Month: April 2018

The people of Jaffna fondly remember going to Sridhar Cinema from the 1970s to the early 1990s. It is located close to the railway crossing on Stanley Road. The majestic building was built by Chelliah Sabaratnam Ratnasabapathy and his wife Mrs. Maheswari Ratnasabapathy around 1974. It became a landmark in Jaffna. Ratnasabapathy died intestate in 1974 and by presumption the new owners were his widow and children, Ratnasabapathy Mahendraraviraj of Australia, Mrs. Mahendraravirani Dayalakumar, Mrs. Parasakthy Jeganathan, Ratnasabapathy Devarajah and Ratnasabapathy Sridhar, the latter four of the UK. From on…

Why is the current government covering up the killers of Tamil Journalists by the Mahinda government?  Was President Srisena then minister in Mahinda government involved in giving orders to these these killings? Dharmaratnam Sivaram alias Taraki, writer, journalist and political analyst, was abducted by a group in a van near Bambalapitiya police station on 28 April 2005. On the following day, his body was found near parliament in a high security zone. The perpetrators working with the Mahinda government was so powerful they abducted him near a police station and…

By Ruwan Laknath Jayakody – Sources close to the family of murdered ruggerite Wasim Thajudeen said that with the change that had taken place in the portfolio of the Minister of Law and Order, Thajudeen’s family as the aggrieved party in the presently ongoing case before the Magistrate’s Court, expected much in terms of justice despite the lack of faith in the present state of affairs with regard to the case. Wasim Thajudeen The incumbent Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara succeeded Sagala Ratnayake as the Minister of Law and Order. Sources including attorneys connected to…

“Capo De Tutti Capi” (Leader Of All Leaders) Gotabhaya Rajapaksa Was The Undisputed Head Of All State Agencies Handling Military and Civil Intelligence. By Sarath de Alwis “He who protests is an enemy; he who opposes is a corpse.”  – Pol Pot In a rebuttal of a newspaper report on the investigation into the murder of Lasantha Wickremetunge, the former Defence Secretary and 2020 Presidential hopeful, Gotabaya Rajapaksa is at pains to explain that then Commander of the Army- Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka was in charge of army intelligence and he was…

The 16 Sri Lankan Freedom Party MPs who quit the government requested parliament secretary General to allocate them seats on Opposition side, Ada Derana parliament correspondent reported. The letter bearing the signatures of all 16 SLFP MPs has been handed over to parliament secretary General Dhammika Dissanayake this morning (27) said SLFP MP Sudarshani Fernandopulle while addressing media after handing over the letter. Speaking further, Fernandopulle  said the restructure of the party will take place from top level to grass root level after May Day. Sixteen SLFP Ministers and MPs…

The FCID conducting investigations against five suspects including Hambantota district MP Namal Rajapaksa for their alleged involvement in money laundering amounting to Rs.15 million in a company owned by Namal Rajapaksa, yesterday informed Court that they were yet to receive the Attorney General’s (AG) advice regarding the future course of legal action against the suspects. When the case came up before Colombo Additional Magistrate Pradeep Liyanage, the FCID said that the preliminary investigations regarding the incident have been concluded and sought the AG’s advice in this regard. Accordingly, further magisterial…

JO aims at Opposition Leader post, the General Secretary posts of United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Attempting to get hold of the General Secretary posts of the UPFA and the SLFP using as pawns the 16 SLFP MPs NCM against Sampanthan put on hold at the instance of the former President JO argued that they be given the Opposition Leader post claiming that they were the largest group in the Opposition Local Government election results point to the fact that the UNP’s calculations…

Former Minister Mervyn Silva says he has evidence to expose former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.  Speaking to reporters today, Silva said that he is prepared to reveal details related to Rajapaksa and the Welikada prison killings. Silva also said that he had already indicated his willingness to make a statement to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on Gotabaya Rajapaksa yet his statement has not been obtained. Meanwhile, Mervyn Silva also said that he fully supports the United National Party (UNP) and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.  Silva says he feels there is no one better…

In the questionable days of the Rajapaksa regime, the most dreadful sound, amongst many a sound of shooting in Rathupaswala, Katunayake and post-war Jaffna, was the one that you did not hear: a white van parked outside your home. How many men and women were forcibly shoved into the van and taken away and threatened, their bones smashed, and spirit drained, one may never know. Among those countless shrieks and screams and unbridled impunity to those who hurt innocent men and women who happened to hold a different view from that…

By Skandha Gunasekara Striking a conciliatory tone, the weekly Cabinet meeting was held with the participation of all Cabinet Ministers, including the SLFPers who boycotted the previous meeting, with the President presiding over a “tea party” following the completion of discussions. Highways and Higher Education Minister Lakshman Kiriella, speaking to the Daily FT, was upbeat about the cordial atmosphere after weeks of speculation about crossovers and open dissent within the SLFP. “It was a very cordial occasion and the meeting finished within an hour. One good thing was that the…

In The Eyes Of The Public The Only Party That Had The Motive To Silence Lasantha Wickramatunga Was The Regime Of The Rajapaksas. By Vishwamithra 1984 “All faults may be forgiven of him who has perfect candour” ~Walt Whitman In the questionable days of the Rajapaksa regime, the most dreadful sound, amongst many a sound of shooting in Rathupaswela, Katunayake and post-war Jaffna, was the one that you did not hear: A white van parked outside your home. How many men and women were forcibly shoved into the van and taken away…

Unity,Positive Approach,Trust In India Are the Three Requirements For Sri Lankan Tamils To Gain Equality With Maximum Devolution in a United Sri Lanka States TNA and Opposition Leader R.Sampanthan. Posted by Administrator on 24 April 2018, 11:04 pm The leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R.Sampanthan, told Tamils on Tuesday what they should do secure their rights within a united Sri Lanka. Launching a Tamil language book “Or Inapprachanaiyum Ou Oppandhamum” (An Ethnic Question and An Accord) on the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 written by T.Ramakrishnan Associate Editor of The Hindu,…

The CID is nearing the end of its investigation into the May 2008 abduction and assault of former deputy editor of The Nation newspaper, Keith Noyahr, according to a detailed three-hour oral submission made to the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court by Senior State Counsel (SSC) Lakmini Girihagama last Wednesday on behalf of the Attorney General. Objecting to bail being granted to former Director of Military Intelligence, Major General Amal Karunasekara, SSC Girihagama laid out the evidence collected by the CID over the span of their 18-month long investigation, which has…

The annual US human rights report noted that the Sri Lankan Government has made limited progress toward establishing additional transitional justice mechanisms. The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017 made public by Acting US Secretary of State John J. Sullivan, noted that there were some reports that the Government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. According to the report, interviews by human rights organizations found that torture remained endemic throughout the country, including for those charged with offenses under the PTA. Suspects arrested under the PTA, including…

By The “Sunday Times”Political Editor A lesser known fact among most politically literate Sri Lankans was a directive Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe issued to all parliamentarians of his United National Front (UNF) ahead of the National New Year. On Monday April 9 he told them to refrain from criticising the 16 Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) MPs who had voted in favour of the no-confidence motion against him. That comprised six Ministers, the Deputy Speaker, four State Ministers and five Deputy Ministers. The backdrop to Wickremesinghe’s directive, also lesser known, was…