Reconciliation

Major General Shavendra Silva was appointed as the 23rd Commander of the Sri Lanka Army today (19).He received his letter of appointment from President Maithripala Sirisena this morning.Major General Silva joined the Sri Lanka Army as a Cadet Officer in 1984 and held the position of Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army prior to […]

Image: JVP led National People’s Power launched its campaign with a huge rally at Galle Face Green. With the nomination of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as its presidential candidate, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has officially launched its presidential election campaign. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who has remained a nominal member of the SLFP and the UPFA […]

(UCAN ) Catholics in Sri Lanka have protested after a stone was allegedly thrown at a statue of St. Sebastian at a church where more than 100 people died in the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks. Police and soldiers were deployed to Katuwapitiya on Aug. 6 when about 100 protesters gathered outside St. Sebastian’s Church to demand […]

Image: File photo, not related to this news story. Victim beaten brutally; sustains injuries to spine, stomach. Methodist Bishop says Christians will remain calm in the face of persecution. Expresses deep concerns about eroding freedom to practice faith in SL.   The Head of the Methodist Church in Sri Lanka has accused three Buddhist monks […]

Image: “So, please remember this and the earlier  you do it, the better. If you do not do it and abstain from doing the right thing, I do not think the Tamil people will take it lying down for too long,” Sampanthan tells the govt. NEW CONSTITUTION WITH NATIONAL CONSENSUS. R. Sampanthan. Mr. Deputy Speaker, […]

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 […]

In her opening speech at the HRC 41 Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said that Sri Lanka should be given a priority to bringing political, religious and other community leaders together to address root causes of all forms of violence and discrimination. “In Sri Lanka, I am concerned that the terrorist attacks two months ago have fuelled increasing […]

Background: The Easter Sunday terrorist attacks have drastically changed Sri Lanka’s social and political fabric. Over the existing ethnic polarization, Sri Lanka now faces polarization on the grounds of religion. On 21st April 2019, 08 suicide bombers led explosions in Sri Lanka killing 252 people and injuring hundreds. Two Catholic churches, one Zion church, and […]

Image: The child’s home, a ramshackle shack. (ST) This week, a small child died of malnutrition in Tissamaharama at the same time that Sri Lanka’s Parliament debated the passing of millions of public funds to purchase luxury vehicles for Ministers as well as former President and current Opposition Leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa. Laid out in her white […]

Image: Sampanthan meeting Michele Coninsx . Press Release/10.06.19. Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate(CTED) Ms Michele Coninsx met with the leader of the Tamil National Alliance Mr Sampanthan in Colombo Yesterday (8th June 2019). Highlighting the importance of the implementation of the United Nations Human Rights Council […]

Editorial, The Hindu. Sri Lankan leaders must move to end the demonising of Muslims. The mass resignation of two Muslim governors and nine Ministers in Sri Lanka deepens a new fault line that has emerged in the island nation after the Easter Sunday blasts perpetrated by a fanatical Islamist group. Sinhala Buddhist hardliners had demanded that the […]

Sri Lanka is still trying to emerge out of the darkness of its three decade long ethnic war that ended in 2009.  Unfortunately, the Easter Sunday bombings linked to the Islamic State (IS), and the damaging reaction to it by those who ought to be responsible political leaders, are taking our country once again in […]

OIC press release/03.06/2019. Communal violence targeting Muslims in Sri Lanka has regional and global security implications. The developing situation over the past few days has been extremely worrying with regards to the safety and protection of the Sri Lankan Muslim community, including some foreign Muslim refugees. The lives and livelihoods of Muslims, including their local […]

In the face of the damage to life and property caused by the terrorist attacks on 21st April 2019, it is the duty of the state to support the victims with rebuilding and restoring their lives to normalcy. While their loss and pain cannot be erased, every effort must be made to ensure that these […]

When bombs planted in churches and hotels killed more than 200 people in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, few had realised that the nation had a problem with Islamist militancy. One man who did, reports the BBC’s Secunder Kermani, was Mohammad Razak Taslim. Lying on a hospital bed, Mohammad Razak Taslim’s face contorts with pain. […]

Image: Galagodaatte Gnanasara has been serving concurrent jail terms over his disruptive behaviour in court. COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s president granted an amnesty to a firebrand Buddhist monk on Wednesday, four days after holding talks with him at the country’s main prison, officials said. President Maithripala Sirisena pardoned Galagodaatte Gnanasara days after releasing 762 other convicts to […]

by Melani Manel Perera. Television operators invade the homes and privacy of survivors, they “must be educated in communications ethics”. A comment posted on Facebook sparks new violence against Muslims in Chilaw. Survivors must be supported in the long run by specialist groups. Taking care of even the first responders, priests and nuns included. Colombo […]

Statement by the United Nations in Sri Lanka on the prevailing situation in the country. 2019 May 14 (Colombo, Sri Lanka) – The United Nations in Sri Lanka is concerned about emerging incidents of communal violence and tension in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks. The United Nations calls on the Government and […]

Human societies scattered across the world have evolved over time under diverse circumstances, both material/ecological and ideational. Though archaeologists, historians and philosophers have gone far back in time in tracing the above process, modern social and human scientists have observed human societies in more recent times and uncovered certain patterns in the way they have […]

Abbraar Masjid mosque is seen after a mob attack in Kiniyama, Sri Lanka May 13, 2019.   | Photo Credit: Reuters. Meera Srinivasan. Police impose island-wide curfew till Tuesday morning amid fears of escalation in violence. Mobs attacked several mosques, torched dozens of shops and homes of Muslims in Kurunegala District, some 100 km north-west of […]

Wrong To Have Withdrawn Military Training Ambassador Blake regretted that after the Sri Lanka-LTTE war ended in May 2009, the US had stopped its military aid and training programs in the island on the plea that there had been human rights violations by the Lankan military. “In the last years of the war in 2008 […]

Image Courtesy of Aithiya.lk. Ahilan Kadirgamar. As reports about those behind the Easter Sunday attacks emerge, many questions remain about the motives of the extremists. The full picture of the formation of this extremist force and the objectives behind their heinous crimes may take time. However, they have succeeded in creating a spectacle of death, […]

Charlie Winter /Aymenn al-Tamimi. Image: Funeral banners hang across the street in front of St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo, Sri Lanka.ATHIT PERAWONGMETHA / REUTERS. Two days after the bombings in Sri Lanka, the Islamic State came out and said it was behind them. It backed up its claim with video evidence that showed the attackers gathering […]

On 26th April the Parliamentary Select Committee on Communal and Religious Harmony in Sri Lanka launched the Diyawanna Declaration outlining 24 key steps to achieve permanent security and peace. Rreligious leaders and experts have provided  contributed to  formulating the declaration.          

Image: The eight men the Islamic State group says carried out the attacks, as shown in this video grab from the group’s propaganda agency Amaq (AFP Photo/HO) On December 26 last year, scores of Buddhist statues in Mawanella were vandalized. A Criminal Investigation Department (CID)investigation led to the arrest of seven suspects, including one who was […]

Image: After Easter Sunday attacks,  Negambo church. (c) Reuters. The carnage on Easter Sunday against three Christian churches, three leading hotels and two other locations have killed more than 300 and injured over 500.  The scale and coordinated nature of the bomb attacks have been shocking.  This brings an end to the ten year period […]

 19 April 2019.  Tamil Guardian’s correspondent Shanmugam Thavaseelan was summoned for questioning by Mullaitivu police on Thursday, after the Sri Lankan navy filed a complaint against him for reporting on a disappearances rally in the district. The complaint against the Mullaitivu journalist was filed following a rally by Tamil families of the disappeared on Vadduvakal […]

Image: Disappearances by S.P. Pushpakanthan. (10 April 2019, London) The statements made by the Sri Lankan delegates at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) 40th session and again within a week after returning from Geneva are highly disappointing. The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) finds this disconcerting, considering Sri Lanka has just taken the positive step of co-sponsoring […]

 R .Sampanthan. As I have often stated earlier, the future of the country is not purely an economic issue. It is a very multifaceted issue. Even the future economy of the country is dependent upon several issues; it is dependent upon its unity and its strengths based upon the unity; it is dependent upon the […]

DR. S. W. Premarathan – Attorney at Law. President Maithripala Sirisena, in the course of his speech to the nation on National Day, said that he is concerned about the interference of the members of the international community in the internal affairs of the country. There is no doubt that he had in his mind […]