Pulsating political dramas, an escalating economic crisis and the turmoil from terrorism form the major backdrops as Sri Lanka marks her 59th year of independence from foreign rule today.
It was the fall of Sampur in September last year that made the "Four Six" sector south of Trincomalee more important to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Today when we celebrate the anniversary of regaining our independence from foreign rule, it may be appropriate to assess the pros and cons of our economic performance over nearly six decades.
Newly appointed foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama walked a well-trodden path. His first port of call was New Delhi. In recent times Sri Lankan leaders of varying political hues have trekked their way to India before turning west which was the habitual direction during much of the post-independence period.
When the scribes of British history write about the era of Prime Minister Tony Blair, the embattled leader, despite being successful in taking his party to three successive electoral victories at parliamentary level, will have a tough task in projecting him in a positive light.
This is the concluding segment of a three part series of articles critically examining the recently established eight member Presidential Commission of Inquiry, (the Commission), to probe into fifteen selected incidents of grave human rights violations that had occurred in the country during 2005 and 2006.
India, an aspirant for permanent membership in the Security Council and the third largest troop contributor to peacekeeping operations, is not surprisingly a key player in UN diplomacy.
Copyright
2007 Wijeya
Newspapers Ltd.Colombo. Sri Lanka.
