against the FTZ workersA group of powerful trade union federations representing workers in the apparel industry and the health sector have complained to the United Nations seeking an intervention against the restrictions imposed by the government on trade union activity.In a complaint to the International […]

By Namini Wijedasalobal politics is notoriously skewed. Large, powerful, white governments get away with murder even when it is committed on the territories of other countries. Sri Lanka does not have this luxury.We already knew that. We are always bleating about it. But unless Sri Lanka has a formula up its sleeve that will cure […]

Devananda advocates Select CommitteeTraditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Minister and General Secretary of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party, Douglas Devananda presented a proposal to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the visiting Indian delegation that a Parliamentary Select Committee be appointed to find a speedy solution to the national question in the country.Minister Devananda has proposed […]

President conveys decision to Indian officials, collision course fearedBy Our Diplomatic EditorPresident Mahinda Rajapaksa told a high-powered Indian delegation yesterday his government was not able to concede land and police powers to provincial councils in accordance with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.The move, the Sunday Times learns, follows strong opposition from constituent partners of […]

 11 June 2011/ By Yohan Perera Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardene and UNP National Organizer Ravi Karunanayake had a show down in Parliament yesterday over the payment of salaries to security personnel working for a state owned security firm, ‘Rakna Arakshana Lanka Ltd’.Mr. Karunanayake, during question time in the House, raised a supplementary question and […]

by Basil Fernando Five hundred days after the disappearance of journalist and cartoonist, Prageeth Eknaligoda, the family and friends of Prageeth as well as media organizations and human rights organizations took to the streets to demand for inquiries into his disappearance. A serious transformation has taken place in the criminal justice system of Sri Lanka. […]

June 9, 2011/ by Dasun EdirisingheThe Inter Company Employees’ Union (ICEU) has written to the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), in Athens, about the police attack on a workers’ protest, which killed one employee and injured more than 300 at the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in Katunayake.General Secretary of the ICEU Janaka Adikari said […]

In the Hague, the International Criminal Court had issued arrest warrants on Libyan leader Gaddafi and his son for crimes against humanity. Both, whom the emergent Rajapakse dynasty in Lanka had been cultivating, had their assets frozen. 9 June 2011,/By Darini Rajasingham SenanayakeThe Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,Moves on: nor all your Piety nor […]

10 June 2011In order to absolve the Sri Lanka Army occupying the Tamil country from international accusations, but at the same time to continue terrorisation and subjugation of Tamils, genocidal Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary and presidential sibling Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has formed a private army in the north consisting of military intelligence personal and some members […]

10 June 2011,A dog shot by gun and packed in a bag was put into the well of the house of Professor S.K. Sitrampalam in Thirunelvealy, Jaffna, on Thursday night. The emeritus Professor of Archaeology of the University of Jaffna and Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) stalwart recently gave an interview to a Tamil daily […]

Minister Rajapaksa told the parliament that the land was sold to foreign firms for the full priceThe main opposition in Sri Lanka has accused the government of corruption and not following proper procedure in selling a prime land in Galle Face, Colombo.The United National Party said while the deputy minister says the land was leased […]

Graphic footage showing summary executions during campaign against Tamil rebels to be shown next weekBy Ian Burrell, Media Editor The Dispatches documentary shows harrowing scenes from Sri Lanka that its makers say are evidence of war crimes.The Dispatches documentary shows harrowing scenes from Sri Lanka that its makers say are evidence of war crimes.Channel 4 […]

9th June 2011The decision in the Supreme Court dismissing, without stating reasons, all the petitions against the programme, has made it all the more important to have a public discussion on its relevance and impact on the university system.  The Friday Forum expresses its deep concern in regard to both the manner in which this […]

Navraj Parthiban /29 September 2010Sinhalization efforts now take place targeting the Hindu temples of Vanni. Buddha statues which have started the invasion of targeting the lands of Vanni are more like the modern invading army of Mahinda Rajapaksa.Sinhalization efforts now take place targeting the Hindu temples of Vanni. Buddha statues which have started the invasion […]

The funeral of Roshane, the FTZ worker took place Saturday the 4th of June. It was well planned by the government, Not challenged by any means by the TUC ( Trade union congress ) and Opposition Political parties.The Catholic church played a good role supporting and in defence of the government. The church and specially […]

09 June 2011/ By Supun DiasEighty two police personnel including the Katunayake OIC have been transferred, pending investigations being carried out by the CID on the clash between the police and Free Trade Zone (FTZ) workers on May 30, police media spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said yesterday. He said these transfers were a temporary measure and […]

09 June 2011All ministers and parliamentarians from the Ampaa’rai district seem to collaborate with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and they have no backbones to challenge the injustice done to Tamil and Muslim people based on ethnic, religious and language basis by the Colombo government, said Mr. P. Selvarajah, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian representing […]

09 June 2011,More than three hundred youths of both sexes have been reported disappeared after abduction in the Batticaloa district since the eastern province was brought under the control of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), said Mr.P. Selvarasa, district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian during the debate on the extending the State of Emergency for […]

What can be said from the outset is not the fact that the seminar was not the resounding success that it was portrayed by some parties, nor was it a dismal failure. The seminar was a mixed bag. 3 Jun, 2011 Shakya Lahiru Pathmalal From the 31st of April to the 2nd of May I […]

7 June 2011,By Dr.Paikiasothy SaravanamuttuThe tension and hiatus over the pension bill and the killing of the Free trade Zone worker Roshen Chanaka is subsiding following his burial on Saturday, the withdrawal of the pension bill and the promise by the regime to consult with stakeholder representatives before another version of it is mooted. That […]