Editorial
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Hot on the heels of passing a resolution in support of an international war crimes investigation in Sri Lanka, the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) has passed a resolution calling for direct flights to India from Jaffna and Trincomalee (the latter is not even in the Northern Province and therefore outside the Council’s jurisdiction). The resolution [...]
Geneva: Focus on damage control now
By the Indian Minister of External Affairs meeting a team of visiting Sri Lankan journalists in New Delhi this week, the public here had the benefit of a clearer picture of the Indian position on the anti-Sri Lanka resolution coming up before the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva next month. When the Sri [...]
Political pantomime for PC circus
And so, we are going to see the spectacle of two more Provincial Council elections next month. Campaigning has begun in earnest and in Galle, a ruling party cavalcade has run over innocent road users. The provincial fiefdoms that have been created by the Provincial Council system — even if Police powers remain with the [...]
The State of the Union
Sri Lanka celebrates, if that indeed is the appropriate word, the 66th year since regaining its Independence as a free, sovereign state in the comity of nations. Yet this event is marked in a pall of gloom and a cloud of uncertainty with external forces baying at Mother Lanka’s throat overtly demanding war crimes tribunals [...]
One good reason for failure abroad
Foreign policy is an extension of domestic policy and concerned with the protection of fundamental national interests. It is globally accepted that the only way to achieve this objective is through a dedicated, educated, well trained, professional Foreign Service with a ‘sprinkling’ of the great and the good from outside the service. This is all [...]
Media rights and responsibilities
The Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL), the newspaper industry’s own ‘policeman’, celebrated its 10th anniversary this week; an event postponed from last October due to a request from the Government not to clash with CHOGM. In her keynote speech at the opening of an international conference to mark the occasion, Prof. Savitri Goonesekere, [...]
Grade Five exam: What is the answer?
Education Minister Bandula Gunewardena’s sudden announcement at the end of last month that the Grade 5 All Island Scholarship Examination would be abruptly stopped has sparked a heated national debate – mainly protests. The discussion, particularly as a new school year was about to begin has become so contentious that, when asked about it by [...]
Law is King or King is Law?
The legal fraternity, or at least most Colombo-based lawyers and judges, enjoyed a convivial evening on Friday at the annual Voet Lights Society dinner as the year draws to a close. Those present could reflect on the good humoured barbs, especially at the expense of the judiciary. They might be left with the thought if [...]
Nelson Mandela
The passing away of Nelson ‘Madiba’ Mandela at his home in Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday night is a merciful end to the life of one of the 20th century’s, nay, history’s most iconic personalities. He was the face of resistance to one of the worst forms of racial discrimination the world has ever seen [...]
Poaching crisis: Haul India before ICJ
With the recently concluded CHOGM we saw that multilateralism nowadays is a fading concept in international affairs, and bilateralism — issues between nations, enveloped in the domestic compulsions of political parties — is now the order of the day. The excitement in the corridors of power in Canada, Britain and India demonstrated that even when [...]
CHOGM: Where do we go from here?
CHOGM 2013 is done and dusted. The event has been proclaimed as a resounding success; the re-launch of Sri Lanka and the rebirth of the Commonwealth; but let us get down to a realistic post-mortem examination, not so much of the organisation of the event but of the organisation itself, and Sri Lanka’s foreign policy [...]