By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Mathiaparanan Abraham Sumanthiran was in the eye of a raging political storm some weeks ago due to a YouTube interview given by the 56-year-old President’s Counsel cum politician to the “Truth with Chamuditha” show. A few of the questions and answers in Sinhala were picked up by a Tamil TV – reportedly aligned to a northern politician which allegedly mistranslated the words of Sumanthiran with a mischievous slant. This in turn led to a cacophony of angry voices over mainstream Tamil media and social media — within and…
Read MoreDay: 16 June 2020
Maj Gen Suresh Sallay to institute legal action against Yasmin Sooka, ITJP
State Intelligence Service Director, Major Genaral Suresh Tuan Sallay, has taken steps to send a Letter of Demand to ITJP (International Truth and Justice Project) Executive Director Yasmin Sooka and the ITJP. The said letter, sent through Major General Sallay’s Lawyer Pasan Weerasinghe, states that on or about 1 June 2020, Sooka, as the ITJP Executive Director, had issued a press statement making various defamatory remarks against Major General Sallay. The press statement is said to be published via the ITJP Sri Lanka’s website. The letter highlights the defamatory implications…
Read MoreChinese investments total $12B
By Paneetha Ameresekere Chinese entities invested almost US$ 12 billion in Sri Lanka between 2006 to 2019 (last year), stated Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute (LKI), a Government think tank, in a recent publication (dated 22 May) released on Saturday (13 June). However, according to a recent report released by Chatham House, a London-based think tank, there are significant environmental and labour implications of Chinese investment in Sri Lanka, and more broadly of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the country, it said. These reveal a mixed bag of benefits and…
Read MoreUS asserts no issue with Sri Lanka despite incidents
By Easwaran Rutnam The United States (US) today asserted that there was no issue in the relationship between Sri Lanka and the US despite some recent incidents. The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina B. Teplitz said that the “misinformation” with regards to the US Embassy employee who arrived in Sri Lanka and the Police crackdown on a scheduled demonstration which was to be staged near the US Embassy in Colombo, had not hurt the relationship between Sri Lanka and the US. In an online discussion with a group of…
Read MoreChild ordinations and child soldiers
Former Minister Mangala Samaraweera today slammed the practice of child ordinations as young Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka. In a social media post, the former Minister equalled child ordinations to child soldiers as used by the LTTE and child brides of the Taliban. “Young girls and boys ordained as bikkhus; as shocking and unacceptable as tiger child soldiers and taliban child brides. A scandalous violation of the rights of a child,” he tweeted. Samaraweera posted an image on Facebook of a child being ordained as a Buddhist monk. The former…
Read MorePakistan says Sri Lanka not safe from India
Pakistan says Sri Lanka is not safe from India’s nefarious and hegemonic designs. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that India becoming the non-permanent member of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was ‘not a moment of rejoice, but concern’ as the country blatantly rejected resolutions of the prestigious forum, particularly on Kashmir. The Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) quoted the Foreign Minister as saying a majority of India’s neighbouring countries including Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were not safe from its nefarious and hegemonic designs.
Read MorePoliticising Archaeology, Militarising Virtue, Gaslighting The Electorate
By Tisaranee Gunasekara – “From now until the elections, we will not know when, and where, and how the fireball will fall on us, and what the nature of that fireball will be.” ~ Arundathi Roy (Election Season in a Dangerous Democracy – The New York Review of Books – 3.9.2018) The Eastern province is the most ethno-religiously pluralist slice of Sri Lanka. It is home to more Tamils and Muslims than Sinhalese; its predominant language is not Sinhala but Tamil; and it has more kovils, mosques and churches than temples. Homogenising the…
Read MoreMahinda To Revive Anti-Muslim Campaign And Probes Against Opponents As Election Campaigns Kick Off
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna will resurrect several sharply divisive themes that helped President Gotabaya Rajpaksa cruise to victory in the November presidential election as the parliamentary election campaign kicks off including a hate campaign targeting Muslims and neo-colonial conspiracies against the West Colombo Telegraph learns. Reliable sources told Colombo Telegraph that law enforcement has been instructed to resume hyper activity on multiple investigations including fake sterilization conspiracy involving the Muslim surgeon Dr Shafi, the Ranjan Ramanayake phone recordings, the detention of attorney Hejaaz Hisbullah, the Swiss embassy abduction saga, former Minister Champika Ranawaka’s motor accident and cases against strong politicians…
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