FEATURE ARTICLES

Many things are said about Black July, 1983. That there were many culprits who caused the havoc that virtually destroyed the image of Sri Lanka and which gave justification for a prolonged period of violence. However, there was one man who was the creator of this havoc. It was then-President …

It’s the irony of ironies that while on the one hand, the Indian Government is at least ostensibly calling upon their counterparts in Colombo to re-energise Provincial Councils, they have themselves adopted Sri Lanka’s doomed pre-1987 District Development Councils (DDCs) at home. This is what India has done to ward …

It was so unfortunate that people had to take to the street to save the national assets from the very same politicians who came to power promising to protect them, Convener  of the National Movement to protect state assets Ven, Ulapane Sumangala Thera said yesterday.  Addressing the media at the …

On 9 December, at the Committee Stage Debate in the Parliament on the Appropriation (2021) Bill, Member of Parliament M.A. Sumanthiran made some terse remarks given the limited time allotted to him. He justified the need for an international inquiry and international judicial process to look into serious crimes committed …

IMF, World Bank, Moody, Fitch, Citi, and now S&P global rating: they all cannot be wrong collectively and simultaneously in warning that Sri Lanka’s debt burden is at an unsustainable level, and that the country’s economy is in a perilous state to recover from the pandemic-struck recession. Only the Central …

The initial optimism that accompanied President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ascension to the presidency is wearing thin in the face of the seemingly insurmountable problems he has to deal with including the economic crisis and most unexpectedly the Covid spread. But there are also the more traditional issues of abuse of power, corruption and inter-community …

A heated exchange took place in Parliament a couple of days ago (November 26 or 27) about the so-called Batticaloa Sharia University, between Opposition MP Kavinda Jayawardane of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) and Minister of Education Prof. G.L. Peiris MP (SLPP), as reported on Hiru TV. Following is a …

Despite its small size Sri Lanka has occasionally been prominent on the world scene for both good reasons and bad. Sri Lanka gained much positive publicity for having the first woman prime minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1960. This was one of the factors that helped Sri Lanka to host the non-aligned conference …

TNA Jaffna District MP MA Sumanthiran says that if the government believes that sovereignty of this country is only for the majority then the minorities will be compelled to seek their own. Participating in the third reading debate on Wednesday, MP Sumanthiran said: “Sovereignty of a country is for all …

The participation of Sangha in politics since independence 72 years ago, has transformed Buddhism into a highly politicised religion. Buddhist lobby has been dynamic in the political landscape making politicians look for the support of Buddhist or Sinhala-Buddhist groups led by some monks at election campaigns  He can appoint authority …