Editorial
Home » EditorialWar crimes probe: Double standards exposed
Muslims around the world observed Eid-ul-Fitr this week, the end of the month-long annual fast in rather sombre mood. Blood-letting sectarian strife has torn them apart in no less a place than West Asia, their citadel. In Saudi Arabia, the holiest of holy places was not spared; nor were other Islamic nations – Iraq, Turkey [...]
Lessons from Brexit
An opinion poll conducted in the United States after Britons voted to leave the European Union (EU) has thrown up results that Sri Lankans can well relate to. The USA TODAY and Suffolk University survey finds Americans agreeing by an overwhelming margin that the outcome of the referendum was a sign of anger and dissatisfaction [...]
Give more powers to Auditor General
The first recorded evidence in Sri Lanka’s history of an Auditor General dates back to 1779 when Cecil Smith was appointed just three years after British occupation of the Maritime Provinces. The modern incarnation of the Auditor General’s Department was shaped by the constitutions of 1931, 1947 and 1972. For more than 200 years, therefore, [...]
Salawa: The fire and the people’s ire
The fire at the Salawa ammunition dump on June 5 was the most serious man-made disaster to occur in Sri Lanka since the end of the war in 2009. The raging inferno triggered off hours of explosions and heavy ammunition rained down on human settlements in mindboggling quantities. The damage was colossal. It is fortuitous [...]
Choose the right healing process
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has allayed the long entertained apprehensions within the Armed Forces whether they are going to be sacrificed at the altar of political expediency by throwing them before an international tribunal that will inquire into allegations of violations of International Humanitarian Law for committing the ‘crime’ of safeguarding the security, sovereignty, unity [...]
Back to the old days and old ways
The opening of the Shangri-La Hambantota Resort this week was a grand affair attended by President Maithripala Sirisena, several ministers and other VIPs. A notable absentee was Mahinda Rajapaksa, the former President, who was instrumental in securing investment for Sri Lanka from the renowned Hong Kong listed group. It did not escape attention that Mr. [...]
After the deluge — and before the next
There was a sense of deja vu to see the President (who is also the Minister of Environment) and all the Government leaders conferring on what must be done to mitigate the effects of another flood. Only days earlier the Disaster Management Minister was giving interviews to the media how amendments are to be brought [...]