By Dr. Devanesan Nesiah The focus of my article in The Sunday Leader of 5 May was on the need for Northern Provincial representation. It now looks as if those elections may be held in September 2013. I will elaborate on the likely consequences of representation, or the lack of it, drawing on past experience in [...]
By S. Sivathasan When the Jaffna Development Council started functioning a Minister who made frequent official visits to Jaffna was Hon. Gamini Dissanayake. His known closeness to the President lent some significance to the discussions he had with Mr. Nadarajah the Chairman of the Council. A warm rapport developed between the two. To the Chairman [...]
By Liyanage Amarakeerthi When I heard about the Boston explosions I had many hopes. First, I hoped that my teacher, who is at Harvard, was safe. Second, I hoped no one was killed. Third, I hoped there was no any Muslim connection to the explosion. Finally, I hoped Boston, one of my favourite American cities, [...]
By Shanie If you will tell me why the fen appears impassable, I then, will tell you why I think that I can get across it if I try… from I May, I Might, I Must, Marianne Moore (1887-1972) Fifteen months ago, when the year 2011 was drawing to a close, the political climate in Sri Lanka was [...]
By Jehan Perera President Mahinda Rajapaksa was among the first in the international community to respond to the bombing of the Boston Marathon. In a message to the US President he condemned the Boston bomb attack while conveying condolences over loss of lives. Other government leaders and commentators took the opportunity to remind the world [...]
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “The history or the future of Sri Lanka does not belong to any group”: Ranasinghe Premadasa - (Speech on 12.11.1990) Character can be fate, for both individuals and collectives. The answer to where Sri Lanka is headed depends, at least in part, on what Sri Lanka is. In 1956, the dominant Sinhala opinion [...]
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “The elephant is crashing about in the room, trampling people to death, and politely ignoring it is no longer an option”. AC Grayling - (To Set Prometheus Free) With the mob-attack on a Muslim-owned shop, Sri Lanka took a giant leap towards a new conflagration. The attack on the Pepiliyana outlet of the ‘Fashion [...]
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants…” – Camus (Resistance, Rebellion and Death) The Rajapaksas are imposing the superstructure of a prosperous, developed nation on the base of an underdeveloped, cash-strapped economy. The Rajapaksas are antagonising every single ethnic and religious minority in Sri Lanka, [...]
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “Hatred of one group can lead to hatred of others” Amartya Sen (The Argumentative Indian) In Sri Lanka the boundary line between myth and history is dangerously amorphous. And this twilight world often plays a decisive role in Lankan politics. Sinhala school children are taught that they belong to a race which [...]
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “Whatever is that distant rumble that I dimly hear?” Christopher Hitchens (Arguably: Essays) It is now a virtual certainty. Barring some last-second, utterly unforeseeable, development, India will vote for the new US resolution on Sri Lanka. The original resolution has been amended to take on board Indian concerns. Indian worries would range [...]
