General Debate on Human Rights
The Human Rights Council continued the general debate on the global human rights update presented by Michele Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human...
Look forward to seeing concrete actions
Presenting an oral update on Sri Lanka at the 48th session of UNHRCUN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet today said that ” We...
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis poses challenges for India
India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy towards Sri Lanka had resonated with Sri Lanka’s ‘India First’ foreign and security policy in 2020. India is Sri Lanka’s third...
Not bound by any resolution passed without its consent
Replying to the follow up Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence on the visit to...
Financial crisis is one of the major challenges
The financial crisis in Sri Lanka is one of the first major challenges faced by the ruling Rajapaksa family as traders, importers and the opposition...
Is Sri Lanka’s Approach to Import Substitution Sensible?
In the immediate aftermath of the onset of the Covid19 pandemic and the unprecedented health and economic crises it unleashed, there was a widespread backlash...
Prospects for Pak-US Relationship under President Biden
Summary Since independence, Pakistan has followed one-sided pro-United States (US) policies. However, the relations have been mostly vacillating. In the current geostrategic environment, and amidst...
Lessons From Afghan Disaster
The retreat from Afghanistan by US President Joe Biden is leading to a retreat from Washington’s ambitions of remaking the world as it reevaluates its...
The Battle Between Taliban And Islamic State Khorasan
The last few hours of US presence in Afghanistan have been tumultuous, in tune with the 20-year war in the country which came to an...
International drug running and weapon trading racket aimed at reviving separatist group ?
An ongoing National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the seizure of 300 kg heroin, five AK-47 rifles and 1,000 live rounds of 9mm ammunition off...
Insufficient progress made
The Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Fabián Salvioli, has submitted a report to Forty-eighth session of the...
Pakistan’s Role in the Future of Afghanistan
Summary The speed of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has surprised everyone. What was expected to take at least three months took merely a few...
COVID crisis is at a critical juncture
Sri Lanka’s Covid crisis is at a critical juncture the Independent Technical Expert Group (ITEG) said. Nearly 90 percent of the samples sequenced have shown...
India’s interests will be parallel to the US, but would not be identical
India is having its moment this August as president of the UN Security Council. For decades, the permanent members of the Security Council have gradually...
Tamil Diaspora Organizations Call for International Arbitration
Tamil diaspora organizations across the world express in a joint letter that any negotiations need to happen with international arbitration for their successful conclusion. They...
The Taliban’s Comeback
For the past few years, the main geopolitical power struggle in Asia has been the trade and military conflicts between its two largest nations, China...
How Afghanistan Will Influence Geopolitics In The Region
Afghanistan was the frontline of the United States declared war on terror twenty years ago. This led to the US invasion of the country after...
Indian Origin Tamils of Wanni
A few in Sri Lanka are aware that a substantial part of the population of the Wanni region in North Sri Lanka, comprising the districts...
We do not want to have any problem with the international community,
Following the takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban has held its first official news conference in Kabul, declaring that it wishes peaceful relations with other countries....
Taliban Leaders, Begins Crucial Talks On New Government
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with Anas Haqqani, a key member of the Taliban, on Wednesday, as top Taliban leaders arrived in Afghanistan to...
ACT Now
The World Health Organization (WHO) expert group on Sri Lanka has warned that the current rapid spread of the coronavirus indicates that Sri Lanka could...
India, Sri Lanka, Push for divorce rights
Laws on divorce vary in different countries, intimately bound with women’s rights and access to justice. In many countries where Muslim communities are the minority,...
Fresh EU review on GSP+
Sri Lanka’s compliance to the conventions laid out by the European Union (EU) will come under fresh review next month as a mission is scheduled...
CLIMATE RISK COUNTRY PROFILE: SRI LANKA
Climate change is a major risk to good development outcomes, and the World Bank Group is committed to playing an important role in helping countries...
Reset in Ties?
After months of strain over a number of issues including the cancelled port project in Colombo , Sri Lanka is preparing to send its High...
Bridging The ‘Growing Trust-Deficit’
The well-earned publicity that the ‘Integrated Country Strategy’ for Sri Lankan missions in India has received in the Indian media is a welcome for more...
India Failed To Fulfill Its Obligations
Deployment of Indian troops in Sri Lanka and establishing of provincial councils by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution are two of the main results...
Running out of options
Sri Lanka paid a $1 billion bond last week, but the alarming state of its finances suggests it may have been just another step towards...
Sri Lankan bishops urge government to reopen schools
Catholic bishops have urged the Sri Lankan government to reopen schools and take drastic measures to stop the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on...
Sri Lanka: A country with many challenges
The US State Department in its 2021 Investment Climate Statement for Sri Lanka has declared Sri Lanka as a country with many challenges that are...
COVID-19 manifested a new economic shock
The World Bank’s recent report on Sri Lanka highlights the devastating impact the corona virus has had on the economy; with the country experiencing its...
Grievances are susceptible to manipulation
Sections of the ruling elite and politicians blame the Easter attacks on the rise of Salafi movements and madrasas, which they believe openly teach Islamic...
Need respect for ethnic and religious minorities
The US State Department released the 2020 International Religious Freedom Report on 12 may 2021 which gives a comprehensive review of the state of religious...
Sovereignty of independent states should not be undermined
The Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the Opening Plenary of this year’s Boao Forum for Asia on Tuesday, that the sovereignty of independent states...
China offers a lifeline
China appears to be tightening its strategic grip on Sri Lanka, wooing the debt-ridden South Asian nation with a fresh $500 million loan as Colombo...
U.S. Intelligence Warns Of “more intense and cascading global challenges”
U.S. intelligence officials have little comfort to offer a pandemic-weary planet about where the world is heading in the next 20 years. Short answer: It...
Covid crisis used to restrict rights
Releasing the 45th annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said that the United States’ reaffirms it's commitment to...
Once you get on the agenda of international civil society, it is difficult to get off
“Hey Geneva” laments Ajith Kumarasiri (musician, songwriter, and composer in Sri Lanka) in powerful Sinhala rhythm and blues. “We no longer kill.” “We don’t shoot...
UK’s commitment to reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka
A debate on the UK’s commitment to reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka was conducted on 18 March 2021, in the main House...
Indian Signals to Sri Lanka
Indicating that New Delhi has kept all options open, India has signalled to Sri Lanka that its support for the country at the United Nations...
Experts dismayed by regressive steps, call for renewed UN scrutiny and efforts to ensure accountability
UN human rights experts have expressed their deep concern on 5 February 2021 about the reversal of important democratic gains achieved since 2015 and roll...
Concern’ for Sri Lanka ?
A new UN report published on Wednesday warns that the failure of Sri Lanka to address past violations has significantly heightened the risk of human...
Sri Lanka’s Prospects At The UNHRC
In all likelihood, Sri Lanka will face a tough resolution at the March session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, as the...
Tamil parties seek International Mechanism
Sri Lanka’s main Tamil political parties have sought an international probe, including at the International Criminal Court (ICC), into allegations of human rights abuses during...
Economy Hemmed by COVID-19 and Geopolitical Tension
The unprecedented disruptions of COVID-19 are causing a geopolitical reset — and as the global order is redrawn, small emerging market economies like Sri Lanka are vulnerable...
Fulfil Expectations
India on Wednesday called on Sri Lanka to meet the Tamil minority’s expectations for greater devolution of powers as part of the reconciliation process even...
Happy New Year
Another year starts and with it, new hopes and aspirations, a faint desire that sprouts in every human heart that speaks of happiness, prosperity and...
Sri Lanka must act to “assert its sovereignty”
US financial support will be contingent on Sri Lanka asserting its sovereignty “against influence by the People’s Republic of China,” and improving human rights and...
Wish You a Peaceful Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year
This Christmas, there will be few family gatherings, there will be no dreams of family meals. However, Christmas brings so much love, happiness and fun...
Denial not a strategy
Global financial giant Citi has cautioned Sri Lanka that its denial of a debt crisis shouldn’t be a strategy, and called for effective restructuring and...
Doval meets Sampanthan?
In an apparent last-minute addition to his two-day itinerary in Colombo, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met senior Sri Lankan Tamil leader R. Sampanthan on...
US should boost its presence in the Indo-Pacific region
The United States should boost its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region with a new numbered fleet, possibly based in Singapore, according to the U.S....
Is the Trump China Policy working?
The United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo recently embarked on a five nation Asia tour to India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Indonesia and Vietnam from...
British tribunal rules against Ban
The Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC) has given judgment in Arumugam and Others v Secretary of State for the Home Department, (judgment here), allowing an appeal brought...
Geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific
The term Indopazifischer Raum (Indo-Pacific Space) coined by German geopolitical thinker Karl Haushofer in 1920, is perhaps the first academic statement on the Indo-Pacific. Haushofer observed the...
Project had its merits
Senior Lecturer in the Transportation Engineering Division of Moratuwa University says that the Japanese-funded Light Railway Transport (LRT) project in metropolitan Colombo, which was abruptly...
Reprisals continue
The report of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights was...
Modi stresses on devolution of power
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday pitched for full implementation of a constitutional provision by the new Sri Lankan government to ensure devolution of powers...
Not a reflection on the situation currently prevalent in Sri Lanka
The Actg. Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka at UN replying to the United Nations Special Rapporteur's report during the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur...
Accountability will be sought either at home or abroad.
The Human Rights Council opened its forty-fifth regular session on 14 September 2020, hearing a global human rights update from Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations...
Indo-Pacific region as US’s priority theater
In its annual report “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2020” that was submitted to the US Congress, the US...
New Delhi is committed to full implementation of 13th Amendment
A delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) called on the Indian High Commissioner, Gopal Baglay, here on Friday. The High Commissioner congratulated the TNA...
Living off borrowed money
As Sri Lanka struggles with outstanding foreign debt, rural households across the country have been living off borrowings after exhausting their savings. Meera Srinivasan reports on how those already struggling with severe economic...
The next months and years will bring major challenges
Twice postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, Sri Lankans finally voted on Wednesday, 5 August in the country’s parliamentary election. Alan Keenan (LSE Centre for...
British MPs calls for sanctions
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT) in the UK has called upon Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, to implement sanctions against senior Sri Lankan...
2020 elections: Implications for India
the August 5, 2020 elections in Sri Lanka has been a turning point: first, it was organised amidst opposition and fear of COVID-19 pandemic in...
The election results also reflect a class divide
The general elections on 5 August turned out to be an outstanding victory for the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the Rajapaksa Family and the...
A foreign-policy balancing act
The Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP) won 145 seats in the 5 August parliamentary election, and its allies won five seats, giving the SLPP-led political...
A bigger slice of control
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s governing party won a majority of Sri Lanka’s parliamentary seats, the Election Commission announced Friday, bringing the president a step closer in...
Sri Lanka has entered a grave and challenging phase
With the new President Gotabaya Rajapaksa winning the election in Nov 2019 almost exclusively with the majority Sinhala-Buddhist vote, Tamil peoples struggle for justice and...
Election will shape Sri Lanka’s political future
Sri Lanka’s upcoming parliamentary elections will serve as an indicator of the island’s future political direction, potential executive power buildup, and future geopolitical stance. With...
The people of Sri Lanka are facing some crucial choices
The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) in a press release has stated that “The people of Sri Lanka are facing some crucial choices. The outcome of...
India inks currency deal with Sri Lanka to checkmate China
Keen to counter China’s influence in Sri Lanka, India on Friday extended a $400 million currency swap facility with Colombo to help its economy recover...
A deterioration in the Human Rights situation?
Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab tabled the 2019 Foreign and Commonwealth Office report on Human Rights and Democracy, in the UK Parliament on 16 July...
Crisis cannot be used as an excuse to justify blanket restrictions
Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Clément N. Voule at the 44th session of...
UK announces first sanctions under new global human rights regime
The British government announced on 6 July 2020 that it was blacklisting 49 individuals and organizations under a new Britain-only human rights regime that gives...
Chinese Investment and the BRI in Sri Lanka
Chatham House commissioned a study of Chinese outbound investment and the BRI in Sri Lanka. The study, which is the basis for this paper, focused...
Concerned over Government’s decision to withdraw co-sponsorship of UN resolution
Delivering a statement at the 44th session of the UNHRC on behalf of the Core Group on Sri Lanka (Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Montenegro and...
Border and maritime security vulnerable
The Country Reports on Terrorism 2019 was released on 24 June 2020. The report covers developments in countries in which acts of terrorism occurred, countries...
Comprehensive security sector reform yet to take place?
A report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, to the Forty-fourth session...
Every person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion
The US Department of State 2019, annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom – the International Religious Freedom Report – describes the status of...
Criticism on the rise?
Last week, the de facto leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), M.A. Sumanthiran, gave an interview to a Sinhala program called, Truth With Chamudith....
Achieving herd immunity
Christian Drosten, who directs the Institute of Virology at the Charité Hospital in Berlin, was one of those who identified the Sars virus in 2003....
Laws contain references to vaguely defined offences
As Governments face the formidable challenge of protecting people from COVID-19, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has called on them to ensure...
Federalism and Post-War Reconciliation
Following his election as president of Sri Lanka in 2019, Gotabaya Rajapaksa has taken a strong stand against federalism and devolution of powers to protect...
Pandemic is not only a national issue
The former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe spoke to Palki Sharma, on the global leadership series on WION, about everything from the COVID-19...
A century ago…
Exactly a 100 year ago, Sri Lanka had the experience of going through a horrendous pandemic the Spanish flu or influenza, which claimed nearly 20,000...
Fighting the Pandemic
Some 10,000 frontline health workers in Sri Lanka are working tirelessly to arrest the spread of COVID-19 that has affected 235 people and claimed seven...
COVID is a test of Leadership
“We simply cannot return to where we were just a few months ago”, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in an informal...
Eye Sri Lanka wishes its readers a peaceful and prosperous Sinhala and Tamil New Year
May the New Year bring you joy and contentment in these difficult times.
Flatten the Curve
Former Jaffna District Parliamentarian and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Spokesman M. A. Sumanthiran PC engaged in an informative conversation with the “Daily Mirror” on topics...
No cash, no food
Sri Lanka has been under curfew for over a fortnight. The near-total lockdown and the over 10,000 violators that police have arrested have ensured that...
Premadasa to ensure Sri Lanka’s relationship with India is kept at best possible level
In the midst of preparing for elections in Sri Lanka, main Opposition leader and former minister and presidential hopeful Sajith Premadasa speaks to The New...
UNHRC troubled
Rupert Colville, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in a statement rekeased said the pardon of a Sri Lankan...
Sri Lankan convicted for Espionage
Sri Lankan national Arun Selvarajan has been sentenced to five years in connection with the sensational Thameem Ansari spy case. A special National Investigation Agency...
Significant human rights issues
The annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2019 was released by US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo on 11 March 2020. The...
Economy, at a worrying point
Just Five years ago, the Rajapaksa family seemed to have lost everything. Mahinda Rajapaksa was beaten during the presidential race in Sri Lanka in 2015,...
British government underlines importance of Accountability
British Parliamentarian Afzal Khan, asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on 26 February 2020, whether he plans to make representations to...
NGOs want UN to establish ‘international accountability mechanism’
International non-governmental organisations have called on the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to establish “an international accountability mechanism on Sri Lanka and called on the...
Impunity, lack of rule of law & accountability reasons for religious extremism & hate speech
The culture of impunity in Sri Lanka has been repeatedly pointed out as one of the main reasons for which religious extremism and hate speech...
UN Rights Chief wants Government to fully implement resolution 30/1
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has urged the Sri Lankan Government to fully implement resolution 30/1, and continue to engage positively...
Continue reconciliation and implement 13th Amendment
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that he was confident that the Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa''s government "will realize the expectations of the Tamil...
Swiss urged to refuse granting accreditation
The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) released a statement on 03 February 2020 calling on Switzerland to deny accreditation to the Ambassador designate for...
A New Government and a Sea Change in Policy
Since his election on 16 November 2019, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, have initiated fundamental changes to policies...
Sri Lanka a country of increasing strategic importance
The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells briefed the press at the US Department of State on...
EU ire could cost the country economically
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa faces his first test of diplomacy three months into his inaugural term, as he seeks to dilute the country's postwar...
German Court Convicts man over Kadirgamar killing
A German court convicted a Sri Lankan man Monday of accessory to murder in the 2005 killing of the South Asian nation's foreign minister for...
Respect for fundamental human rights in jeopardy
Sri Lanka suffered its worst communal violence in 2029, since the end of the civil war when Islamist suicide bombers attacked churches and hotels in...
Vigneswaran wants India to grant dual citizenship
Ex-Chief Minister of Northern Province in Sri Lanka says the Indian and Sri Lankan governments should work out a specific treaty on dual citizenship While...
China’s belt and road: an environmental disaster for Southeast Asia?
When Chinese President Xi Jinping first unveiled the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013,it was heralded as one of the largest infrastructure development schemes in...
Sri Lanka: Headed for turbulent times?
The seemingly serene, emerald green island of Sri Lanka on the Indian Ocean is worried that it is headed for turbulent times. Trouble reared its...
Wishing you a merry Christmas and Peace throughout the New Year
Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and...
India- US discuss shared leadership in the Indo-Pacific region
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar met US Secretary of Defense Dr Mark T Esper and Secretary of State...
India expands Indo -Pacific policy
India is increasing the area covered by its Indo-Pacific policy to include the western Indian ocean and Arabian Sea. This means that Asean is not...
Results Reveal a Divided Country ?
Religious nationalism played the central role in the recently-held Sri Lankan presidential election, in which Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa came away victorious, winning 52.25 percent of...
Election was determined largely by local factors
Gotabaya Rajapakse won Sri Lanka’s Presidential Elections on November 16. This is not the first time Sri Lanka has had a Rajapakse as president. Mahinda...
Necessary to build a consistent relationship with India
Promising to be “frank” and “upfront” to avoid the misunderstandings of the past between New Delhi and Colombo, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa says India...
Human Rights, Reconciliation and Peace
Earlier this month, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s president, following his victory in the country’s eighth presidential elections. Gotabaya replaced Maithripala Sirisena,...
India wants national reconciliation
India expects the newly-elected President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa to boost the national reconciliation policy with the Tamil community of the country, the Ministry...
Victory and Defeat
Gotabaya Rajapaksa of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) convincingly won the Lankan Presidential election held on November 16. Gotabaya got 52.25 % of the...
Next President Faces Major Rights Challenges
The winner of Sri Lanka’s presidential election on November 16, 2019 will face enormous challenges to deliver justice for past crimes and prevent future abuses,...
TMK will take a neutral stand
The former Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province C.V.Wigneswaran has said that his organization the Tamil Makkal Koottani (TMK) will take a neutral stand...
Security systems were undermined, says probe report
A parliamentary panel in Sri Lanka has accused President Maithripala Sirisena of “actively undermining” government and security systems, leading to serious lapses ahead of the...
Trump administration will push the new Sri Lankan Government on the human rights issue
US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Alice G. Wells told the House Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation on 22...
Keeping a close watch
India is keeping a close watch on the upcoming presidential elections in Sri Lanka, where pro-China Gotabaya Rajapaksa is pitted against housing minister and deputy...
A Tamil boycott will achieve little
Should Tamils boycott Sri Lanka’s elections in November for the executive presidency? Should Tamils boycott Sri Lanka’s elections in November for the executive presidency? This...
A bitter brew
“Half the blood in our bodies is sucked by these leeches. Can’t someone find some medicine to keep them away?” At first it is hard...
Leaders should focus their attention on repairing the broken security apparatus
What’s new? Easter Sunday’s bombings produced Sri Lanka’s deadliest single day of terrorist violence and its first experience of Muslim-on-Christian mass violence. Although the attackers were...
UN to send back peacekeepers?
The United Nations suspended Sri Lankan Army deployments in the world body’s peacekeeping operations after the Indian Ocean island nation appointed a war veteran who...
A Referendum on Presidency ?
The Sri Lankan Presidential election, to be held on November 16, is likely to be a referendum on the continuation or abolition of the Executive...
Flights from Jaffna to Indian cities
Sri Lanka’s Civil Aviation Authority is gearing up to operate commercial flights from the island’s northern city of Jaffna to select Indian cities. Preparations are...
JVP and the Tamil people
The National People’s Power (NPP) presidential candidate, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, in a recent interview with the Tamil daily, Virakesari, made...
There is no Substitute for Engagement
Jaffna district MP and Tamil National Alliance spokesman on the national unity government’s performance, the 13th Amendment, and India’s relations with Sri Lanka In Sri...
Simmering ethno-religious tensions must not be ignored
Simmering ethno-religious tensions in Sri Lanka require urgent action by the authorities to strengthen respect for freedom of religion or belief in Sri Lanka, says...
Emergency ends?
Sri Lanka has ended a four-month state of emergency declared after Easter suicide bombings by Islamist extremists that killed 258 people, officials said Friday. President...
New territories?
India, Turkey, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are among the new countries where the Islamic State (IS) terror group has found a footing as its influence...
Negotiations hit a roadblock
The U.S. government's new military blueprint in the Indian Ocean is facing headwinds in Sri Lanka, a strategically located South Asian island also being courted...
Sri Lanka has made great strides with democratisation
The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Clément Nyaletsossi Voule said Sri Lanka has made significant strides...
Your country calls upon me to cleanse this Augean stable
The head of Sri Lanka's Roman Catholic Church Sunday called for the government to resign over its alleged failure to investigate an "international conspiracy" behind...
A $200 cup of tea
It's no secret that the British are very serious about their tea.Now a London hotel has taken this dedication to new heights by offering what's...
India keeps eye
India is keeping a close watch as protests grow in Sri Lanka over a proposed pact with the US, which could enable the setting up...
Ven. Galagoda Gnanasara pledges to build a Sinhala Parliament
Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero yesterday pledged to build a Sinhala Parliament that would enable the Sinhala people to...
Islamic State was initially unaware of Easter attacks
The Islamic State (IS) may have claimed responsibility for the Easter terror attacks in Sri Lanka, but its chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was initially not...
Hiding the truth?
The head of the Catholic church in Sri Lanka on Thursday issued a scathing criticism of the government over the Easter attacks that killed more...
ISIS shift in Strategy may threaten India, Sri Lanka
India and Sri Lanka are likely to be under threat with terror group ISIS turning its attention to the Indian Ocean Region in the wake...
Military victory is seen as moral and racial vindication
I isolate the following two from an email message I received recently: “The anti-Tamil feeling began in 1949 with the de-citizenizing of Tamils” “In Kandy...
US Representatives discuss radical Sinhala nationalism
United States Representatives from both main parties discussed the threat of radical Sinhala nationalism in Sri Lanka and the country's lack of progress on transitional justice...
Significance of Modi’s visits
Thanks to former President Abdulla Yameen’s pro-China policies as also his crackdown on the opposition on the eve of Prime minister Narendra Modi’s March 2015...
Avoiding Sri Lanka’s next civil war
18 May 2019 was a doubly significant day in Sri Lanka. Not only did it mark the ten-year anniversary of the end of Sri Lanka’s...
Future Posture in the Indo-Pacific
Releasing the US Department of Defense Indo - Pacific Strategy Report Preparedness, Partnerships, and Promoting a Networked Region on 01 June 2019, the US Department...
The man who might have stopped Sri Lanka’s Easter bombings
When bombs planted in churches and hotels killed more than 200 people in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, few had realised that the nation had...
The story of the 9 suicide bombers
At first, they were nameless. “Nine suicide bombers,” is all authorities would reveal. In a little over a week, the police identified each of them...
One of the World’s Hottest Destinations. Now It’s Eerily Empty
Having landed a few minutes earlier here at Colombo’s international airport, our jam-packed flight from the Maldives is disembarking its crammed cabin, passengers marching down...
Anger Could Tear Sri Lanka Apart
The Easter bombings in Sri Lanka last month were a massive human tragedy for a country that has already experienced too much violence. Prior to...
It’s not too late to bridge the divides in Sri Lanka — but it won’t be easy
In the days since Islamist terrorists carried out attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, a series of violent reprisal attacks...
Rwanda and Sri Lanka: A tale of two genocides
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide and the 10th year since the Tamil genocide in Sri Lanka. While the 1994 Rwandan...
Software engineer, was under Indian surveillance
A Sri Lankan software engineer suspected by authorities in Sri Lanka of having provided technical and logistical support to the Easter Sunday suicide bombers was...
India extends ban on LTTE
Centre extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Tuesday for violent and disruptive activities that are prejudicial to the integrity...
Attacks bring Tamil leadership together
Two prominent political groups representing Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, in the north-east and the hill country, have decided to work together in the wake of...
Intelligence: how to fix it
Sri Lanka’s battle against Islamic extremism would involve two integral parts: (a) an intelligence driven kinetic approach to flush out, arrest or neutralize violent extremists;...
Muslims in Sri Lanka are self-alienating themselves
Dr. Ameer Ali, a prominent Islamic scholar and a former adviser of Muslim Affairs of Australian Prime Minister, John Howard’s Government, said Muslims in Sri...
Minority Alienation – Analysis
The Easter Sunday carnage in which more than 250, mostly Christians, were killed is the most violent terrorist act in Sri Lanka since the end...
What Next?
Under the nose of a state that took peace for granted, members of two lesser-known radical organizations and sons of a millionaire spice trader conspired...
Terror through local proxies, is part of ISIS evolving modus operandi
ISIS has released the second video of its supreme leader, Abu Bakr Baghdadi on April 29, the first since he appeared in a video delivering...
Sri Lanka attacks may indicate ISIS is moving East
The April 21 suicide attacks in Sri Lanka, which were claimed by the Islamic State, may indicate that the militant group is moving east in...
Afraid but unbowed: Sri Lanka Catholics pray for Easter bombing victims
Church bells tolled mournfully at Colombo’s devastated St Anthony’s Shrine on Sunday, as scores of Christians wept but defiantly prayed and lit candles for the...
A preview of ISIS’s Future
Two days after the bombings in Sri Lanka, the Islamic State came out and said it was behind them. It backed up its claim with...
NTJ wanted separate Islamic confederate in region
Central agencies responsible for countering the influence of Islamic State in India have found that Sri Lanka-based National Towheed Jama’at (NTJ), a Tamil Nadu-based outfit...
Islamic State and Jamaat al-Tawhid al-Watania Claim Responsibility for Attacks
The Islamic State and the Jamaat al-Tawhid al-Watania group have both claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks carried out in Sri Lanka on Sunday. Reuters...
Coordinated terrorist attacks as Christians gathered to celebrate Easter Mass
As Christians in Sri Lanka gathered on Sunday morning to celebrate Easter Mass, powerful explosions ripped through three churches packed with worshipers, leaving hundreds of...
Literary Policing raises its head
Exasperation with the current UNP regime and its much hyped ‘good governance’ promise with which it won the votes of the people in 2015 January,...
Eye Sri Lanka wishes its readers a peaceful and prosperous Sinhala and Tamil New Year
Labannawu nawa wasarakiriyen peniyen pirisamaya sathuta raja karanaleda dukin thorawedi wediyen lebenaSuba Aluth awruddak wewa
We have received good cooperation during the visit
The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture has completed its first visit to Sri Lanka from 2 to 12 April where it examined the...
DMK-Cong combine did nothing to protect Sri Lankan Tamils
Ruling AIADMK top leader O Paneerselvam Thursday accused the DMK and Congress of being responsible for the "genocide" of Tamils in Sri Lanka during the...
There is strong disappointment
The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) acknowledges the passing of the resolution ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’ (40/1) at the UN Human...
UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka meets Colombo’s requirements
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)’s resolution on the rights situation in Sri Lanka, which was passed in Geneva on Thursday through consensus, meets Colombo’s...
Sri Lanka rejects proposal for OHCHR office and deadline
Foreign Minister, Tilak Marapana, denied that the armed forces had committed war crimes and that it is not possible to establish a hybrid judicial mechanism...
Bouquets and brickbats
Ahead of a resolution on Sri Lanka set to come up for procedural extension at the end of the 42nd Session of the UN Human...
Ensure Sri Lanka remains on UNHRC agenda
The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) calls on the international community and the members of the UNHRC, to ensure that Sri Lanka firmly remains on the...
Time to Set-up a TRC?
Is Sri Lanka on the path to establishing its own Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)? The answer, at least if Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is...
US seeks sustained military engagement with Sri Lanka
Amid the increasing Chinese influence over the strategically important Indo-Pacific region, a top Pentagon commander has advocated sustained US engagement with Sri Lanka, despite the...
House of Lords Debate on Sri Lanka and the UNHCR resolution
The UK government once again dismissed Lord Naseby’s call to terminate Geneva Resolution 30/1 in 2015 and Resolution 34/1 in 2017 on the basis that...
Ceylon Tea a cup of pure enchantment?
Sri Lanka – a Tea Island, is known for its diverse cultures and scenic beauty. While blessed with fortunes of nature to give a different...
Vigneswaran lauds LTTE leader for forging Tamil unity
The former Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, on Sunday praised Velupillai Prabhakaran, the slain leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil...
An Ideological Power Struggle
The ideological moorings of leaders in Sri Lanka, as they struggle for power, are as important as the strategic stakes of China and India in...
Non-lethal supplies and cargo transfers
n July 2017 the Sri Lankan government renewed, for another ten years, the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) with the United States Department of Defense....
Political Crisis Threatens Justice Efforts
Human Rights Watch released the 'World Report 2019', reviewing human rights practices in more than 100 countries. HRW states that Sri Lanka’s political upheaval undermined...
The making of a new Constitution
The Constitutional Expert Committee’s report, which was tabled in the Sri Lankan parliament on Friday abolishes the powerful Executive Presidency and replaces it by a...
Why are they retiring at 55?
Points to be considered for the extension of the retirement age of the members of the Security Forces. The reviewing of the retirement age of...
Happy New Year
Another year starts and with it, new hopes and aspirations, a faint desire that sprouts in every human heart that speaks of happiness, prosperity and...
Sri Lanka rode the roller coaster in 2018
Sri Lanka saw cataclysmic political events in 2018. Democracy, which was introduced way back in 1931 and was thought to be well and truly entrenched...
A Peaceful Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year
As you celebrate Christmas, may you experience true love. Jesus is the reason for the season and the epitome of true love. Merry Christmas and a wonderful...
TNA tells Speaker not to recognise MP Mahinda Rajapaksa as Leader of the Opposition.
The Tamil National Alliance has written to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya not to recognize MP Mahinda Rajapaksa as Leader of the Opposition. The TNA has outlined...
President doubts he can work with PM
Sri Lanka’s president accused newly reappointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of corrupt leadership in a scathing speech Sunday in which he voiced doubts about their...
The Court’s Slap
Not for the first time in recent weeks, Sri Lankans held a collective breath on the afternoon of December 13th, as citizens gathered outside the...
Dissolution of Parliament Unconstitutional
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday, December 13, that President Maithripala Sirisena’s order to dissolve Parliament and hold new elections was unconstitutional, a much-anticipated...
The Deep Roots of Sri Lanka’s Political Crisis
In the first week of December, Sri Lanka’s political crisis deepened after the country’s Court of Appeal issued an interim injunction order restraining former President...
The unfolding Indo-Pacific Great Game
The current political impasse in Sri Lanka marks an important opportunity for Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa to think about the consequences of their current actions...
Deadlock remains in lead up to Supreme Court ruling
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena continued to manoeuvre over the past week in an desperate attempt to secure a deal with leaders of the United...
Implications of the Political Imbroglio in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirsena by sacking Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on October 26 this year has not only precipitated the country into a political...
Turmoil Intensifies
Sri Lanka’s political crisis took another turn yesterday when all the MPs backing Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse walked out of parliament after the Speaker refused...
Two Premiers and No Government
Two men each claim to be the prime minister. Lawmakers are exchanging blows in Parliament. A former finance minister says the country is on the...
Struggle in Lanka
The political crisis in Sri Lanka that began on 26 October when President Maithripala Sirisena appointed former President and Sinhala chauvinist Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime...
Sliding into political turmoil, and what could happen next
This week, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court made a dramatic intervention in the country’s deepening political crisis, a move that may prevent it from sliding further...
Behind Sri Lanka’s political turmoil lies an India-China struggle for influence
Gleaming cranes stretch out on the waterfront in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo as Chinese companies construct a $1.5 billion new commercial district, including hotels,...
Willing to work with President Sirisena
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he is willing to work with President Maithripala Sirisena, who abruptly sacked him on October 26, if given...
Concern grows in India over Sri Lankan crisis
A constitutional crisis is unfolding in Sri Lanka – and that is causing concern in New Delhi as it may enable China to expand its...