Politicians fight World War III their way
World War III has been going on for a year and a half. More than a million have died around the world, including our own Sri Lankans. As we watch these events on TV and read them in print in our ‘hansiputtuwa’, we are confused and confounded. There are so many ‘experts’ on this world [...]
Sudden attention on child labour: Whither police intelligence?
Much hype has been suddenly generated over the employment of children as domestic aides. The reason for this sudden awakening is the suspicious death of a 16-year-old female domestic aide at parliamentarian Rishad Bathiudeen’s residence. Investigations are underway and may be those responsible will be brought to book. But what about those who were tasked [...]
Geoff Wijesinghe: Playing a straight bat in his own style – Appreciation
A blue sky with sunshine playing on the lush green turf of Colombo Oval, fluttering of blue-black and blue-gold flags all around the grounds, the ear-shattering rattling of rattles and the joyous scenes around the grounds packed with a ten thousand people made the opening sessions of a Royal-Thomian 68 years ago. The scene in [...]
Banning opinion: Vigilance against ‘fighting words’
NEW YORK – In May 1980, students in the South Korean city of Gwangju rebelled against the unpopular military regime. Many hundreds were brutally murdered by paratroopers sent in to quell the uprising. General Chun Doo-hwan, the leader of the military government, claimed that the students were North Korean revolutionary stooges. Over the following two [...]
Among India’s believers
NEW DELHI – It is rare for a public-opinion survey to shake established perceptions of a country in the way a recent Pew Research Centre study of religion in India has done. The revelations in Pew’s comprehensive survey, based on interviews with 30,000 adults in 17 languages between late 2019 and early 2020, have astonished [...]