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…
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…
Fulfil Expectations
India on Wednesday called on Sri Lanka to meet the Tamil minority’s expectations for greater devolution of powers as part…
Happy New Year
Another year starts and with it, new hopes and aspirations, a faint desire that sprouts in every human heart that…
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,”…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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,…
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…
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…
Reprisals continue
The report of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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),…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Achieving herd immunity
Christian Drosten, who directs the Institute of Virology at the Charité Hospital in Berlin, was one of those who identified…
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…
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…
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,…
A century ago…
Exactly a 100 year ago, Sri Lanka had the experience of going through a horrendous pandemic the Spanish flu or…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
UNHRC troubled
Rupert Colville, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in a statement rekeased said the…
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.…
Significant human rights issues
The annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2019 was released by US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Victory and Defeat
Gotabaya Rajapaksa of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) convincingly won the Lankan Presidential election held on November 16. Gotabaya…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
A bitter brew
“Half the blood in our bodies is sucked by these leeches. Can’t someone find some medicine to keep them away?”…
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…
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…
A Referendum on Presidency ?
The Sri Lankan Presidential election, to be held on November 16, is likely to be a referendum on the continuation…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Emergency ends?
Sri Lanka has ended a four-month state of emergency declared after Easter suicide bombings by Islamist extremists that killed 258…
New territories?
India, Turkey, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are among the new countries where the Islamic State (IS) terror group has found…
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…
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…
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…
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…
India keeps eye
India is keeping a close watch as protests grow in Sri Lanka over a proposed pact with the US, which…
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…
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…
Hiding the truth?
The head of the Catholic church in Sri Lanka on Thursday issued a scathing criticism of the government over the…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
Minority Alienation – Analysis
The Easter Sunday carnage in which more than 250, mostly Christians, were killed is the most violent terrorist act in…
What Next?
Under the nose of a state that took peace for granted, members of two lesser-known radical organizations and sons of…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
There is strong disappointment
The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) acknowledges the passing of the resolution ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’…
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…
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…
Bouquets and brickbats
Ahead of a resolution on Sri Lanka set to come up for procedural extension at the end of the 42nd…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
An Ideological Power Struggle
The ideological moorings of leaders in Sri Lanka, as they struggle for power, are as important as the strategic stakes…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Happy New Year
Another year starts and with it, new hopes and aspirations, a faint desire that sprouts in every human heart that…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
The Court’s Slap
Not for the first time in recent weeks, Sri Lankans held a collective breath on the afternoon of December 13th,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Turmoil Intensifies
Sri Lanka’s political crisis took another turn yesterday when all the MPs backing Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse walked out of…
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…
Struggle in Lanka
The political crisis in Sri Lanka that began on 26 October when President Maithripala Sirisena appointed former President and Sinhala…
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…
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…
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…
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…
House of Cards in the Indian Ocean
What is happening in Sri Lanka right now sits somewhere in between House of Cards, Game of Thrones and Shakespeare’s…
It’s Neo-Cold War and at India’s Gates
Independent of the domestic outcomes of the current constitutional crisis in Sri Lanka, it may have already opened up the…
Sri Lanka’s Constitutional Crisis: Where it came from and How it will affect Regional Geopolitics
How did Sri Lanka find itself in a crisis and how will it affect its foreign policy? The Diplomat‘s Ankit…
Lonely Planet
A political crisis is gripping Sri Lanka as fears deepen over a possible resurgence of violence—and even civil war. The…
This is how the Indian’s interpret
The return of Mahinda Rajapaksa to power in Sri Lanka has been the subject of speculation for some time. The…
A constitutional crisis?
Sri Lanka has been plunged into a constitutional crisis after the president ousted the prime minister, a move that took…
New party is old wine in a new bottle
The Tamizh Makkal Kootani (TMK) or Tamil Peoples’ Alliance (TPA) which C.V.Wigneswaran, the former Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority…
We should pursue our activities through the International Community
Addressing the last sitting of the Northern Provincial Council on 23 October 2018 Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran blamed the Government…
Amend Counter Terrorism Act
Sri Lanka’s draft counterterrorism law significantly improves upon the current, abusive Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) but needs further safeguards…
“Why Can’t We Go Home?”
Human Rights Watch Released a Report About Occupation of Civilian Owned Lands in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka by the…
The land of the disappeared – a photo essay
It is nearly a decade since the civil war in Sri Lanka ended, but for many families the long struggle…
Hambantota Port may soon become a forward military base
Remarks delivered by President Mike Pence on the administration’s policy towards China at Hudson Institute on October 4, 2018: …
As Chinese influence grows ‘Kaga’ sails into Sri Lanka
Japan’s largest warship, the Kaga helicopter carrier, sailed into Sri Lanka’s Colombo harbor this weekend, marking Tokyo’s highest profile salvo…
Proposed Counter Terrorism Bill
Sri Lanka’s near three-decade ethnic war and numerous conflicts were used to justify attempts by successive governments to introduce and…
EU launches Asia strategy to rival China’s ‘new Silk Road’
As doubts grow over China’s vast “Belt and Road” trade infrastructure project, the EU is launching an alternative plan for…
Sri Lanka to shift its focus to emerging threats
The US state Department released its Country Report on Terrorism on 19 September 2018, which describes the global counter terrorism…
Sri Lanka among the few countries that are well-prepared to rise
Sri Lanka is ready to rise again — a nation on the path to sustained growth path, that is. That’s…
Indo-Lanka accord best way to solve Tamils issue
Douglas Devananda, 61, is the leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) and a MP in the Sri Lankan…
Still in the game?
From a man who had ceased to be India’s favourite to the reach-out and engagement with New Delhi now, former…
Lenders should be responsible for the risks they take
Mr. Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky the United Nations Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial…
New UN Human Rights chief raises concerns
The 39th session of the Human Rights Council commenced in Geneva today (10 September). In the opening statement by the…
Suspend officials accused in abductions and disappearances
The Office on Missing Persons (OMP) released its interim report on 06 September 2018 and called on the Government to “expedite…
Debt trap?
India’s southern neighbour Sri Lanka may plunge further into the Chinese debt trap with Colombo yet again turning to Beijing…
Now look at today’s politicians …
Winston Churchill famously claimed that of all human qualities, courage was the most esteemed, because it guaranteed all others. He…
Taking back a word
Months into the first stint of my Colombo assignment, I noticed something. My copy sounded distinctly better whenever I quoted…
Writing on the Wall
Northern Province Chief Minister Canagasabapathy Viswalingam Wigneswaran is a retired Supreme Court judge. Much was expected of CV Wigneswaran when…
Belt and Road Initiative leads to wedlock
Nineteen couples from China and Sri Lanka became man and wife at a mass wedding ceremony in Negombo near here…
China leveraging its military, economic and diplomatic clout to establish regional dominance
The United States Annual Report on Military and Security Developments mandated by Congress has made references to Hambantota Port. The…
Slow motion disintegration?
By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham: The government will complete three years in office today (17), marking a milestone of sorts when the two…
Post Amma and Ayya: The new Tamil Nadu potboiler
A short while after Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war came to an end in May 2009, Tamil Nadu’s then chief…
Concerns Over China’s Global Investments
Several U.S. senators are pressing the Trump administration to detail what it is doing to deal with Beijing’s financing of…
Government must take a firm stand and lead the country
The Commonwealth Secretary General, Patricia Scotland who is currently on a four day official visit met the TNA leader R…
North confronting a different type of war.
Nine years after the end of Sri Lanka’s long drawn conflict between Government forces and the LTTE, the Northern Province…
White elephants?
MYTH 1: Chinese lending is commercial. FACT: Since 2012 most Chinese lending is concessionary. In the last five years Sri…
India’s bid to acquire the “World’s Emptiest Airport”
Over the past year, as India kept making a bid to acquire the Mattala airport in South Sri Lanka, which…
Reform has ‘ground to a halt’ with torture used freely – UN
Sri Lanka’s progress towards reform has “virtually ground to a halt” and brutal torture is used with impunity, the UN…
China has invested heavily because of the country’s location
Dr. Satoru Nagao, a Japanese expert on maritime security who is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Hudson Institute in…
UK concerned about slow delivery of human rights commitments – FCO report
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) 2017 Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report covering the period from January to…
The Indo-Pacific Strategy
*Salient points of Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s speech at the Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute Salient Convocation on Friday…
NPC Chief Minister opts out of President’s Task Force
The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil majority Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, has opted out of the Presidential Task Force on…
India advise on consequences
India will adopt a broad, three-pronged approach to deal with China’s increasing engagement in the South Asian and Indian Ocean…
Our country has no future unless we have a new Constitution
Addressing Parliament on 6th of July 2018 TNA leader Mr R Sampanthan said, our country has no future unless we…
Does recovery of arms from former LTTE cadres indicate revival of Tamil insurgency ?
The 21 km-long Puthukkudiyiruppu-Oddusuddan road progressing through the hinterland of North-Eastern Mullaitivu District, links Puthukkudiyiruppu on the A-35 Paranthan-Mullaitivu highway…
India can have impact on election
India can have the biggest political impact on Sri Lanka’s election, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said, adding that he…
How China Got Sri Lanka to Cough Up a Port
Every time Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, turned to his Chinese allies for loans and assistance with an ambitious port…
Trouble in TNA: leaders clash over “unity”
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has been facing an internal and external crisis for some time now, with the Northern…
IMF: The economy is stabilizing
IMF Executive Board Completed the Fourth Review Under the Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility and Concluded the 2018…
Insurance providers exploit language barrier
Sri Lanka’s top five general insurance providers which account for two-thirds of the market share, is seem to exploit the…
Abaya: conciliatory tone, concealed an uncompromising message
The arch above the school gate sits like a crown over the pillars that support it on either side. It…
Wigneswaran likely to launch new Diaspora backed party
The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, is likely to launch a Tamil Diaspora-backed political party in…
Sri Lanka has made important progress
On June 1, 2018, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the fourth review of Sri Lanka’s…
Attacks on religious minorities continued in 2017
The International Religious Freedom Report for 2017 was released US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador at Large for…
Reconciliation process should be Sri Lankan-led
Outgoing US Ambassador Atul Keshap has said his country wants to walk hand-in-hand with all Sri Lankans to see the…
China has invested $15 bln worth of infrastructure projects
China, on Wednesday said that as of the end of 2017, Chinese companies had completed more than US 15 billion…
Foreign Policy Tilts ?
Due to geo-political compulsions, Sri Lanka has to keep its relations with the West and India on an even keel.…
Observe this day as Tamil genocide day, says CV Wigneswaran
Thousands of people in Sri Lanka’s Tamil-dominated northern province on Friday participated in a commemorative ceremony to observe the ninth…
China using ‘debtbook diplomacy’
The Chinese government is leveraging billions of dollars in debts to gain political leverage with developing countries across Asia and…
Allegations based on hearsay
The Sri Lanka army has set up a ‘Directorate of Overseas Operations’ dedicated to preparing material to defend itself against…
Indo-Lanka Peace Accord: Stirring up old resentments and hope
The much-maligned Indo-Lanka Peace Accord of 1987 is back in public focus, courtesy T. Ramakrishnan’s book Or Inapprachinaiyum Or Oppandhamum…
TNA May Launch Non-Violent Protest Campaign?
The Coalition Government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe may soon be facing a political challenge from an…
Can the Application of Universal Jurisdiction Foster Accountability
At the 37th session of the Human Rights Council, which met in Geneva in February and March 2018, the High…
2017 – Economy grew at the lowest rate in 16 years
Sri Lanka’s economy grew at the slowest pace in 16 years to record a worse than expected 3.1 percent GDP…
What Tamils need to do to secure their rights
The leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R.Sampanthan, told Tamils on Tuesday what they should do secure their rights…
US says limited progress
The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017 was released on 21 April 2018. The Country Reports on Human Rights…
Push ahead with Vision 2025 objectives
Revenue mobilization can make space for social spending while reducing public debt. Reforms of state-owned enterprises are critical to…
Fallout of the local government elections continues
The fallout of the local government elections continues as a political crisis. The anti-Muslim violence, the no-confidence motion and its…
World Bank warns of slowdown
A development success story in many ways, Sri Lanka still faces critical challenges as it strives to become an upper…
China had built infrastructure in Sri Lanka worth US$ 15 billion
By the end of 2017, Chinese companies had completed more than US$15 billion worth of infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka…
Facebook to set up an office in Colombo?
Sri Lanka is to ask Facebook to set up an office in Colombo to help monitor content posted in the…
Surviving the no-trust vote
The resounding defeat of a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in Sri Lanka’s parliament provides an opportunity for…
EU relists LTTE as terror outfit
The Council of the European Union has relisted the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a terrorist organisation. The…
Facebook came along and made things worse
With Sri Lanka under a state of emergency after a spasm of anti-Muslim bloodshed, lawyer Jeevanee Kariyawasam went on Facebook…
PM wants Cash to Balance China
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka is seeking foreign investment from India, Japan and others amid criticism over his…
Chinese money gushes into Sri Lanka
Little disturbs the serenity of Guan Yin, the bodhisattva of compassion, as her statue sits in contemplation at the centre…
India had reservations
Three years after he was swept out of office, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s former President, thinks he is in with…
If handled well, Sri Lanka has the potential to constitute an example for the region how sustainable peace ought to be achieved
Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva Kate Gilmore, the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights…
Sri Lanka is a strong supporter of the UPR process
Ravinatha Aryasinha, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Office at Geneva, said on 19 March 2018, that of…
Wahhabism on the rise in Sri Lanka?
A news report by India’s World Is One News (WION) claims that while Sinhalese intolerance is on the rise in…
Stop spreading hatred and promoting violence
Whenever violence is unleashed on ethnic minority communities, political leaders from South almost by rote, hold a small group responsible…
It was not a Sinhala-Muslim clash
Rauff Hakeem is the Minister of City Planning and Water Supply in Sri Lanka’s national unity government and the leader…
Government is accused of failing to act fast
Sri Lanka’s week-long state of emergency has not been lifted, as expected. It was imposed after Muslim-owned homes and businesses…
IMF discusses progress of Economic Reform Program
An IMF staff team led by Manuela Goretti visited Colombo from February 27 – March 9 to hold discussions for…
Anti-Muslim sentiment re-surfaced after the conflict ended
Sri Lanka on Tuesday declared an island-wide state of emergency to curb heightening anti-Muslim violence in the country’s Central Province.…
Desperate need for enlightened political leadership
The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) has urged the on-going 37 th.Session of the UN Human Rights council (UNHRC) in Geneva…
UN Human Rights Commissioner requests member states to “explore other avenues
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein in his report on Sri Lanka to the…
A worried India
The fresh political crisis in Sri Lanka should have New Delhi concerned. The strong showing by the opposition Sri Lanka…
Reconfiguring Tamil politics
With a banner sporting a picture of Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) founder S.J.V. Chelvanayakam in the background, senior Tamil…
Plunging the country into uncertainty
Sri Lanka is poised to become even more indebted to Beijing with the return of pro-China ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa, after…
Reconfiguration of forces
Sri Lanka’s local government election held on February 10 has become more than a mid-term poll that usually helps the…
Political supremacy through crucial polls
Through the all-island local bodies elections held on February 10, former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna…
Ensure that the National Child Protection Authority is independent
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child examined Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Panama, Seychelles, Spain, Solomon Islands, Palau and…
With Sri Lankan port acquisition, China adds another ‘pearl’ to its ‘string’
When Sri Lanka’s government first looked to develop a port on its southern coast that faced the Indian Ocean, it…
Disillusionment and Frustration Pervade the Electorate
Sri Lanka’s local government elections, scheduled to be held on February 10, have elicited the interest of a national election,…
HRW says “locked up without evidence”, Repeal PTA law
Human Rights Watch released a 46-page report, “Locked Up Without Evidence: Abuses under Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act,” on 28…
Reuniting the Ex-LTTE Cadres into main stream politics
A former active member of the LTTE and many of his colleagues in the erstwhile outfit, have come forward to…
Sri Lanka needs to deliver
The European Commission called on the Government to deliver on important reforms, expressing concerns over the failure to repeal the…
Sri Lanka delays implementing pledges
Human Rights Watch released its 2018 World Report on 18 January 2018. In its report on Sri Lanka HRW said the…
Struggling to keep promises of reform
At the time, it was seen as an astonishing victory. In retrospect, it was also something of a Pyrrhic one.…
Economy expected to return to a high and inclusive growth trajectory
The IMF released the ‘staff’ report pertaining to the third review of the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility…
Tea Farmers sense trouble brewing over Glyphosate ban
By Adam Allington: Tea farmers in Sri Lanka want their government to reauthorize the use of glyphosate for agriculture. The…
We can’t despair, we can’t abandon things
R. Sampanthan, leader of the Opposition in Sri Lanka’s Parliament, is also the country’s seniormost politician, having been in politics…
Happy New Year
Hang on to your truth and respect the truth of others Choose to be happy Forgive those you can forgive…
Visit of enormous significance
The visit of the Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono to Sri Lanka on 5 January is going to be short…
Pursuit of a long-lasting political solution to the Tamil question continues
On the eve of his R.K. Nagar byelection victory, T.T.V. Dhinakaran had a chance meeting with Sri Lankan Tamil leader…
A Peaceful Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year
The true meaning of Christmas is giving and sharing the love and reaching out to those who have touched our…
India’s foray to South China Sea root cause of tensions
China’s political assertion in the Indian Ocean, especially Sri Lanka and Maldives, is a response to India’s moves in the…
Implement reforms to end arbitrary detention
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has identified significant challenges to the enjoyment of the right to personal liberty…
India is buying world’s emptiest airport in battle for territorial dominance
India plans to buy the world’s emptiest airport in an effort to limit China’s influence in the Indian Ocean. Designed…
TNA reaches consensus with TELO
The Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) Leader and Jaffna District Parliamentarian Mavai S. Senathirajah is confident that the Tamil National…
Lord Naseby was not speaking for the British Government
The British High Commission has declared that Lord Naseby’s recent statement in the House of Lords pertaining to accountability issues…
Religious fundamentalism is posing a threat to liberal society
Across Asia, religious fundamentalism is posing a growing threat to liberal society. Even Sri Lanka, a country that has only…
Commemoration events held in North
Defying the government ban, leaders of a pro-Tamil party celebrated the 63rd birth anniversary of the slain LTTE chief Velupillai…
Struggle for remembrance
As the sun began to set over the Vanni last November, thousands of locals stood before the crumbled remains of…
US lawmakers raise concerns
US lawmakers have expressed concern over China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ or OBOR initiative and sought recommendations for improving development…
Call for time bound implementation of UNHRC commitments
Making interventions during the interactive dialogue of Sri Lanka’s Universal Periodic Review, UN member states Macedonia, Austria, USA, UK, Germany,…
New steps to fight torture
Government envoys from Sri Lanka told the U.N.’s top human rights body Wednesday that their country is taking new steps…
Universal Periodic Review
Sri Lanka will come under Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council on 15th of November at Palais…
Salient Provisions in the Budget for 2018
1) Legislative Reforms: The budget has identified the key legislative impediments to the ease of doing business and the efficient…
Sri Lanka still not serious?
As Sri Lanka prepares for the 3rd cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on November 15th 2017, a critical…
Need for process to be sustainable
In a joint statement issued following the the second U.S.-Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue between the Governments of the United States…
Sri Lanka an important trading and logistics hub
Sri Lanka and China, on Saturday declared open the ‘Sri Lanka,China Logistics and Industrial Zone Office’ in Hambantota, in the…
US, India, Japan and Australia to counter China
There is a developmental model – and money – beyond the example of China and its financing for Asian countries…
Pakistan welcomes end of isolation
Even Pakistan’s prime minister did not believe it could happen but when Sri Lanka visit the eastern city of Lahore…
State of transitional justice not entirely positive.
The Government of Sri Lanka has not made sufficient progress in fulfilling its commitments on transitional justice and related reform…
TNA urges release of prisoners
A meeting was held today between the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice reparation and guarantees…
Lack of unity affected policy making
The main reason for the reluctance to hold elections to the local bodies and the Provincial Councils in Sri Lanka…
Tamil leaders boycott President’s visit to Jaffna
Leaders of the opposition Tamil National Alliance (TNA), including the leader of the official parliamentary Opposition, R.Sampanthan, boycotted Sri Lankan…
Visiting your country was a special grace for me
Pope Francis met on Friday with members of an organizing committee for the journey that he made to Sri Lanka…
Solution is a Unitary State with Power Devolved to Autonomous Provinces
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka. …
There is a change for the better
The change in the political environment in Sri Lanka recently saw the head of a leading Tamil diaspora group visiting…
Playing with words won’t do
Two weeks have passed since the presentation of the Interim Report of the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly to…
Are the Tamil parties selling out the Tamil people?
Sri Lanka’s government since 2015 was elected on a promise of a new constitution that would find a solution to…
BBS is planning a new journey with all races and religions
Admitting that his organisation set certain wrong examples in the past, but having understood their mistake the BBS is planning…
Media cannot be trusted to explain decisions
Judges can no longer rely on the media to explain court decisions and should instead use the “golden opportunity” of…
A united, undivided, indivisible Sri Lanka
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan yesterday assured that constitutional making process would be done within the firm framework…
Drop obsession with the word Federalism
Tamils should not be obsessed with words such as federalism, the TNA leader and leader of the Opposition, R. Sampanthan,…
No Legal Bar to My Becoming Prime Minister
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was said to be one of the colourful Presidents in the Asian region, amidst having…
Experts say, Office of Missing Persons set up in violation of Constitution
At long last, on Tuesday, Sri Lanka got what the minority Tamils and the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) have…
Exercising universal jurisdiction was “even more necessary”.
Addressing the opening of the 36th session UN Human Rights Council session, on 11 September 2017, in Geneva, United Nations High…
Implement a credible mechanism to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes
US Acting Assistant Secretary of State, Alice Wells Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs U.S. Department of State making submission to…
A crucial breakthrough
The Government made a crucial breakthrough yesterday by winning provisional support from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Sri…
China is a South Asian country and part of Indian Ocean region
A Chinese expert on international relation,s Ruan Zongze, Executive Vice President of the China Institute of International Relations, has said…
Sinhala people are not bad people
The Tamil National Alliance met US Assistant Secretary of State, Ambassador Alice Wells and Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma…
Rights group files war crimes charges against Sri Lankan ambassador
A former Sri Lankan general accused of war crimes by human rights groups has left Brazil, where until recently he…
ITAK to re-orient Party Policies
There is an intention in the top echelons of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) to re-orient the party’s policies…
Privacy is a fundamental right: Indian SC
In a unanimous verdict, a nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday declared that privacy is intrinsic to…
OBOR can ruin small countries
Four years ago, Sri Lanka built Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) in Hambantota, 250 km south from Colombo, with Chinese…
Government in sixes and sevens
It’s been two years since two of Sri Lanka’s largest political groupings – the United National Party (UNP) and the…
Bidding for Lanka’s Sinhala-Buddhist constituency?
Sri Lanka’s Minister for Justice and Buddha Sasana, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, appears to be making a bid to capture the island’s…
Multifarious dilemmas
Two years into its five-year term, Sri Lanka’s coalition government led by President Maithipala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe…
Monetary policy should be tightened
The IMF Completed the Second Review of the Extended Arrangement Under the EFF with Sri Lanka and Approved a US$…
A Century in the Tea Estates of Sri Lanka
August 2017 marks 150 years of tea production in Sri Lanka. To mark this anniversary, there have been several celebratory…
Politicians of both communities have created the belief that federalism is separation
The Tamils of North and East of Sri Lanka do not consider themselves as minorities. They consider themselves as the…
The Killing Fields
In Sri Lanka’s North Central province, a land of crumbling Buddhist temples and gently swaying palms, farmers have cultivated rice…
What is behind China’s purchase of a port in Sri Lanka?
The long-delayed $1.1bn sale of a 70 percent stake in Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port, which straddles the world’s busiest east-west…
Belt and Road Initiative would strengthen trading position
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake has spoken highly of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, expressing the hope that…
Thirty years of soul-searching
Thirty years have passed, not so quietly, since President J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of…
The Human Rights situation in Sri Lanka saw some improvement
The 2016 Foreign & Commonwealth Office report on Human Rights and Democracy was presented to the UK Parliament on 20…
A federal power sharing method is what I advocate
In the backdrop of a crisis at the Northern Provincial Council (NPC), its Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran, during an interview…
Sri Lanka has failed to deliver on its international commitments
The Sri Lankan government has done “almost nothing” to hold human rights violators in the military to account said Ben Emmerson, the…
No sense to discuss constitution since it has not been drafted
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the principal Tamil grouping in Sri Lanka, has denied media reports that it is planning…
Ban on bottom trawling puts Tamil Nadu fishermen in a spot
In a significant step to curb bottom trawling by Indian fishermen in the shallow waters between North Sri Lanka and…
Infighting blocks TNA registration
The registration of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), as a political party, has been halted due to internal strife, sources…
Greater autonomy
Sri Lanka vowed Wednesday to grant greater autonomy to its Tamil minority in a new constitution after an influential Buddhist…
Blake discloses secret plan
The United States had “a detailed coordinated plan” with the Indian and Sri Lanka Governments for its Navy to rescue…
Is International Human Rights Law Under Threat
Delivering the Grotius Lecture at the Law Society, London on 26 June 2017 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid…
Collapse of the secular state
The events that unfolded this week shockingly foretells the story of the very rapid collapse of the secular state in…
Support stymies arrest
It has become problematic for the Sri Lankan government to arrest and sentence the virulently anti-Muslim Buddhist monk, Ven. Galagoda…
Wigneswaran wants to remove NPC Chairman
Even as the spat between Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran and the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) leader R.Sampanthan ended…
Wigneswaran to defy TNA- ITAK Leadership
Controversial Northern province chief minister Canagasabapathy Visuvalingam Wigneswaran who has lost the confidence of at least 22 out of 38…
Uncertainty continues in Northern Provincial Council
Uncertainty continued in Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council on Friday, after discussions between Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan…
Conflict appears to be ending in a compromise
The political conflict in Sri Lanka’s Tamil majority Northern Province, which escalated dangerously on Thursday, appeared to be heading for…
New Constitution must recognise Hill Country Tamils as a separate community
One of the coordinators of the newly formed North-East Hill Country Tamil People’s Forum, and Former Northern Provincial Councillor M.P.…
India Needs To Re-Calibrate Relations
By rushing the Navy and relief material at the first signs of the rains and floods in Sri Lanka recently,…
A Fragile Recovery
The World Bank says economic reforms, International Monetary Fund programs and resumption of European Union’s Generalized System of Preferences Plus…
India re-affirms position as the most relevant neighbour
India’s swift delivery of relief supplies and personnel to flood and landslide-hit Sri Lanka has re-affirmed its position as Sri…
Anti-Muslim tension
A manhunt is on in Sri Lanka for a hard-line Buddhist leader after a series of attacks on mosques and…
Plantation Tamils need Administrative power first
Nuwara-Eliya District Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) MP Mylvaganam Tilakaraj in an interview with the Daily Mirror highlights issues confronting plantation-based Tamil…
Sri Lanka’s Transition to Nowhere
The International Crisis Group in a report titled ‘Sri Lanka’s Transition to Nowhere’ released on 16 May 2017, in Brussels,…
To Counter – balance Chinese Influence
Last week has been eventful. And I was conflicted on whether to write about the Sri Lankan visit of Indian…
PM Modi emphasizes links with Sri Lanka
India’s prime minister emphasized common heritage with Sri Lanka on Friday as he tries to woo the island neighbor that’s…
The OMP and Immediate Action needed to address Protests
As families of the disappeared pass the two-month mark of their roadside protests demanding answers to the whereabouts of their…
TNA deeply concerned on Counter Terrorism Law
In a statement released on 4 May, Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party said it was “deeply perturbed” by the government’s policy…
Trials of resettlement
After 20 years in India, wearing a “refugee” tag that led her from one camp to another, it was only…
Sri Lanka feels the heat
Over the past few weeks, temperatures across South Asia have steadily built up ahead of the summer rains. There has…
Three decades of mistrust
As Delhi and Colombo intensify their high-level political engagement, new opportunities for elevating the partnership are coloured by enduring suspicions…
New Silk Road or New Great Game?
As regional powers like China, Russia, Japan, and India vie for political and economic position throughout the eastern realms of…
International interest in Sri Lanka’s ports
International actors, notably India and Japan have become increasingly concerned about the level of Chinese investment and influence in Sri…
Eye Sri Lanka wishes its readers a peaceful and prosperous Sinhala and Tamil New Year
Pahan silak se ‘NETHU’ dal wewa Wasanthayak se ‘DIWI’ saru wewa, Pium vilak se ‘SUWADA’ sedewa, Me nawa wasare ‘KIRI’…
Sri Lanka struggles to build up foreign reserves
A South Korean ship unloads its cargo of cars at the Hambantota port, the only sign of life at Sri…
Belt and Road Initiative injects new vitality
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and China. Over the past…
There have been positive developments
The British Home Office Country Policy and Information Note March 2017 in its updated policy guidance to Home Office decision makers on…
Ties with China not at India’s expense
Your government came to power in 2015 promising to improve relations with its closest neighbour India. But core issues continue…
Develop a comprehensive, time bound strategy to implement Geneva proposals
Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, presented his report pursuant to Human Rights Council…
Beijing will fight India’s attempts to sour relations with South Asia
China will retaliate if India continues to be uneasy with Beijing’s increasing influence in south Asia and attempts to meddle…
Government must address demilitarisation, disappeared persons, land return and political prisoners
Presenting the report following her October 2016 visit to Sri Lanka, Special Rapporteur, Ms Rita Izsák, said “I acutely felt…
GTF supports giving Sri Lanka more time
Issuing a statement on 9 March 2017, the Global Tamil Forum requests GoSL to ‘present a comprehensive strategy on transitional…
US State Dept releases reports on ongoing Human Rights violations in the World
The US Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2016 was released on 7 March 2017. They are…
Protests in Rameswaram after Indian fisherman is shot
A 22-year-old Indian fisherman was shot dead today allegedly by the Sri Lankan navy while he was fishing in a…
Slow progress on crucial justice and reconciliation
The slow pace of transitional justice in Sri Lanka and the lack of a comprehensive strategy to address accountability for…
Sri Lanka is a bargain
When it comes to labor costs, Sri Lanka is a bargain, considering the size of its economy, according to statistics…
Sri Lanka determined to address Human Rights concerns
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera told the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Sri Lanka is determined to address concerns on human…
China did not interfere in internal affairs
Opposition and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan observed yesterday that China did not interfere in the internal affairs…
India will not press for merger of North and East
India will not be pressing Sri Lanka to merge the Northern and Eastern Provinces to form a single Tamil-majority, Tamil-speaking…
To ‘neutralise’ the former President
Even as Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa angles for a political comeback, New Delhi appears to be weighing up…
Sri Lanka: The Challenge of Communal Violence
Observations of a recently declassified Intelligence Assessment, ‘Sri Lanka: The Challenge of Communal Violence’ compiled jointly by the United States Department…
Silk Road project delayed as Beijing toughens stance
China will delay a planned $1.1 billion investment in a port on its modern-day “Silk Road” until Sri Lanka clears…
Incidents of the past broke Tamil-Muslim unity
The Chief Minister of the Tamil-majority Northern Province of Sri Lanka, C.V.Wigneswaran, has admitted that “some unfortunate incidents” of the…
Government needs more time
Sri Lanka’s foreign minister says his country needs more time to fulfil promises given to the U.N. human rights body…
Troops refused to take Jaffna
Sri Lanka was forced into making a deal with India as its own armed forces had twice refused to “take…
Defeat of the LTTE caused renaissance in the democratic political sphere of Tamil politics.
“What was your first military operation”? was a question posed to Veluppillai Prabhakaran in a media interview many years ago.…
‘Silk Road’ Push Stirs Resentment, Protests
China signed a deal with Sri Lanka late last year to further develop the strategic port of Hambantota and build…
Wigneswaran suggests Northern Council accountability mechanism
The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka Tamil-majority Northern Province C.V.Wigneswaran has suggested that the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) explore the…
Gandhi interfered in Sri Lanka for Local political gains
‘Insider Knowledge’ can be roughly defined as real-time intelligence that shapes the events and gives us a peep into situation…
Repeal PTA , Review anti-terror law
A UN Special Rapporteur, in a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), has recommended that Sri Lanka…
Sri Lanka braces for trouble ahead
FORECAST This year will bring more political infighting in Sri Lanka as former President Mahinda Rajapaksa tries to stir discontent…
Jallikattu protests in North
Though there is no Jallikattu tradition in Sri Lankan Tamil villages, the Tamils of the island nation have enthusiastically joined…
It is a clamour for political power that brought about the separatist movement.
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP for the Jaffna District M.A. Sumanthiran, in an interview with the Daily Mirror, shares his…
Policy decisions must balance competing actors and interests
Sri Lanka, though a small island state, lies at the tip of the South Asian subcontinent and at the center…
Domestic mechanism would not be fruitful.
During his trip to formalize the friendship agreement between the City of Markham and district of Mullaitivu, Northern Province Chief…
The year of the American Commando
They could be found on the outskirts of Sirte, Libya, supporting local militia fighters, and in Mukalla, Yemen, backing troops…
There must be a federal system
The leaders and parliamentarians of the Ilankai Tamil Arusu Katchchi (ITAK), the Eelam People Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), the People…
Task Force on Reconciliation recommends Hybrid Courts
The Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms (CTFRM) officially handed over the Final Report and executive summary on the island-wide…
France gives workers ‘right to disconnect’ from office email
If the world does not envy the French enough already for their generous vacations, universal health care and fine food…
Happy New Year
Another year starts and with it, new hopes and aspirations, a faint desire that sprouts in every human heart that…
There is no clarity regarding issues
The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government’s efforts to give Sri Lanka a new constitution to address the vexed ethnic issue and strengthen democracy…
Acquittal raises credibility concerns
The acquittal of five persons charged with the murder of a Tamil legislator in Sri Lanka has renewed scepticism over…
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.…
Ferry service for Sri Lankan pilgrims yet to be organised
The Sri Lankan and Indian governments are yet to work out the logistics for ferrying 32 Sri Lankan Tamil pilgrims…
Together Towards Tomorrow
“TOGETHER TOWARDS TOMORROW: Sri Lanka Tamil speaking diaspora Conference”, took place at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of…
People are concerned of the nature of the political solution being evolved
Q. How do you analyse the current political situation of the North? Our people are worried today because both the…
We’re all patriots, we’re all nationalists.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, 67, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for a fourth term and leader of the United National Party (UNP),…
Making of India’s Foreign Policy
Sri Lanka’s internal war which ended in May 2009, had cost the country around US$ 200 billion according to India’s…
The 2016 fiscal targets are within reach
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Sri Lanka’s performance under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) “broadly satisfactory” and praised the…
U.N. wants ongoing torture, war crimes probed
The United Nations Committee against Torture called on Sri Lanka on 7 December to investigate “routine torture” of detainees by…
The elites of today have stripped themselves of that yester-year decency
By Vishwamithra1984: “The control of information is something the elite always does, particularly in a despotic form of government. Information,…
How Sri Lanka won the malaria war
On September 5 this year, Sri Lanka was declared malaria-free at the 69th Session of the World Health Organisation (WHO)…
Sri Lankan auto-parts maker rides global demand wave
Across a brightly-lit factory floor in a free trade zone in Biyagama, a commercial town on the eastern fringes of…
Commemoration of the people killed and breathing new life to disastrous political ends should be identified
The simple truth that was ignored by the LTTE leadership and that has to be kept in mind by the…
View from abroad
Back in Sri Lanka after seven months, I find little has changed on our beach. A boutique hotel chain has…
India-China ‘Great Game’ in Sri Lanka?
Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is on a week-long visit to China on the invitation of the Chinese government…
Wigneswaran wants North South dialogue
Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran on Tuesday called for greater dialogue between people of Sri Lanka’s north and south. Urging…
TNA ready to work with the government
The government needs to formulate a comprehensive programme of work for the North and East. The government needs to work…
International Human Rights watchdog censures Sri Lanka
An international Human Rights watchdog censured Sri Lanka for sending a police official in charge of a torture site at…
Yasmin Sooka wants an independent investigation
The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) called upon the UN Committee Against Torture on 14 November to visit Sri Lanka…
We need a win-win situation for fishermen
Full transcript of Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s interview to The Hindu You were in New Delhi recently for…
I am quite satisfied with my performance
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on his achievements, challenges, and the importance of a judicial mechanism that has the confidence…
GTF seeks talks on proposal
The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) on behalf of the Sri Lankan Tamils resident overseas has called for the creation of…
EU wants Govt to seize the moment for national reconciliation
National reconciliation, the empowerment of women and Sri Lanka’s application for the General System of Preferences (GSP+) were the main…
Post-War Politics in Nepal and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka and Nepal may have turned their backs on protracted and bloody conflicts but the fault lines that fuelled…
UN Committee Against Torture to review Sri Lanka on 15 – 16 Nov
The UN committee against torture is meeting in Geneva from 7 November to 7 December to review Sri Lanka and…
Sri Lanka needs to increase fiscal revenue
The World Bank’s latest Sri Lanka Development Update – a half-yearly report on the Sri Lankan economy and its prospects…
The biggest challenge is militarisation ?
The NGO, Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) and the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO) published a 50 page report titled ‘Under…
Hambantota port to Chinese firm
Sri Lanka will sell to a Chinese company 80 percent of a $1.5-billion port in its south, where China has…
Wigneswaran appeals for calm
The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-speaking Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, has appealed to the people of the province, especially the…
Tamils in Sri Lanka are feeling pessimistic
Tamils in Sri Lanka are feeling pessimistic due to lack of progress in reconciliation efforts by President Maithripala Sirisena who…
Step up reconciliation efforts
In my capacity as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on minority issues, I conducted an official visit to the Democratic…
MV Sun Sea trial begins in Canada
More than six years after a rickety vessel with nearly 500 Sri Lankan Tamils aboard arrived off the coast of…
Policy dissonance leads to formation of coordinating committee
The recent public outburst of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena over being kept in the dark about certain key decisions…
Judge reduces terror trio’s jail sentence over haunting ‘injustice’ in Sri Lanka case
A United States judge has reduced the sentence handed down to three Tamils for allegedly conspiring to buy weapons for…
‘Siva Senai’ formed in Sri Lanka
A group of Sri Lankan Tamils have formed “Siva Senai” (Siva’s Army) to enable Hindus to face “threats” from other…
Asia-Pacific shares edge up on Clinton win
Investors and traders in Asia indicated on Monday they are mostly increasing their bets on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton winning…
Tamil people left out of transitional justice processes
The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) said that it appears that the Tamil people of the North-East are being left out of…
About Democracy
By: Dharsha Jegatheeswaran and Gajen Mahendra. On Saturday September 24th, Ezhuka Tamil, organized by the Tamil…
Unfairly portrayed
The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province on Sunday regretted that people in South Sri Lanka are portraying…
Extremism will not prove anything
Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Chairman C.V.K. Sivagnanam commenting on the Ezhuga Thamizh (Arise Tamils) procession said, there is nothing fresh…
Jockeying for power in Tamil nationalistic politics
The “Ezhuga Tamizh” rally and general strike which were organized in Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province on Saturday, represent a…
“Ezhuga Tamizh” for greater devolution
The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil majority Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, on Saturday gave a clarion call for a people’s…
Hamas, Tamil Tigers May be Removed From EU Terror Blacklist
The European Union’s top court took a step on Thursday toward confirming the removal of Hamas and the Tamil Tigers from…
Country would have to pay a very heavy price
Former General Officer Commanding (GoC) of 53 Division Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne has urged the government to stop rapid deterioration…
Nisha Biswal holds talks with Tamil Diaspora
The United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal held discussions with the London-based…
The challenge facing the Government
The UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances submitting its report on Sri Lanka to the UN Human Rights Council in…
The coming months are crucial for the transitional justice process
The UN Human Rights Council’s (HRC) 33rd session began on Tuesday and Sri Lanka is on the agenda. The UN Working…
Arming LTTE was dangerous
The clandestine arming of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by the Premadasa government in Sri Lanka in the…
Victims of conflict cannot wait forever
The UN Chief who was in Sri Lanka for a three-day official visit told journalists in Colombo that the reconciliation…
Lanka needs to do more
UN chief Ban Ki-moon today said the Sri Lankan government needs to do much more to redress the “wrongs of…
Tamil peoples’ council plans mass protest
The Tamil Peoples’ Council (TPC) ,a non-partisan body floated by the Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran, is inviting people to …
Wigneswaran wangles tete-a-tete with Ban Ki-moon
The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil majority Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, has managed to get a separate meeting with the…
Wigneswaran sidelined
The United Nations, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Sri Lankan government have combined to sideline Sri Lanka’s Northern…
Prabhakaran’s siblings unlikely to petition office of missing persons
M.K. Shivajilingam, Tamil politician and a relation of the slain Tamil Tiger chieftain Velupillai Prabhakaran, has said that he will…
Ban will not meet Chief Minister Wigneswaran separately
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will do his bit to reconcile conflicting interests in Sri Lanka during his three-day…
Tamils continue to face racial discrimination says UN Committee
Tamils continue to face discrimination in Sri Lanka, a UN committee stated recently, and questioned the island-country if Indian Tamils…
Theresa May was too ready to dismiss Sri Lankan asylum case evidence
One of Scotland’s most senior judges has said Theresa May “acted unreasonably” when she dismissed a former Sri Lankan militant’s…
Human Rights Commission asks Government to dispel rumors about office of missing persons
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) said here on Monday, that there is an “urgent need” for a…
Wigneswaran accuses UN envoy of toeing Government line
Chief Minister of North has accused UN Resident Coordinator to Sri Lanka of grossly ignoring war crimes probe and toeing…
OMP Bill, an important step in achieving accountability and reconciliation
The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) welcomes the passing of the Office of the Missing Persons Bill (OMP) in the Parliament…
A dream of reconciliation for Sri Lanka
In the first days of a new year in January, 2009, Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge sat down to write.…
Consultation task force on reconciliation mechanisms
INTERIM REPORT: The Office on Missing Persons Bill and Issues Concerning the Missing, the Disappeared and the Surrendered This interim report is based on all…
BBS continued to promote supremacy and propagate views hostile toward members of religious and ethnic minorities
The US State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report for 2015, was released on 10 August 2016. The report went on…
Why Sri Lanka Doesn’t Trust the UN
By Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan. Sri Lanka, an island nation situated in the Indian Ocean, is unfortunately not solely known for…
Wigneswaran seeks accountability before new Constitution
The Chief Minister of the Tamil-majority Northern Province of Sri Lanka, C.V.Wigneswaran, has said that accountability for the war crimes…
Surveying the wreckage
If you get a moment, it is worth watching some video of Steve Smith’s press conference after Australia lost at…
Is Sri Lanka Finally Seeing Its Peace Dividend?
At the tip of the teardrop of India, as Sri Lanka is often described, lies the Thalsevana Holiday Resort. From…
India stands for united, stable Sri Lanka
India stands for a united, stable and prosperous Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said, emphasising that India’s development…
Muralidaran blasts former bosses
Sri Lanka’s record-breaking spinner Muttiah Muralidaran has launched a blistering attack on his former bosses after they complained about his…
Clash at the Jaffna University unfortunate
Following a question raised by Chief Opposition Whip Anura Dissanayake in Parliament regarding the clash at the University of Jaffna on 16…
Challenges still remain
The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office said the past 6 months have seen an improved environment for civil society and…
US-Lanka agree on a compromise judicial mechanism?
The United States and Sri Lanka appear to have arrived at a compromise on the issue of foreign involvement in…
‘No Phobia’ on Taking Chinese Money
Sri Lanka is agnostic about what countries it accepts foreign investment from, including China, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said. “There is…
Repairing the damage of the Paranagama Commission
The Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice. The ‘Presidential Commission to Investigate Complaints Regarding Missing…
United States would continue to support Sri Lanka
Participating in a joint press conference, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal said “we continue…
International element needed
Addressing a UK Parliamentary debate on Sri Lanka on 7 July 2016, the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office…
Cabinet approves law for witness to testify from overseas
Sri Lanka’s cabinet on Wednesday has approved to amend laws relating to witness protection in order to allow witnesses of…
Accountability mechanism ready for discussion by early 2017
Minister Samaraweera speaking to the media on 6 July, after attending the 32nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in…
GTF welcomes positive developments in Sri Lanka,
The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) welcomes the oral update provided by High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Al Ra’ad Al…
Is Sri Lanka on the path to reconciliation?
It’s been seven years since the civil war in Sri Lanka ended. The 30-year conflict fell largely along ethnic lines. President…
TNA welcomes oral update
The TNA has, welcoming the oral update of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the Human Rights Council…
One of our weaknesses has been our failure to communicate our strategies and plans
Replying to the oral update of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,on 29 June 2016, Sri Lanka said…
A key question that remains is the participation of international judges
According to an advance copy of the report A/HRC/32/CRP.4 released on 28 June 2016 by the Office of the High…
Goodwill must transform itself into day to day realities
Addressing the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs in Oslo on 21 June,Foreign Minsiter Mangala Samaraweera said that his government “will and…
GTF calls for the inclusion of “Commonwealth and other foreign judges
As the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meets in Geneva this month and the High Commissioner for Human Rights…
TNA wants Government to get their act together
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has decided to exert pressure on the government, urging it to get it’s act together…
Sri Lanka is at a crucial moment in its history
Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Monica Pinto during an oral update at the 32nd Session of…
IMF Executive Board Concludes Fourth Post-Program Monitoring on Sri Lanka
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on 14 June that Sri Lanka’s economic outlook is facing risks from the government’s inaction…
International community must be ‘tough and supportive’ on justice in Sri Lanka – Stephen Rapp
The international community must be “tough and supportive” towards Sri Lanka whilst the government continues to undermine “trust and confidence”…
Imaginary, exaggerated and fabricated fears
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) chief and Leader of Opposition R. Sampanthan on Friday dismissed the argument in certain sections…
ITJP calls for international judges
The International Truth and Justice Project released a new report on 10 June 2016 ‘Forgotten: Sri Lanka’s Exiled Victims‘. The report…
The ignored plight of Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu
It was the time of war and unrest. The only driving force for the Sri Lankan Tamils who decided to…
Tamil politicians demand release of Myliddy
Tamil politicians this week stepped up calls on the Sri Lankan military to release occupied land in the fishing village…
Report on constitutional reform released
Public Representations Committee on Constitutional Reform headed by Lal Wijenayake has submitted its final report to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe…
National security has been further strengthened
The national security of Sri Lanka has been further strengthened and it has not weakened in any way, President Maithripala…
Is Wigneswaran Planning To Break Away ?
The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil majority Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, appears to be planning to break away from the…
Tamils want Jaya to help secure federal constitution, not Eelam
Sri Lankan Tamils are taking AIADMK chief J.Jayalalithaa’s electoral promise to help them secure a “separate Tamil Eelam” with a…
Office for Missing Persons designed without proper consultation
In a letter addressed to Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, on 19 May the Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF)…
Issues of reconciliation and accountability remain unaddressed
The unexpected chance for lasting peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka that followed President Maithripala Sirisena’s January 2015 election faces…
Death toll from Sri Lanka’s floods, landslides rises
Around 150 people are feared dead after more than three days of heavy rain triggered two landslides in central Sri…
Tamil diaspora told to compromise
Sri Lanka’s vibrant Tamil community in Britain has been gently advised to be ready for political compromises if it is…
I am not for separation
Addressing a book launch in Colombo on Thursday (May 12), the Chief Minister reiterated that the federal system of government…
US working with Sri Lanka to implement UNHRC resolution
The United States is working with Sri Lanka to implement the steps agreed to in the resolution the two countries…
Panama Papers – Sri Lankan companies on list
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on Monday released a searchable database of more than 200,000 offshore entities that are…
Torture continues, but incidents have come down: UN Rapporteur
U.N. Special Rapporteur on torture Juan E. Mendez, who was in Sri Lanka along with another Rapporteur on independence of…
Wigneswaran issued notice to appear in Supreme Court
Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran and three others were issued notice to appear in Supreme Court on May 12,…
Sri Lanka a ‘global champion of human rights’
Speaking at the signing of the United States-Sri Lanka Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council on 28 April in New…
Sri Lanka’s North counts the cost of a 26-year war
Seven years after the end of a devastating civil war, Sri Lanka’s northern province lags behind the rest of the…
Investing in Sri Lanka offers opportunities and pitfalls
After the end of a long-running civil war and the beginning of a fresh government, Sri Lanka’s market offers both…
Sri Lanka has witnessed an improvement in the overall Human Rights situation.
The 2015 Human Rights and Democracy Report released by U.K.’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office on 21 April 2016 said that the Government of…
Sri Lanka’s ageing population poses socio-economic challenges
By Zahran Sikkanther Lebbe. …
U.S. says widespread impunity continued in Sri Lanka
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry submitted the 2015 Country Report on Human Rights Practices (commonly known as the Human…
Reason behind arrest of fishermen is ceding of Katchatheevu
Mounting an attack on arch rival and DMK president M Karunanidhi over the fishermen issue, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on…
Eye Sri Lanka wishes its readers a peaceful and prosperous Sinhala and Tamil New Year
Pahan silak se ‘NETHU’ dal wewa wasanthayak se ‘DIWI’ saru wewa, Pium vilak se ‘SUWADA’ sedewa, Me nawa wasare…
Huge potential in cooperation
Both Sri Lanka and China are deepening reforms, in the process of which we see huge potential for cooperation, Sri…
NPC proposes Northern and Eastern Provinces be merged
The Northern Provincial council has proposed that the Northern and Eastern provinces be merged and Muslim-areas therein be declared autonomous…
China, Sri Lanka pledge to further advance strategic cooperation
China and Sri Lanka pledged to further push forward their strategic cooperative partnership and inked a series of documents in…
Expectations high from China visit
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe arrives in Beijing on Wednesday on an upbeat note after his government cleared the stalled $1.4…
Silk Road leaves India stranded
The Chinese foreign ministry has announced that the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will pay an official visit to…
Sri Lanka deserves special attention as it continues to consolidate democratic gains
Speaking on ‘US Policy in South and Central Asia’ at the Center for a New American Security on 28 March, 2016, Assistant…
President defends ETCA
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena today defended his government’s decision to enter into an economic and technology cooperation agreement with…
Determination vs Desperation
Having defended a modest total of 142 against the inexperienced Afghanistan, England returns to the Ferozeshah Kotla here looking to…
Google launches Street View imagery of Sri Lanka
Google announced that Street View imagery of Sri Lanka is now available on Google Maps. This means people in Sri…
Sri Lanka’s lost generation
Sri Lanka’s civil war ended seven years ago, but social fault-lines dividing the country have not yet closed. Ethnic Tamils…
Fear of Being Disarmed Made Prabhakaran Dodge Political Settlement
Tiger Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran’s deep seated fear of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) being disarmed as a result…
CEB practices “risky”
The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka has told the CEB by letter dated 15 March 2016 that “It is the…
Who Stole $100 Million From Bangladesh’s Account at the New York Fed?
Someone using official codes stole $100 million from Bangladesh’s account at the New York Fed over a recent weekend. Authorities…
As the War was over, steps should have been taken for disarmament,
The Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran, appealed to the Government to reconsider its plan to build prefabricated houses…
The next months will be important: Zeid Al Hussein
Addressing the UN Human Rights Council 31 session on 10 March 2016 after submitting his annual report, United Nations High…
Sri Lanka hikes VAT, taxes capital gains before IMF loan talks
Sri Lanka will raise its value added tax and reintroduce capital gains tax to break out of a debt trap,…
The Fall of the House of Rajapaksa is also a Test for President Sirisena
By Sarah Stodder: …
People smuggler ‘mastermind’ sentenced
A Sri Lankan people smuggler who helped organise the boat on which Australian officials allegedly paid crew more than $US30,000…
Tamil Civil Society Forum Submission to the Public representation Committee on Constitutional Reforms
Devolution within a unitary state will not resolve the National Question. A possible model for reconfiguring the Sri Lankan state…
Fitch Downgrades Sri Lanka
Fitch Ratings has downgraded Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) one notch to ‘B+’ from ‘BB-‘.…
Maintain momentum, Deliver on human rights commitments
Amnesty International in a statement submitted on 25 February to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for its 31st session…
The US Must Pay More Attention to Sri Lanka’s Transitional Justice Debate
The unexpected election of Maithripala Sirisena in Sri Lanka’s January 2015 polls has resulted in the Barack Obama administration’s fervent…
Marked improvements on Human Rights
Amnesty International Report on the state of human rights around the world in the year 2015 -2016 was released on 24…
Opponents of India trade deal ‘traitors’: PM
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today branded as “traitors” those opposed to a proposed trade deal with India, a…
Sri Lanka After the Tigers
The causeway that links northern Sri Lanka’s mainland to Mannar Island is lined with vast military barracks. They have a…
Wigneswaran objections to Palaly expansion
Northern Province’s Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran has raised objections over the renovation of the Palaly airport in the Northern Province,…
Ending poverty and promoting shared prosperity
The World Bank in its report “Sri Lanka – Ending poverty and promoting shared prosperity : a systematic country diagnostic” states…
Willing for international probe on war crimes
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil S Wickremesinghe on Friday made it clear that his government was not averse to international…
Transitional justice is not a matter of offering redress of only one side
UN Special Rapporteur Pablo de Greiff who was in Sri Lanka from 26 January to 1 February 2016 releasing a…
Investigation must be impartial with or without foreign judges
The United Nations will not force Sri Lanka to accept a role for international judges in investigating possible war crimes…
We cannot afford to stand by and watch
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera speaking on “Indo-Lanka Relations In The 21st Century: A Tryst With Opportunity” at the Sri Lanka-India Society said,…
Tamil Diaspora for Dialogue With New Delhi
India has so far, kept powerful Diaspora groups at an arms length, preferring to deal with the main Tamil political…
The world is watching Sri Lanka
The world is watching Sri Lanka. Your solutions, if successful, can become the blueprint for future generations, in distant nations,…
Government will stick to decision
The Sri Lankan government will stick to its decision to have the national anthem rendered in Tamil too at the…
Finding a Political Solution to the National Question
Tamil People’s Council Report of the Sub-Committee on Finding a Political Solution to the National Question. Tamil People’s Council (TPC) in…
Ban Ki-moon hopes that Sri Lankan will abide by commitment
Responding to a media query on the Sri Lankan President’s statement that no foreign judges will be involved in the…
Australian Police raid home of Sri Lankan linked to IS
Counter-terrorism police searched two Melbourne homes on Thursday that are reportedly linked to an Australian man who has posed as a physiotherapist working in…
Time for Justice in Sri Lanka
Just a little over a year ago, voters in Sri Lanka rallied to elect a new president, with high hopes…
The agony of Sri Lanka’s carapace of peace
Our return to Sri Lanka’s killing fields has managed to coincide with two major developments – the first is the…
We cannot act according to the views of extremists in the North or in the South
It was a Sunday afternoon, and the 64-year-old Maithripala Sirisena was in no mood to relax. He had a series…
Sri Lanka has political stability and is pursuing both political and economic reforms
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday urged participants at a forum in Davos in Switzerland to base their operations in Sri…
Constitutional models of power sharing
A seminar on “Constitutional models of power sharing, challenges and perspectives in multi ethnic societies” organized by Institute of Constitutional…
Mechanism would be a Sri Lankan process with an international element
Sri Lanka’s domestic mechanism would be a Sri Lankan process with an international element, visiting British Minister of State at…
Govt Ready to Devolve Power
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today said his government was ready to devolve power to minority Tamils under a…
Addressing problems from the past will create the right conditions for greater prosperity in the future
Foreign Office Minister for Asia Hugo Swire, who is on an official visit to Sri Lanka addressed the Council for…
There is no more a demand for a separate Tamil state
Addressing parliament on 12 January on the proposal to convert the House to a Constitutional Assembly Opposition and Tamil National…
Mystery investor to defend rupee
An unidentified investor has promised to park $1 billion in dollar deposits in Sri Lanka to help the island nation…
Can a new constitution heal Sri Lanka’s wounds?
President Maithripala Sirisena has pledged to introduce sweeping constitutional reforms aimed at preventing his country from returning to ethnic war.…
Need to strengthen federal spirit within a unitary system
A day ahead of Sri Lanka formally launching the process of drafting a new Constitution, former High Commissioner of India…
In the throes of political reform
Writing about constitutional change in Sri Lanka is like watching a video that does not have a pause button. If…