News Archive for May 2010

FUTURE OF OUR EDUCATION……
By Ruwani Karunadasa (BSc.Agri)
Sri Lankan education system is another controversial government sector which has the tendency of being blamed by the public regardless of the government who is in the power. Education is one of the basic rights of every child.Sri Lanka is a country where all the children are eligible for free education from the grade one up to higher education in a government university and the total cost is bared by the government.  Basically there are three competitive exams that students have to face, grade five scholarship exam, G.C.E.Ordinary Level exam and G.C.E. Advanced Level exam.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/05/10)

Mystery shrouds destruction o Kokilaif bird sanctuary
Mahinda Gunasekera
By E-mail   84 Tambrook Drive  Agincourt, Ontario  Canada, M1W 3L9   May 30, 2010   Hon. Anura Priyadarshana Yapa Minister of the Environment Colombo, Sri Lanka   Honourable Minister,   Destruction of Kokilai Bird Sanctuary    I refer to the news item carried in the Island Newspaper on May 4, 2010 relating to the bulldozing of nearly 1,000 acres and torching the area using petrol resulting in the destruction of Weaver Bird Nests found in the Kokilai Bird  Sanctuary.    I am somewhat encouraged to learn that you had undertaken to have the matter investigated and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/05/10)

NGO reporting season continues with Paikiasothy's fraud
Ajit Randeniya
 Sri Lankans may need to spare a thought for the various (N)GOs, especially those based in Sri Lanka, who made good business out of the war and then became casualties themselves at the end. The ‘poor’ thieves have discovered that no one cares ‘two hoots’ about them or their opinions any more. In a bid to stay relevant, they seem to be offering lots of post-conflict high jinks like ‘recommendations’ on reconciliation processes, devolution and the latest, land management in the East.  They are solutions looking for problems! Otherwise, why would Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu’s so-called Centre for Policy... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/10)

Discriminatory practices of USAID- Open letter
Ben Silva
Open letter U.S. Agency for International Development 44, Galle Road, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka Dear Sir, Discriminatory practices of USAID Media reports indicate that   ‘U.S. Government supports IT sector employment opportunities for youth in Eastern Province (29.05.2010 - Asiantribune.com) ‘   Previous reports indicated  that  USA has  offered  scholarships for the Youth in the North and East As the North and the East are now occupied by Tamils, (previously the homeland of the  Sinhalese and ethnically cleansed by  Tamils ) this is  open  favoritism to Tamils and discrimination against other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. This I... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/10)

For our own good and the good of the country we must protect Rajapakses at all cost.
Herold Leelawardena
Piripaharan had led the Tamils throughout the world along the garden path of Elam there never was. He forced the Tamils of the North and East to sacrifice their children and loved ones to reach his illusory goal – Eelam. And the naive Tamils followed him through thick and thin to reach that illusion. Now that Piripaharan and company are dead and gone, Sinhalese thought Tamils would realise their miscalculation and settle for the best. In this regard if Tamil expatriates wanted to come to Sri Lanka and help their kith and kin that live in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/10)

Up-date on the massacre of Ahmadi worshippers in Lahore
Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamath, Sri Lanka.
Lahore, Rabwah; May 30, 2010:       The death toll from the terror attacks on the two mosques of Ahmadiyya community in Lahore is 94, and not 79 as given by the police to the press. The number of injured, however, is much higher than was assessed initially; their number exceeds125. Among the casualties, 27 dead and 34 injured were in the Model Town mosque, while the rest resulted in the carnage at the mosque in Garhi Shahu.  The dead include Judge ® Munir Ahmad Sheikh, the Amir of the Lahore Ahmadiyya community, Major General ®... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/10)

Al Jazeera Interview-Sri Lanka's president, about the future of Sri Lanka
Click the this link:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGQqwcxA6cg ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/10)

Census in Sri Lanka
B. Muralidhar Reddy
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will hold nationwide census in 2011 after a gap of three decades. On the basis of projections, the estimated population is 21 million. The last nationwide population count was taken in 1981. With militancy rearing its head, it had since not been possible to hold census in the northern and eastern provinces. Lack of accurate data on population, particularly in the Northern Province, has been a hindrance in planning developmental and other projects. Even the voters' lists with the Election Commission are considered to be wide off the mark.... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 30/05/10)

Bond market on the rebound in Sri Lanka
When Sri Lanka’s 25-year civil war ended last year, investors surged to its share market and sent the index rocketing up 125% and making it the top pick in global frontier investments. So far this year, stocks are up around 25%, making it Asia’s top gainer, but Sri Lankan government securities have emerged as the hotter investment in the Indian Ocean country. “The bond market is more liquid and foreign investors can buy large volumes,” said Channa Amaratunge, director at C T Capital. “The valuation and price-to-earnings ratio compared to other markets also have had an impact on foreign investments... -Full Story- (Gulf Times - 30/05/10)

Sri Lankan film producer arrested for alleged possession of explosives
By Indika Sri Aravinda and Supun Dias
Film Producer and Director Chandran Ratnam was arrested by the police for allegedly possessing explosive materials in his residence, Police Spokesperson SP Preshantha Jayakody told Daily Mirror online Ratnam produced the film ‘Road to Elephant Pass’ which focused on the war in Sri Lanka and also worked with Hollywood producer Steven Spielberg in the movie Indiana Jones Temple of Doom. According to police Mr.Ratnam had failed to produce the special license he obtained from the Defence Ministry to produce the film ‘Road to Elephant Pass’.... -Full Story- (dailymirror.lk - 30/05/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—30 -EXPLORING L.A.’S DEFUNCT AND OFFBEAT ATTRACTIONS—MEMORIES OF MARINELAND AND MOVIELAND WAX MUSEUM
By Shelton A. Gunaratne © 2010
 In this installment, I shall first focus on the category of much ballyhooed popular attractions that failed; then, move on to the category of esoteric attractions that thrive in obscure silence in offbeat locations For sure, everything is impermanent (anicca). Yet, sorrow (dukkha) overwhelmed me when I heard about the demise of two Metropolitan Los Angeles themed attractions, which we—the Gunaratne family—visited and thoroughly enjoyed in 1983, our Fullerton Year: one was Marineland of the Pacific; the other was Six Flags Movieland Wax Museum.  Marineland of the Pacific We visited Marineland of the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/10)

THE NEED FOR AN ASSOCIATION OF NEIGHBOURS OF INDIA -A RESPONSE TO INDIAN HEGAMONY
V PEIRIS
From the time India started interfering in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka in the 80’s, she is getting bolder and bolder in her interference. Not only has she armed and trained terrorists to destabilise Sri Lanka she has made all our politicians servile. She is gradually having a bigger and bigger say in our Private sector. The greatest problem is how she has successfully cowed down our politicians who are used to achieve the objectives of India. Under the Viceroy Dixit that spineless fool JRJ was forced to pass the 13th amendment. One remembers how the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/10)

Leo Tolstoy and His Great Epic War and Peace
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge  
At the approach of danger there are always two voices that speak with equal force in the heart of man: one very reasonably tells the man to consider the nature of the danger and the means of avoiding it; the other even more reasonable says that it is too painful and harassing to think of the danger, since it is not a man's power to provide for everything and escape from the general march of events; and that it is therefore better to turn aside from the painful subject till it has come, and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/10)

THE NEGATIVE ACTIONS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OVER THE AGES
Well Wisher 
The Church, especially the Catholic Church, is collapsing in the developed countries. This is because they are not following the Teachings of Jesus Christ. Instead, it has become a sort of Corporation, with accumulation of wealth & power as its goal.  In USA around 19,000 people came forward as being child abuse victims by priests of the Catholic Church. The individual dioceses ended up paying out $2 billion in damages to some of them. It was the same in Ireland where 15,000 came forward as abuse victims and were paid over $1 million in damages. In case... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/10)

Change ministers annually
Letter to the Editor-Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai  Dehiwela.
The recent shuffle of ministers by the Mahinda government has brought about an amusing situation where  the new ministers have brought out the misdemeanor of the earlier ones albeit from the same party. Health and education ministries are standing out in this respect. How wonderful! Instead of shooing them down actually the president should encourage this trend among all his ministers and also bring in a rule that he will reshuffle the ministers again in a year’s time. This way the ministers not only will work hard but also will... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/10)

Malaysian Prime Minister visits Buddhist Maha Vihara Brickfields for Wesak
Sumanananda Premseri
KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 -- Buddhist devotees in Malaysia, from all walks of life, celebrated Vesak Day in the spirit of 1Malaysia, offering prayers and alms Friday. Vesak Day is the most important and sacred day for Buddhists throughout the world who observe the day of the birth, enlightenment and the passing of Gautama Buddha. In Kuala Lumpur, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor joined tens of thousands of devotees who celebrated the holy day at the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields. Najib and Rosmah's arrival at 9.30am... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/10)

94 Ahmadi worshippers slain, 80 injured in sectarian terrorist attacks on two Ahmadiyya mosques in Lahore
Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamath,
Lahore; May 29, 2010: In a meticulously planned attack, sectarian terrorists carried out a slaughter of Ahmadi worshippers who had gathered for Friday worship in two major Ahmadiyya mosques in Garhi Shahu and Model Town of Lahore. Absence of any effective police presence enabled them to succeed in their gory operation, as planned. Ninety-four worshippers died and eighty were injured, according to the latest information.  The attacks were timed to be simultaneous. Two or three attackers targeted the Model Town mosque while a larger contingent attacked the bigger Garhi Shahu mosque. The terrorists killed or injured... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/10)

John Howard should not be allowed near cricket
Ajit Randeniya
The news that a number of test cricket playing nations including Sri Lanka are unhappy with the nomination of the former Australian Prime Minister John Howard for the position of vice president of the International Cricket Conference (ICC) is music to our ears.  A detailed look at the total inappropriateness of this nomination needs to be preceded by expressing our sympathies to the poor New Zealanders: they did not fully support the controversial nomination of Howard for the job earlier this year by Cricket Australia (CA) and New Zealand Cricket (NZC); they were adamant that the man... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/10)

Tamil Homeland in Canada or in Australia
Sunil Vijayapala  Australia
Dear Editor,  Since Sri Lankans and Indians vehemently oppose a Tamil Homeland on their soil a  plausible solution remains and that is either Canada or Australia the biggest sympathizers of  Tamils to create a Tamil State in one of their own countries.  On the lines of Balfour Declaration in1917, an Englishman should declare a Home for Tamils and out of the two best candidates Tamils will prefer Australia as it is much closer to Sri Lanka and India and with a warmer climate than Canada.  Having selected the country it’s now a case of selecting the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/10)

මානව හිමිකම් සුරැකීමට ලොව සියලූම රාජ්‍යයන් එක්රැස්වෙන මානව හිමිකම් බිදින රාජ්‍යය
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
ස්විස්ටර්ලන්තය ස්කැන්ඩිනේවියානු කලාපයේ ඇති සරුසාර රාජ්‍යයකි. මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සලයේ 14 වෙනි සැසිවාරය 2010 මැයි මස 31 වෙනිදා මෙහි රැස්වේ. එහිදී අපේ රටතුල සිදුවූ යුධ අපරාධ සම්බන්ධව වාර්තා කිරීමට, ලෝකයේ අංක එකේ ත්‍රස්තවාදී සංවිධානය වශයෙන් බටහිර ප්‍රජාව විසින් බවුතීස්ම කරන ලද කොටි සංවිධානයට සූදානම් වෙන බවට වාර්තා ලැබී තිබේ.Swiss suicide clinic Dignitas. ආසන්නයේ තිබී හමුවූ මේ මරාදැමූ මිනිසුන්ගේ මානව අයිතිවාසිකම් සම්බන්ධව සොයා නොබලන රජයක් පවතින ස්ව්ස්ටර්ලන්තයේ පවත්වන මානව අයිතිවාසිකම සැසිවාරයම ජාත්‍යයන්තර මගඩියක් බව එලි දක්වයි. අපි බලකරමු. සුවදායක මරණයක් උරුම කීරීම යන ලේබලය යටතේ කරන මානව අයිතිවාසිකම් කඩකිරීමේ ප්‍රබලම සංසිද්ධිය වන ඝාතනයට අවසර පත් නිකුත් කිරීම නවතා... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/10)

HEAD OF AHMADIYYA MUSLIM JAMAAT RESPONDS TO TERRORISTS ATTACKS IN LAHORE
By A. Abdul Aziz, Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Sri Lanka. 
Earlier today two mosques belonging to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Lahore were attacked by terrorists. The mosques were the Baitul Nur Mosque in Model Town and the Darul Zikr Mosque in Gharishaw.  Although it is not yet clear what the exact numbers are, it is being reported that dozens of Ahmadi Muslims have been killed, many more injured. Ahmadi witnesses are saying that the mosque is covered in blood.  The attacks are the culmination of years of un-policed persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, which is a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/10)

Amnesty int’l can’t dictate terms to us: GL slams NGOs
Sri Lanka News
Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris, who is visiting Washington for meetings with senior Obama Administration officials and US lawmakers, has slammed the International Crisis Group, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other such groups--that have accused Sri Lanka of war crimes during its conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and called for an international tribunal to investigate these alleged rights violations--saying these groups don’t constitute the “international community,” and hence don’t have the moral authority “to tell us what to do.” According to news reports, Peiris said, "Everybody talks of the international... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/10)

No international probe will be allowed: Rajapaksa
Sutirtho Patranobis, Hindustan Times
Sri Lanka will not allow outsiders to hold an enquiry into allegations of war crime during the final stages of the battle between government troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said. "I don’t want my internal matters to be inquired by any other country or any other NGOs. We will look after that," Rajapaksa told in an interview to Al-Jazeera television channel. When asked if any civilians were killed during the final phase of the war, Rajapaksa said no non-combatant was killed, adding the civilians trusted the Sri Lankan... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 28/05/10)

Christian Churches of Sri Lanka, Buddhism, our ancestors, and our real roots.
By Charles.S.Perera
 The Christian Missionaries followed the invaders, and while their armed gangs robbed, killed, and occupied the territories, the Missionaries began their campaign of saving the lost souls- the heathens by converting them to their Christian faith. The Sinhala or the Tamil heathens some who may not have known the deeper philosophy of Buddhist teachings, or read the Hindu sacred books, the poor people in the coastal areas, the fisher men, the others of the upper strata who liked mixing with the “kindly” Missionary whites were the victims of the proselytising campaign, or enticements of the Missionaries.  Later... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/10)

LETS GIVE THE GOVERNMENT A CHANCE TO BREATH
Ranjit Wickremeratne
After thirty years of brutal war against a brutal enemy we got the chance to breath real freedom in our beloved homeland. No more suicide bombs in the city or unneccessary blood bath anywhere in the country. Our sons and daughters are not dying fighting any war anymore. Country is peaceful and people enjoy the freedom which was denied for us for thirty odd years. In this special day of vesak we all as one nation should remember and pray for our war heros who fought day and night to eradicate terrorism from our land and those who sacrificed their... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/10)

Burmese in India demonstrates anger against junta
Nava Thakuria
The pro-democracy Burmese exile in India held a demonstration against the flawed election proposed by the military rulers of Burma and a symbolic people’s election in New Delhi on May 27. Hundreds of Burmese gathered at Jantar Mantar in Indian capital and organized a rally. Later a memorandum was also sent to the Indian Union government by the demonstrators with various appeals. The programme was a part of Global Day of Action under the Global Campaign Against Burma’s 2010 Military Election. The campaign, initiated by Ten Alliances of Burma’s democracy and ethnic rights movement representing the broad-based... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/10)

Hillary Clinton Presses Sri Lanka On Rights Panel
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Sri Lanka Friday to ensure a new panel investigating possible rights abuses be given powers to probe any allegations of war crimes during its long civil conflict. Clinton said the United States firmly backed Sri Lanka's move to set up the new committee, but that it was crucial that the panel have both the money and the mandate to dig deep into the history of the government's almost three decade-long war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).... -Full Story- (postchronicle.com - 28/05/10)

Sri Lanka reconciliation panel 'holds promise:' Clinton
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday the Sri Lankan postwar reconciliation panel "holds promise" as she pressed for it to have enough powers to pursue claims of wartime atrocities. "I think this commission holds promise and we hope and expect that it will fulfill that promise," Clinton said during a press briefing with new Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris. Peiris is on a visit to Washington to promote business opportunities in his country a year after troops of the Sinhalese-led government defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), ending a decades-old civil war.... -Full Story- (Yahoo - 28/05/10)

ADB asks Sri Lanka to reduce size of budget
COLOMBO (AFP) – The Asian Development Bank on Friday asked Sri Lanka to prune the size of its budget to sustain economic stability as the island emerges from decades of ethnic conflict. The Manila-based bank's President Haruhiko Kuroda said Sri Lanka's top priority now is to rebuild infrastructure in the island's war-ravaged north and east; and ensure economic stability reaches everyone in the country. "For that, macro-economic stability, particularly a sustainable budget deficit, is crucial for sustained economic growth," Kuroda told reporters in Colombo at the end of his three-day visit to the island.... -Full Story- (Yahoo - 28/05/10)

Two wanted LTTE suspects arrested
Sri Lanka’s elite police Special Task Force (STF) arrested two wanted LTTE operatives in the country’s eastern villages of Kalmunai and Kalawanchikuddy in a clandestine operation that was carried out in the early hours of Thursday. The two suspects who were arrested were wanted in connection of carrying out an LTTE propaganda campaign in the Eastern Sri Lankan districts of Ampara and Batticaloa in an attempt to revive the terror outfit which was completely crippled last May after the Sri Lanka military defeated them.... -Full Story- (Gulf Times - 28/05/10)

Catastrophic Economic Partisan Agreement (CEPA) with India Means Disaster
Dilrook Kannangara
India is in the process of signing CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) with many countries in Asia in an attempt to match Chinese economic expansion. Already India has signed CEPA agreements with a number of countries including Singapore and South Korea. Interestingly previously China signed CEPA (Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement) agreements with Chinese territories including Hong Kong and Macau. Now India is forcing Sri Lanka to sign the agreement which Sri Lanka refused to sign last year. Businessmen in Colombo and parliamentarians of the pro-business UNP party protested new attempts by Sri Lankan government to go ahead... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/10)

SUNDAY OBSERVER VESAK FEATURE - MISINTERPRETS BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY
By Professor Emeritus Shelton Gunaratne, PhD
Samangie WETTAMUNY in the feature titled “See Buddha through His Dhamma” (Sunday Observer, 23 May 2010) summarizes his/her view of Buddhism in the lead sentence: Man is supreme, according to Buddhism. He is his own master.  This translation of the Pali verse 380 from Bhikkhuvagga (Dhammapada Sutra, Chapter 25) is misleading because it contradicts the crux of Buddhism embedded in the doctrine of dependent co-arising (paticca samuppada): This being, that becomes; From the arising of this, that arises; This not being, that becomes not; From the ceasing of this, that ceases. Thus, nothing... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/10)

Inner City Press! Your Attitude Towards Sri Lanka
Ira de Silva London, Canada
Dear Mr. Lee:   I have just read your posting on Inner City Press. Your attitude towards Sri Lanka appears to be biased, confrontational, and aggressive. Overall there appears to be a lack of objectivity. Why?  Is it  because you personally have an axe to grind with Sri Lanka? In the U.S. there are many such as Bruce Fein who is paid a monthly stipend by the supporters of the LTTE terrorists to criticise Sri Lanka. What are your credentials on Sri Lanka other than being a journalist and exhibiting a bias towards that country?   You seem to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/10)

ARAVINDA DE SILVA-NEW CHAIRMAN OF SELECTION COMMITTEE OF CRICKET
By DR M D P DISSANAYAKE
The appointment of Aravinda De Silva (AS) as the Chairman of the selection committee of Sri Lankan Cricket Board is a bold step in the right direction by the new Minister of Sports.  There has been a vacuum of quality members in the selection panel for a quite a long time.  There is an international acceptance that AS was one of finest, technically correct batsmen Sri Lanka has ever produced.   Within the team AS was a cool, calm, collected customer, an ideal match for match winners  such as Arjuna Ranatunga and Sanath Jayasuriya.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/10)

AI report on Sri Lanka
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester. Ontario . K1J 6G1 Canada
May 27, 2010 The Editor (Letters)    THE OTTAWA CITIZEN  Sir: “The activist group Amnesty International accuses key United Nations human rights bodies of inaction or of being ineffectual, a report set for release today shows”, you said.  And you continued to say, “Amnesty International says 47-member body has suffered “paralysis” in dealing with alleged atrocities in Sri Lanka”. If there was “paralysis” my assumption is simply that a reality check as to what has gone on since April 2009 and after the Tamil Tigers were militarily wiped out on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/10)

'Open letter from Kandy to the Defence Secretary' - Some thoughts
Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
Anne Abayasekara from Kandy in a letter titled, "Open letter to the Defence Secretary" to an English Daily on 19th May,  had brought up several current issues in her letter. There is of course no dispute by anyone in her saying, "... that now is the time for genuine moves towards peace and reconciliation..."   She also raises a question and compares it to the war in the US during Abraham Lincolns era. She refers to "...the cemeteries in the North where the LTTE honoured their dead..."   These cemeteries in the North were not meant for ordinary citizens but... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/10)

휴먼 라이츠 워치 (HRW) 스리랑카보고 -Human rights Watch (HRW) report on Sri Lanka
Ben Silva
Open Letter Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon United Nations 공개 서한 사무 총장 반기문 연합 친애하는 각하, 휴먼 라이츠 워치 (HRW) 스리랑카보고 소개 저는 스리랑카에 대한 악의적인 집단으로 HRW를 폭로하고 싶습니다. HRW는 그들의 돈을 위해 단지 시끄러운 그룹의 노래입니다. 새로운 증거가 민간인이 이라크와 아프가 니스탄에서 매일 살해되고있다 떠오르고 있습니다. 100 만 넘는 민간인이 이라크에서 살해되었습니다. 드론은 미국에서 사용되는 정기적으로 민간인 목표물을 누르십시오. HRW는 단지 돈이 좀 적립, 아마도 그들의 공무원의 호화스러운 생활을 계속 소리를하고있다. 그들은 심지어 인종차별 수 있습니다.  이라크와 아프가 니스탄에 대규모 인권 침해 모든 조사는 스리랑카에서 수행되기 전에, 유엔이 대량 살상 무기의 거짓 구실이 연합군에 의해 민간인... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/10)

Who’s afraid of another Prabhakaran rising again?
H. L. D. Mahindapala
 At the height of the Vadukoddai War when Velupillai Prabhakaran was projected as the invincible Tamil by the NGO and anti-national pundits they collectively prophesied that the war cannot be won. After the war was won this same weird mob is now prophesying that the peace cannot be won. One of the pundits in this mob is Sanjan Hattotuwa, (“Hatto” for short) the editor of the Groundviews. In his latest editorial he says: A “government supremely adept at winning a war is outrageously inept at winning peace.” This inanity – mark you, the government has... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/10)

The ICG report should be burnt at the Pettah bus stand
Ajit Randeniya
The so-called International Crisis Group (ICG), is one of the fraudulent organisations that conducts their nefarious activities under the guise of self-appointed moral force of the world; they have access to almost unlimited volumes of finance provided by western governments and various other individuals and 'foundations' intent on intervening in affairs of other countries, mainly for the purpose of keeping Israel's murderous activities out of the news .   Their latest intended fraudulent intervention involves the ‘report’ no.191. This particular piece of rubbish was released to coincide with the planned victory celebrations and President Rajapakse’s visit to Iran to assume leadership of G15, one of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/10)

Reasons Given by India Banning the LTTE Sufficient to Ban the TNA in Lanka
Dilrook Kannangara
On May 14, 2010 India extended the ban on LTTE for another two years. Among a number of reasons given for the ban are the following. These have been extracted from the Notification S.O. 1090 (E) of Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 1. [T]he LTTE’s objective for a separate homeland (Tamil Eelam) for all Tamils threatens the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, and amounts to cession and secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union and thus falls within the ambit of an unlawful activity; 2. [T]he turbulence in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/10)

Response To Open Letter To The Defence Secretary.
Insight By Sunil Kumar
May 26th,2010 In response to "The open letter to Defence Secretary from ordinary citizen Ms.Anne Abayasekera" who indicates dismay that she read the news report on the front page of The Island of Thursday, May 6th, titled’ ‘TRAITORS SHOULD BE GIVEN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT’, with an inset that ‘Defence Secretary Rajapaksa says the LTTE rump is exploring every avenue to avenge Prabhakaran’s killing on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon last May’ it is a truism she cannot repudiate on any grounds and needs to be enlightened as to why.  According to the report under reference... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/10)

Ontario Government support for terrorists
George Rupesinghe Former Chief Subeditor, Reader's Digest Magazine, Australia and New Zealand
The Hon Brad Duguid MPP Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada Dear Mr Duguid It is distressing to learn that you, as a Canadian legislator, has seen it proper to support your Tamil constituents and celebrate the first anniversary of the defeat of the LTTE terrorists in Sri Lanka as an observance of "genocide." One can only conclude that you have been and continue to be a supporter of this most vicious terrorist group and its diaspora supporters, who for the past 30 years wreaked havoc in Sri Lanka... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/10)

The Atrocities Committed Against Humanity
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge
As long as people believe in absurdities, they will continue to commit atrocities -Voltaire  The human history is full violence and atrocities. Some scholars have suggested that aggression should be regarded as a basic instinct. Freud considered aggression as a dynamic factor in mental life. Psychologist Eric Fromm in his most well known work the Anatomy of Human Destructiveness expresses that the violence of the dominant culture is not biological in its origin. The aggression and destructiveness are approached, as multi-dimensional phenomenon .These may be a tragic facet of the human condition. During the past,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/10)

India - the Political Consultant of Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse and Ranil Wickramasinghe, despite its doubtful relations.
By Charles.S.Perera
 The people of Sri Lanka from what they have been told, what they have seen and observed, take India for what it had been for the last more than 30 years- an unfriendly neighbour, despite both the President and the Opposition Leader of Sri Lanka, have made India its political consultant.  India’s inability to mind its own troubled political business is becoming a nuisance to Sri Lanka. It is no doubt that political diplomacy required Sri Lanka President to accept that India was a great help in the military operations against the terrorists. But the President Mahinda... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/05/10)

Human rights Watch (HRW) report on Sri Lanka
Ben Silva
Open Letter Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon United Nations Dear Sir, Human rights Watch (HRW) report on Sri Lanka Introduction I wish to expose HRW as a malicious group against Sri Lanka. HRW is just a noisy group singing for their money. New evidence is emerging that civilians are being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan on a daily basis. Over one million civilians have been killed in Iraq. Drones used by USA regularly hit civilian targets. HRW is just making a noise to earn some money, perhaps to continue the luxurious lifestyles of their officials. They may even be... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/05/10)

SRI LANKAN ETHNIC ISSUE
JANAKI CHANDRARATNA - PERTH, AUSTRALIA
Recently your column published an article from The Independent World, under somewhat a mischievous title ‘How Beijing Won Sri Lanka’s War’. Whilst the article did list the chronology of the terrorist activity, it failed to identify the fundamentals underpinning the conflict. The following analysis attempts to highlight some of the realities needed for a lasting reconciliation. It is true that Sri Lanka is a multi ethnic community comprising of an estimate of 8-10% of Tamils. The majority Sinhalese accounts for more than 70% of the population with Muslims, Burghers and other ethnic groups forming... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/05/10)

sarath wijesinghe ambessador United Arab Emiritis - Credentials recived from the President
Lankaweb
... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/05/10)

Fallen Heroes remembered at Birmingham Buddhist Maha Vihara
By Janaka Alahapperuma
A special religious ceremony was organised by the Sri Lankan community in the Midlands at the Birmingham Buddhist Maha Vihara, Hockley, Birmingham in memory of the valiant heroes of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces who had sacrificed their valuable lives for the sovereignty of the country. Large number of patriotic Sri Lankans and reasonable number of devotees belonging to different nationalities gathered at the Vihara to pay tribute to the fallen heroes. The religious programme was conducted by the Maha Sangha headed by Venerable Witharandeniye Kassapa Nayaka Thero, Head of the Vihara. Delivering the Anusasana, Venerable... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/05/10)

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සෞඛ්‍ය ඇමතිවරුන්ගේ මොලය කචල් කරන බී. ටී. අයි. බැක්ටීරියාව
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි
මේ ප්‍රශ්නය අප විවිධ ආකාරයෙන්, විවිධ අවස්ථාවලදී කථා කර ඇත්තෙමු. මෙරට ජන මාධ්‍යයන් කොටි ත්‍රස්තවාදයට පසුව සාකච්ඡා කල ප්‍රබල මාතෘකාවක් වූයේ ඩෙංගු මදුරු ප්‍රශ්නයයි. මේ සම්බන්ධව කොපමණ කථා කලද, මෙම ප්‍රශ්නයෙන් මියයන මිනිසුන්ගේ, හා ඔවුනගේ ඥාතීන්ගේ බලයට වඩා දේශපාලන බලය කරට ගත් ඩෙංගු මදුරුවා සමාජය තුල සැරිසරන්නේ, ජේ. ආර්. ජයවර්ධන පාලන සමයේදී, සමාදාන විනිශ්චයකාර පදවියකින් පුද ලද ගෝනවල සුනිල් අයියා මෙනි. එදා ගෝනවල සුනිල් අයියාට ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ සිට සියලූම මැති ඇමති වරුන්ගේ ගරු ගෞරව ඇතිව මෙම සමාජය තුල වැජඹුණද, අද ඩෙංගු මදුරු මල්ලීට ජනාධිපතිතුමාගෙන් නම් සමාදාන විනිශ්චකාර පදිවි හෝ ගරු ගෞරව හිමි වන්නේ නැත. නමුත් ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/05/10)

Louise Arbour: 'War Crimes in Sri Lanka"- a calculated humbug
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1. Canada
May 24, 2010 Madam Louise Arbour   President and CEO International Crisis Group  (ICG) Brussels, Belgium Dear Madam Louise Arbour: Well…well….well…what do you know!  While reading a brilliant analysis in two Parts, of the ICG Report on “War Crimes in Sri Lanka” by the veteran Sri Lankan journalist H.L.D. Mahindapala, now domiciled in Australia titled ‘Latest ICG Report runs off rails – Part I” and “ICG applies human rights as a cynical tactic to ‘push Rajapaksa government – Part II”, I couldn’t help but conjure the image of you... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/10)

Is J. R. Jayawardene’s “Thing” bigger than Andiris Appuhami’s “Thing?”
Geethanjana Kudaligamage
Rajapakse, regional politics, “Eurocentric Developmentalism” and the western hegemony (Part 8-D)
People of ‘Other Lanka’ or ‘peripheral Lanka,’ at times, ridiculed Colombian’s self-alienation from the common man’s native culture.      One day, somewhere between 1979 and 1982, I was waiting to catch the bus 177 on Horton place with another fellow artist from down south. He was well known in the art circle for his hilarious sense of humor. We were waiting in front of the Aesthetic Studies. All of a sudden, with all those noise of sirens, President J.R. Jayawardane’s red color Daimler limousine and its... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/10)

Trinity of the ICG
Cartoon by GEETHANJANA KUDALIGAMAGE
 

... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/10)

Thisaranee Gunasekara and her Humbug
Herold Leelawardena
Thisaranee had been going through a series of hallucinations for the last so many years. In that, not only has she been seeing terrorists as freedom fighters but also have been sensing the nationalists as extremists. If you read what she had written for the last few years you will see that she is no half baked traitor. Her betrayal to her lineage and the country of her birth is such she looks as if she abhors Sinhalese and patriots.  Thisaranee appears to be a firm supporter of Balasingham’s theory; taka a little now and ask for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/10)

It has been a year since you stopped crying, Mother
By Ruckshan Wickramasooriya
May 18. V-DAY. Day of Glory. Day of Triumph. Day of Freedom. 
On the day we ascended the summit and regained our rightful place as the premier warriors on Earth, let us take a moment to celebrate our heroes.
A year has passed since the dust settled on the battlefield, drawing to a close what was probably the most violent and heart-rendering chapter in our venerable nation’s long history. The challenges that have come before and since that glorious day have been a myriad; but we have and we did overcome, as we always do.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/10)

Devolution is no panacea for Sri Lanka's ethnic ills
Ajit Randeniya
Ever since the war ended, haranguing of the government by external intruders such as the US, EU and the so-called INGOs, as well as the Colombo ‘kultur’ set on implementing the All Party Representative Conference (APRC) recommendations has not stopped.  These groups seem to be promoting devolution of power to the north and the east of the country through the 13th amendment to the constitution and the subsequent APRC recommendations as the panacea for all past ethnic ills of Sri Lanka, and by inference, the only safeguard available against future Tamil grievances.  There has never been a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/10)

ICG applies human rights as a cynical tactic to “push Rajapakse government” -Part II
H. L. D. Mahindapala
The ICG report attacking Sri Lanka was released on May 17, right on the eve of the first anniversary of V-day. No doubt it was timed to counter the celebratory spirit. Predictably, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Channel 4 in UK, editorials in leading Western newspapers and local NGOs joined in the chorus of the demonizing Sri Lanka based on the ICG report. The pattern is clear. This is what Noam Chomsky called “manufacturing consensus.” When the West decides to teach lessons to independent nations which refuse to toe their line they begin by demonizing... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/10)

Con group ICG exposed
Ben Silva
Introduction The ICG Asia Report N°191 – 17 May 2010, is nothing but an anti Sri Lankan propaganda document full of venom against Sri Lanka, produced by the collaboration of enemies of Sri Lanka in HRW and perhaps the anti Sri Lankan Tamils in UN, such as Navi Pillai and ‘Pottu’ Coomaraswamy. The report is a malicious, venomous anti Sri Lankan document carefully crafted to mislead the reader. The collaboration between Tamil ‘Pottu’Coomaraswami in UN, and Garath Evans of ICG is well known. It appears that there is a deadly network, more like a web, of enemies... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/10)

West with its pants down- Part One.
by Charles.S.Perera'
What does the West Stand for ? Is it Democracy politically, and Christianity as its civilizing influence ?  But unfortunately it seems as far as Sri Lanka is concerned, the West stands neither for Democracy nor for Christianity as its civilising influence.  They stand more for money, power over those who are different and those who are feeble.We see the role money plays in their lives to the complete absence of a religious compassion for others.   The West, with the “do-gooders”  such as the Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group,  are more like school thugs... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/10)

West with its pants down. - Part two.
By Charles.S.Perera
 Through out the military operations against the Terrorists the Sri Lanka Government Air Force carried out aerial bombardments accurately and precisely targeting locations held by the terrorists without collateral damages to civilians . That was a fact not denied by the ICRC, though they latterly concocted “evidence” of attacks on civilian hospitals, which those very same Doctors quoted by the interested parties of the West, said was false. The West is crying loud and clear from every one of their “roof tops” that terrorists should be hunted and killed where ever they are found , and suddenly... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/10)

Manipulation of Human Rights and War Crimes
Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
On 21st May, New York based Human Right Watch submitted a report to the UN Secretary General saying that there is new evidence about alleged war crimes by Sri Lanka during the final phase of the war against the LTTE. Last week (17th May), a report titled "War Crimes in Sri Lanka" was released by the International Crisis Group (ICG), obviously to coincide with the Victory day celebrations. The ICG is a self-appointed organisation and it appears that they had synchronised the publishing of the report with the V-Day!   The issue raised by independent observers is who is funding these... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/10)

දෙබර රැජිණියගේ ශාපය.
දෙබර භාෂාවෙන් සිංහලට පරිවර්තනය චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
අප සීගිරි පර්වත වාසී වැසියෝ වම්හ. මේ දෙරණ හෝ සීගිරිය සිරි ලක්වාසී මිනිස් පරපුර උදෙසා පමණක්, ස්වභාවය ගොඩනැංවූවක් නොවේ. තවද ලෝකවාසී මිනිස් පරපුරටද මෙම දෙරණ හෝ සීගිරිය උරුමයක්ද නොවේ. මෙම ශුද්ධ වූ භූමිය මෙරට වාසී ජනතාවට, මෙරට වසන සකල විධ සියලු සත්ව ප්‍රජාවන්ට හා සියලූම ශාක ප්‍රජාවන්ටද උරුම වූ භූමියකි. මිනිසා සතු රාජ්‍යය සම්බන්ධව අප මැනවින් හදුනන්නෙමු. වර්තමාන කාල පරිච්ඡේදයේදී, මෙය රජයක ස්වරූපයට වඩා අම්බලමක ස්වරූපය; ව්‍යුහය වශයෙක් ගෙන ක්‍රියාත්මක වන්නකි. අම්බලමට එන යන මිනිසුන් මහා ප්‍රමාණයක් සිටියද, දිනෙන් දින ගරා වැටෙන්නාක් මෙන්, මේ මිනිස් රාජ්‍යයද දිනෙන් දින ගරා වැටෙන අම්බලමක් සේම... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/10)

Holy row in Kashmir over 'Jesus tomb'
By Haroon Mirani
SRINAGAR - When a popular travel guide revived a decades-old debate by saying that a tomb in Indian-administered Kashmir may be the final resting place of Jesus Christ, the influx of foreign tourists and conspiracy theorists did not go down well with local Muslims - they insist the grave contains the remains of an ancient Sufi saint. Lonely Planet took pains to add a disclaimer when it described the "Jesus tomb" in its latest edition for India, but this didn't stop curious foreigners flocking to the Roza Bal Shrine in downtown Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir's summer... -Full Story- (atimes.com - 23/05/10)

How Beijing won Sri Lanka's civil war
A year after the 27-year Tamil insurgency was brought to a decisive end, Peter Popham looks at how China triumphed where the West failed
A year ago, one of the world's most brutal and pitiless terrorist groups, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was hunted down and exterminated on a strip of beach in the far north-east of Sri Lanka. In a war that had dragged on for 27 years, more than 80,000 on both sides had died, hundreds of thousands had lost their homes and the future of one of the most idyllic tropical islands in the world... -Full Story- (independent.co.uk - 23/05/10)

UNP, AoG, and assembly of political gods
By Rathindra Kuruwita
The United National Party is now facing turmoil within the party as new Christian sects are dominating, and party sources say that these Christian sects have even funded the party in style and have given many lucrative benefits to the party stalwarts. This story was exposed after the UNP leader decided on his own, disregarding party seniors advisors, to appoint a prominent member of the Assembly of God (AoG) church, Eran Wickramaratne from the UNP national list to parliament. Senior members say that party’s Buddhist character is gone as a result of the various Christian sects... -Full Story- (lakbimanews.lk - 23/05/10)

Sri Lanka Says Human Rights Watch maintains its misplaced rage
By Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations
NEW YORK- It is with astonishment and aching disappointment that one reads the Press Release issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW) following the announcement by the Government of Sri Lanka of the establishment of a Statutory Commission on "Lessons learnt and reconciliation" and on alleged "violations of internationally accepted norms of conduct", particularly in view of the welcome expressed by members of the international community. Given the willingness of HRW spokesman, Mr. Brad Adams, to base his hysterical statement on inaccuracies and self-interpreted facts betrays a... -Full Story- (ipsterraviva.net - 23/05/10)

Traditional Marxist analysis skillfully ignored the root cause of our social aberration of ‘internal colonialism’
Geethanjana Kudaligamage
Rajapakse, regional politics, “Eurocentric Developmentalism” and the western hegemony (Part 8-C) The culturally marginalized family of the movie ‘Colomba Sanniya,’ was a victim of the western ideology of modern progress and the canonical Marxist ideology that presented ‘economic disparity’ as the root-cause of class difference in Sri Lanka. According to this interpretation, as we all thought, and some people still think, economical disparity is the only split in our society. If anyone surpasses this economic barrier, he/she must be able to switch their class status overnight. So Appuhamy also thought in the same way. Dreaming to get... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/10)

King Seethawaka Rajasinghe the Monarch who suffered from PTSD
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge
According to the Western chronological records the first patients of PTSD were recorded in 1666. These records were based on Samuel Pepy’s diary which describes the bizarre behavior pattern of   the survivors of the Great Fire of London.  Samuel Pepy vividly portrayed the nightmares, intrusions and flashbacks experienced by these survivors. In 1876 American Civil War doctor Mandez Da Costa published a paper diagnosing Civil War veterans with PTSD like symptoms which he called Irritable Heart. During the World War 1 military psychologist explained a combat related stress feature called Shell Shock. In 1980 the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/10)

Brad Duguid MPP: Joins Tamils to observe anniversary of the end of Eelam War
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1
May 22, 2010 Hon. Brad  Duguid, MPP Minister for Energy and Infrastructure Liberal  Government of  Ontario Queens Park, Toronto  Dear Brad Duguid: I have just read a news item which headlined – ‘ The Government of Ontario joins Canadians of Tamil descent in observing the solemn one-year anniversary of the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka – Minister’. I was shocked and dismayed to read its content when it said, “Tamils in Sri Lanka and in the Diaspora commemorate the 1st anniversary of the genocide that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/10)

Bob Rae the circus clown
Sunil Vijayapala Oxley, Australia
When I lived in Toronto some years ago I admired Bob Rae for his articulate speech and his honesty and qualities of leadership, a rarity among politicians and my expectations was that one day he would lead Canada.  Once I remember he was the chief guest of Sri Lankan Association New Year function and he honestly commented on some violin music played by a group and compared it to a noise of cockroaches creeping through a glass tube!  However our famous writer Michael Ontaatje who spoke later, courteously disputed that comment.  So much water has flown... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/10)

Louise Arbour: Let's investigate India, Norway and Canada for war crimes in Sri Lanka
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada
21 May 2010 Madam Louise Arbour President/CEO, International Crisis Group (ICG)   Brussels, Belgium  Dear Madam Louise Arbour: Oooooo, lady, just read the TIME on WORLD article, ‘REPORT: The Sins of Sri Lanka’s Great War Victory’, of Wednesday May 19, 2010, by-lined Jyoti Thottam and Amantha Perera, which said, “The International Crisis Group, and international human rights group based in Brussels, released an alarming report on Tuesday, timed to coincide with the first anniversary of the end of Sri Lanka’s war.  The report, “War Crimes in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—29, L. A. ALSO STANDS FOR LOTS OF AMUSEMENT:VISITING KNOTT’S BERRY FARM AND DISNEYLAND
By Shelton A. Gunaratne©2010
 Our fist excursion beyond Greater Los Angeles during our Fullerton Year 1983 was a three-day outing in Fresno, the gateway city to Sequoia National Park. The purpose was to attend the state conference of the Journalism Association of Community Colleges. Because I was unaware of the existence of such an organization during my graduate-student days, I decide to attend it with two Fullerton College students—Ann Craig and Carol Holland. Division Chairman Don DePuy encouraged me to attend. We—Junius, Yoke-Sim and I—left Fullerton on 22 April (Friday) for Fresno and returned on 24 April (Sunday). I... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/10)

National War Heroes commemorated in Kuwait
Embassy of Sri Lanka in Kuwait
 The first anniversary of the liberation of motherland by the valiant forces from scourge of terrorism was commemorated at an event organized by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Kuwait on 18th May. A cross-section of the Sri Lankan community in Kuwait belonging to different ethnic and religious denominations joined the occasion in a spirit of national harmony and unity. The event commenced with the hosting of national flag in the midst of “magul bera”, followed by the playing of national anthem. The religious dignitaries and the representatives from Sri Lankan Associations, schools, airlines... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/10)

Northeast India: Brus return to Mizoram
Nava Thakuria 
Hundreds displaced Bru people from Mizoram in Northeast India have returned to their places. The development was made possible following the assurance from the Union government of India. Now taking refugee in neighboruing Tripura, the recently displaced Bru families have joined the repatriation process starting on May 21.  “The first phase of the repatriation of the Brus displaced in November 2009 will start from Tripura Friday and will complete on 26 May 2010 provided the Mizoram government organizes the transport facilities. In the first phase, a total of 210 Bru families have been identified for repatriation,” said... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/10)

Shameful and Racist Discrimination by Christian Solidarity Movement
Kumar Moses
As a Christian I was ashamed and shocked by the news report – “Colombo Christians remember war dead”. (http://www.ucanews.com/2010/05/20/christians-remember-war-dead/). This event organized by an organisation called the Christian Solidarity Movement was actually a disgrace since it only concentrated on “innocent civilians” who died in the war. How about 27,000 security forces personnel who died? Why didn’t the religious event include them? By specifically not including security forces personnel or angels of peace, the Christian Solidarity Movement (CSM) has showed its highly discriminatory attitude to the whole affair. A CMS member by the name Mahinda Namal had commented... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/10)

පෞද්ගලික විශ්ව විද්‍යාල හා නිදහස් අධ්‍යාපනය- 2
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
මේ ලිපිය ලිවීම මා විසින් අනිවාර්යෙන්ම කලයුතු කරුණක් බවට පත්කලේ; Dr.K සහ Leelawardena යන විද්වත් දෙපලයි. මම පලමු කොට එම දෙපලට ස්තුථි කරන්නේ අපේ ජාතියේ අනාගත පරපුර මුහුණ දෙන අමිහිරි කරුණක් සම්බන්ධව සාකච්ඡාවකට දායකවීමම ජාතික පුණ්‍ය කර්මයකට සහභාගි වූ තත්වයේ කරුණක් බැවිණි. අප කථාකරන්නේ, උසස් පෙල සමත්වෙන අපේ දරුවන්ගෙන් විශ්ව විද්‍යාලවලට වලට ඇතුලත්වීමට වරම් නොලබන සිසුන්ගේ උසස් අධ්‍යාපනය ලැබීමට ඇති අයිතිය සුරකීම සම්බන්ධවයි. මෙම ප්‍රශ්නය ජාතික ගැටලුවක්ද වන බැවින්, එය විසදීමට මනස මෙහෙය වන්නේ, 1. මෙම දරුවන් හා එම දරුවන්ගේ දෙමව්පියන්. 2. උසස් අධ්‍යාපන ඇමතිවරයා යන දෙපලයි. මෙය, මෙරට අනාගතය හා බැදුන ඉතාම ප්‍රබල ගැටලුවයි. රටේ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/10)

ජාතික විමුක්ති සටනේ විජයග්‍රහණය සමරමු.
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
අප පරදේසක්කාරයින් හා සටන් වැදුනේ අදක, ඊයේක නොව, අනාදිමත් කාලයක සිටය. සටන අපට හොදට හුරුය, පුරුදුය. අප ජයගත් සටන් මෙන්ම පරාජය වූ සටන්ද ඇත. නමුත් පරාජයද ජයක් බවට පත්කර ගැනීමට තරම් ප්‍රබල පසුබිමක් අප හා බැදී තිබිණ. අපි සැම විටකම අවසාන විග්‍රහයේදී ජයගුහයකයෝම වීමු. සුදු පරදේශක්කාරයා අපට මුණ ගැසුණේ වර්ෂ 1505දීය. එදා ඔවුන් මේ බිම වෙත එලූ ඒ ගෙරිහම් කඩේ ප්‍රමාණය හැකිලවීමට මේ වනතෙක් අපට නොහැකි වුවද, අපි පියවරින් පියවර, එම ගෙරිහම් කඩ හකුලුවමින් සිටින්නෙමු. මේ ගෙරිහම හැකිලවීමේ තැත අප ආරම්භ කලේ, එය එලූදා සිටමය. සුද්දාගේ දැඩි සුද්දයකට භාජනයවූ මේ මාතෘ භූමිය හා ජනතාව; මේ ශුද්ධ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/10)

Latest ICG report runs off the rails-Part I
H. L. D. Mahindapala
If there is one report that the Government of Sri Lanka must dismiss without batting an eyelid and summarily put through the nearest shredder in the office of the External Affairs it is Asia Report No 191 of 17 May 2010 produced by the International Crisis Group (ICG) headed by three Co-Chairs:  Lord (Christopher) Patten, Chancellor of Oxford University, Thomas R Pickering, Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, and President and CEO, Louise Arbour.  This report titled “War Crimes in Sri Lanka” carries the ICG’s seal of approval with a huge claim to be “working... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/10)

Sri Lanka's Victory Celebrations Encompas Both A Victorious War And A Landslide Political Win As The Nation Returns To Normalcy!
LankaWeb Weekly Editorial
May 20th 2010 Despite the Weather Gods heaping heavily inclement weather in many parts of the Island and petty superstitions on the part of some that it is a divine sign in disfavour of the Government, the undeniable fact remains that it is the first anniversary of Sri Lanka's redemption from the Tamil Tiger ( LTTE) scourge through the collective efforts of the Armed Forces directed by their able CEO the Hon. President to the day and a hard fought and much deserved victory which has taken over three decades  to acheive needs to be clebrated with... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/10)

May 19 - Probing a Dirty War
Ira de Silva George Street London, Ontario, Canada
The Editor Financial Times Ltd. London, U.K.   Dear Sir:   Your argument is that the call from the ICG should be heeded  because "the ICG has earned respect as an independent, rigorous organisation". It is therefore important to check their background and who is paying them because their "independence" depends on their paymasters. The key officials are CEO and President Louise Arbour, President Emeritus Gareth Evans and the co-chair is Lord Chris Patten. For the information of your readers, these three have been very critical of Sri Lanka long before the issue of it's latest report. Gareth Evans... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/10)

Mixed Signals During New Eelam "War" on Sri Lanka from Abroad‏
Ira de Silva London, Canada
Dear Editors:   Since May 11,2009 the new "Eelam War" on Sri Lanka has gained momentum. In Canada the LTTE fronts staged a "remembrance" in the Canadian parliament building attended by about thirty parliamentarians from the four main parties and the most prominent were Bob Rae, once again calling for a war crimes inquiry, supported by Jack Layton, leader of the third largest political party, who is remembered by Sri Lankans in Canada for his famous/infamous speech; when addressing a Tamil Tiger rally, he compared Prabhakaran to Nelson Mandela. I refer to this merely to impress... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/10)

Sri Lanka deserves the World’s Kudos for Wiping Out Tamil Tiger Terrorism
SRI LANKA UNITED NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CANADA  Toronto, Ontario M1P 4Z7 Canada
It is just one year after Sri Lanka’s victorious forces cornered the ruthless Tamil Tiger Terrorists (LTTE) and eliminated the megalomaniacal leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, his coterie of murderous deputies and his fighting apparatus made up of brainwashed armed cadres on the banks of the Nanthikadal Lagoon, thereby bringing to an end 32 plus years of mayhem, murder and destruction which cost the nation the loss of nearly 80,000 lives and an inestimable amount of valuable property.  The end result has been a new dawn of peace which... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/10)

It is time for much awaited higher education industry reforms
Dr Jay Weerawardena, University of Queensland, Australia
Some years ago I had the rare opportunity of catching up with my university batch mates at a family dinner in Sri Lanka. All of us had grown up children but when it came to talk about children and what they were doing, the cheerful mood we had up to that point disappeared. Most of the sons and daughters of my friends had completed their A levels very well but had not achieved the required points needed for university entry.  The children were not sure what to do next as they had... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/10)

ඩග්ලස් දේවානන්ද හා දෙමළ නොවන ජනතාව
චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
    මීට කලින් "ඩග්ලස් දේවානන්ද හා දෙමළ ජනතාව" යනුවෙන් මා ලියුවේ මැයි 5 දා ලක්බිම පත්තරයේ ඩග්ලස් දේවානන්ද මහතා සමඟ කල සම්මුඛ සාකච්චාවක වාර්තා ගත කර තිබුණ තොරතුරු පදනම් කර ගෙනය.  ඊට පසුව, මැයි 6 දා, ද අයිලන්ඩ් පත්තරයේ චන්ද්‍රප්‍රේම මහතා සමඟ ඔහු කල සාකච්චාවක ඩග්ලස් තවත් වැඩිදුරට ඔහුගේ අදහස් දක්වා ඈත. මෙම දෙවන සටහනෙන් මා බලාපොරොත්තු වන්නේ ඔහුගේ මේ අළුතෙන් එළිදරව්වන කාරණා ගැන කෙටි විවරණයක් කිරීමය. මැයි  6 දා සිට මැයි 20 වන විට වෙනත් මීට අදාල බොහෝ දේ ද  සිදු වී ඈත.     ඩග්ලස් ඔහුගේ පුද්ගලික හා පොදු අභිලාශ (ආශා) (ඈස්පිරේෂන්ස්) දෙමළ නොවන ජන කොටස්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/10)

තව වසර දහසකට ආගමත් ඡතියත් ආරක්ෂා කර ගැනීමට කූල දරුවන් දෙදහස් හයසීයක් සසුන් ගතකීරිමට පියවර ගන්නවා.
අග‍්‍රමත්‍ය දි. මු. ඡයරත්න මැතිතූමා
එළබෙන බුද්ධ වර්ෂ 2600 සම්බුද්ධ ඡයන්තිය නිමිති කොට ගෙන  කූල දරුවන දෙදහස් හයසීයක් සසුන් ගතකර රටත්, ඡතියත් ,සංස්කෘතියත්, ආරක්ෂා කරයුතූය. සංඝායා වහන්සේ ආරක්ෂා වුවහෝත් රටත් ආගමත් ආරක්ෂා වේ. සංඝායා වහන්සේ නැතිනම් අද මේ රට මෙතරම් කාලයක් එක්සත්ව, ඒක්සිත්ව, නොපවතින්නේය. මේනිසා තවත් වසර දහසකට මේ රටේ ආනාගතය රුක ගැනීමට නම් බුදුධ ශාසනය ආරක්ෂා කල යුතූය. නිසා තමා ඉදිරියේදී කූල දරුවන් සසුන් ගත කීරිමේ වැඩ පිලිවෙලක් ආරම්භ කරන බවත්, එ සදහා සියඵ සංඝයාවහන්සේලා ගේ සහය තමාට අවශය බව ආග‍්‍රමාත්‍ය ද මු ඡුයරත්න මැතිතූමා අද ප‍්‍රකාශ කලා. ඒතූමා මේ බව ප‍්‍රකාශ කලේ කැස්බැව පොල්ගස්ඔවිට ශී‍්‍ර සුදර්ශනාරම විහාරස්ථානයේ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/10)

“Colomba Sanniya,” a manifestation of Colombian mortification of the native
  Geethanjana Kudaligamage
 Rajapakse, regional politics, “Eurocentric Developmentalism” and the western hegemony (Part 8-B)
“Well! Well! Well!!! There are too many idiots in this world. And having said it, I have the burden to prove it.”Frantz Fanon Manik Sandrasagara and Tyrone Fernando’s ‘Colomba Sanniya’ was laughing at the post-colonial social-aberration of Sri Lankan society. But ‘Colomba Sanniya’ was in fact not laughing at the absurdity of the dominant Colombian ‘minority culture’ for their boasting of something that they really do not possess; but instead it was laughing at the native who struggles to get into this misplaced cultural... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/10)

SIX LONG YEARS FOR THE VOTER TO DECIDE NEXT.......
RANJIT WICKREMERATNE  
Two hundred and twenty five people's representatives has been selected by the people to work for the people with respect and honesty.Their task is to fulfill their promises during the next six years nothing more. We expect them to be honest and hard working and find ways to uplift the living standard of our citizens. The President have won all the elections held during the past 4-5 years and he will be our most loved, respected leader of all time and will rule my motherland for another six years until we face the next General or Presidential elections. We hope... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/10)

National War Heroes commemorated in Kuwait
Embassy of Sri Lanka in Kuwait
The first anniversary of the liberation of motherland by the valiant forces from scourge of terrorism was commemorated at an event organized by the              Sri Lankan Embassy in Kuwait on 18th May.  A cross-section of the Sri Lankan community in Kuwait belonging to different ethnic and religious denominations joined the occasion in a spirit of national harmony and unity.  The event commenced with the hosting of national flag in the midst of “magul bera”, followed by the playing of national anthem.   The religious dignitaries and the representatives from Sri Lankan Associations, schools, airlines... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/10)

Novice camp BLiA chennai chapter
Sumanananda Premseri
This is a sight to rejoice. A Mahayana center running a Theravada Novitiate program in Chennai, India in the spirit of the Buddha Dhamma. The Buddha Light International Association, Chennai Chapter has been working closely with the Buddhist Maha Vihara Brickfields in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for several years to translate Dhamma booklets from English into Tamil in a co-sharing program. Books translated by the BLIA, Chennai Chapter into Tamil are later sponsored for free distribution by the Vihara for free distribution in Tamil Nadu, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.     Buddhism today is growing at a steady pace in Southern India in the States... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/10)

IIFA Awards 2010 in Sri Lanka: Performer Line up announced
janaka alahapperuma
The IIFA night of nights, the Micromax IIFA Awards 2010, will see a stunning performance line-up including, Salman Khan, Bipasha Basu,  Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi and Sri Lanka’s own, Jacqueline Fernandez. For the first time, the world will also get to see a preview of the Kingdom of Dreams, which will perform a piece from the to-be launched theatre production that would be staged in Gurgaon.  With a few more performances and tricks up its sleeve, the Awards ceremony will prove to be a never before spectacle, sure to dazzle the Emerald Isle. Hon. Deputy Minister... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/10)

Indian Cinema stars and Sri Lankan cricketers bat for Videocon IIFA Weekend
janaka alahapperuma
Charity Initiative: ‘Cricket for Children’ launched with Sri Lanka Cricket and UNICEF
Cementing its commitment to building bridges between countries, IIFA 2010 will host a special charity cricket spectacular as part of the Videocon IIFA Weekend in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The ‘Cricket for Children’ event, the IIFA Foundation Celebrity Cricket Match, will be played between India’s top cinema stars and Sri Lankan cricketers. “The unique initiatives undertaken by IIFA 2010 will undoubtedly forge a stronger bond between India and the host country,” said the Hon. Dep Minister of Economic Development, Mr. Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/10)

Tomb Raider: Jesus buried in Srinagar?
That Jesus survived crucifixion, travelled to Kashmir, eventually died there and is buried in Srinagar is an urban legend which has found many takers over the years. Every season hundreds of tourists visit the Rozabal shrine of Sufi saint Yuz Asaf in downtown Srinagar, believed by many to be the final resting place of Christ. But there’s a new twist to the tale — the medieval shrine was recently closed down after an enthusiastic ‘believer’ , New York-based writer Suzanne Olsson, allegedly tried to exhume it. The shrine itself, at the edge of a winding alley in the backstreets of... -Full Story- (Times of India - 20/05/10)

Defending the Sri Lankan Hindu of Yesteryear: Arumuka Navalar and Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan
Romesh Jayaratnam Kandy, Sri Lanka
Samuel Ratnajeevan Herbert Hoole's article 'The Internet and Mobility in the Reconstruction of the Past: A Study through a Reassessment of Navalar and Caste Claims' was published on 14 May, 2010 in David Jeyaraj's transCurrents website. The paper had been presented at the Fifth Annual Tamil Studies Conference of the University of Toronto. http://transcurrents.com/tc/2010/04/post_512.html  The study lacked academic rigour, accuracy and citations. It instead made unsubstantiated derogatory references to Arumuka Navalar, Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and Tamil Hindu society in Sri Lanka. As always, Ratnajeevan Herbert Hoole never misses an opportunity to attack Hinduism... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/10)

Psychoanalytic symbols used by Simon Navagathegama
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge
 A gifted Sri Lankan novelist Simon Navagathegama presented a series of mystic symbols in his famous novel Dadayakarayage Kathawa or the Story of the Hunter which can be regarded as one of the best psychoanalytical novels of the contemporary era. Dadayakarayage Kathawa represents numerous psychoanalytic symbols which stem from the unconscious mind. It is a great recount of relations between social anthropology and psychology Simon Navagathegama used different metaphors to describe the cultural and social and anthropological icons. As the author illustrates the hunter is a person as well as a metaphor.The hunter is not... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/10)

දේශපාලනය කරන අය කලිසම් ගලවා රෙදි බැනියම් වලට මාරු වීම
චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
   හමුදාව අලි මංකඩ කියා පාමංකඩ යනවා කියා කියූ,  යූ. ඈන්. පී එකේ රවි කරුණානායක මහතා හදිසියේම  කලිසම ගලවා "ජාතික ඈඳුමට" මාරු වීම මේ දවස්වල එම පක්‍ෂයේ සිදුවන පොලිටිකල් ඈජස්මන්ට් වලම කොටසක් විය යුතුය. 2005 ජනාධිපති මැතිවරණ ය ජාතික හා අර්ථික ජනාධිපති අතර තරඟයක් යැයි දැන් පැන්ෂන් ගොස් සිටින ඈන්ත්‍රොපොලජි මහාචාර්‍ය එච්. එල්. සෙනෙවිරත්න ඒ දිනවල කිව්වේ එම තරඟය ජාතික හා විජාතික බලවේග අතර සටනක් බව නොදැන නොවේ. ඔහුට ඕනෑ කලේ කොලය වසා කතා කර රනිල් ව්ක්‍රමසිංහට සපෝට් කිරීමය. එම පක්‍ෂය විජාතික බලවේග වල පක්‍ෂය බව ඈඳුම් මාරු කිරීමෙන් සැඟවිය හැකිද? මෙම ඈඳුම් මාරු කිරීම විහිළුවක් බවට... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/10)

Indians Buddhists celebrate Wesak at Birmingham Buddhist Maha Vihara
By Janaka Alahapperuma
Indian Buddhists community in Midlands- UK celebrated 2554th Buddha Jayanthi (Wesak) Celebrations in grand style at Birmingham Buddhist Maha Vihara under the patronage of Venerable Dr Witharandeniye Kassapa Nayaka Thero, head of the Vihara on 16th May (Sunday) from 10.30am to 5.00pm. There have been over 300 devotees from different parts of Midlands participated this annual event through out the day. The programme was full of religious sermons, speeches and many other activities and finally devotional songs (Bakthi Gee) were sung in Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati as well as Bengali languages. There will be a separate Wesak... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/10)

Hadj delegation 2010
Reyyaz Salley
This photographs were sent by the Sri Lankan Consulate with Sri Lankan delegation Sri Lanka Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Aflel M.Jaward, Azath Salley for deputy Mayor who represented the delegation on HE President's instruction. Hon Alavi Moulana, Governor Western Province, Hon A.H.M Fowzie Minister of Disaster Management. Azath Salley who will be arriving to Sri Lanka tomorrow, his looking into other potential matters which will benefit the country.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—28 EXPLORING SOUTHLAND: MAKING THE BEST OUT OF GREATER L.A.
By Shelton A. Gunaratne
2010
 Los Angeles is big and sprawling both in terms of population and area. If you are talking about Greater Los Angeles, also called the Southland, you are referring to the large urbanized area comprising five counties—Los Angeles (88 cities with 9.9 million people), Orange (34 cities with 3 million people), Riverside (27 cities and 2.1 million people), San Bernardino (25 cities and 2.1 million people), and Ventura (10 cities and 753,200 people)—with a total population of 17.8 million in an area covering 35,316 square miles. (Holy Cow, the whole of Sri Lanka covers... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/10)

Does India think Sri Lanka is its Colony ?......and another Interfering Indian Diplomat and the Church in Sri Lanka.
by Charles.S.Perera
 Indian  politicians and Diplomats seem to have lost their heads over India’s new status of a fast developing economy in Asia.  They try to dictate terms to Sri Lanka as it is  an Indian colony.  The Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, reminding us of  a previous Diplomatic intruder Robert Blake, has made a strange statement as if India has solved all its petty problems, and is now clean and proper to advise Sri Lanka as to how it should manage its political affairs.  Of all  countries India is the last that could advice as to what we should... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/10)

International Crisis Group: Report on Sri Lanka
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 Canada
18 May 2010 The Editor    THE EMBASSY Ottawa  Sir: The International Crisis Group’s (ICG) report entitled ‘War Crimes in Sri Lanka’ calling for an independent international investigation into alleged war crimes by the Sri Lankan Government Armed Forces against civilians during the last phase of the Eelam War in April/May 2009 is troubling. To hound the government of that puny island who had every right to defend its sovereignty against the most ruthless terrorists in the world, the Tamil Tigers, who had haemorrhaged that island nation... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/10)

A posthumous letter from Velu Pillai Prabhakaran
Channeled by Sesha Samarajiwa
May 18, 2009 To  All Tamil Eelamists From Velu Pillai Prabhakaran, Late National Leader of Tamils everywhere 7th Zone of Hell  My dear fellow Tamil Eelamists, Vanakkam!  I started to write this letter –- one of the most important messages I have delivered --  a few days  before my untimely departure from the battlefield.  Unfortunately, I was not able to email it because the damn enemy air force disconnected all my Internet connections.   So, today, on my first death anniversary, I am compelled to use a member of the accursed Singalam race to channel... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/10)

Paticca Samuppada as a Universally Applicable Theory (Part 3)-THREE MODEST PROPOSALS FOR NEW LANKA
By Shelton A. Gunaratne, Ph.D. Professor emeritus, Minnesota State University Moorhead
 I have the hunch that Lanka (note the omission of Sri) as a dissipative structure—a thermodynamic system open to its environment for managing its energy-entropy flow at far from equilibrium—is in the process of moving from one long-term (Kondratieff) cycle to another after a major bifurcation within the bhavacakra (wheel of becoming/samsara) in the paticca samuppada sense. I sense that a new Lanka is in the offing. We are witnessing the self-organization of the namarupa of yesteryear’s Sri Lanka to “a more differentiated, higher level of order.” I... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/10)

International Crisis Group's Call For War Crimes Investigations In Sri Lanka Stinks Of Tamil Tiger Sympathy!
Insight By Sunil Kumar
May 18th 2010 Here we go again! The matter has been laid to rest as far as the Tamil Tiger internal armed insurrection is concerned and only just recently the Sri Lanka Government has expressed concerns about the resurgence of A Tamil Tiger build up overseas and a group calling themselves the International Crisis Group  seems to be aiding and abetting the  very same cause!  Sri Lanka fought a legitimate, precedent setting admirable war against enemies of the State  resulting in global acollades but continue to be harried  by the ludicurous accusations from a few  persistent pro Tamil... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/10)

SUSPICIOUS HELPING HANDS
ALI SUKHANVER
Political turmoil, economic disorder, scarcity of energy resources and no doubt above all the ever growing population; the developing countries have their own particular problems throughout the world. All these problems join hand together and ultimately create sky-kissing hurdles in the way to stability and prosperity of these countries. In such a hazardous situation the non governmental organizations, NGOs, have to share the burden of responsibility with the concerning government. The role of NGOs can never be overlooked and ignored in any developing country. Some people call these organizations the non-state actors and some call them ‘helping... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/10)

Sri Lanka deserves the World’s Kudos for Wiping Out Tamil Tiger Terrorism
MEDIA RELEASE   -SRI LANKA UNITED NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CANADA
It is just one year after Sri Lanka’s victorious forces cornered the ruthless Tamil Tiger Terrorists (LTTE) and eliminated the megalomaniacal leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, his coterie of murderous deputies and his fighting apparatus made up of brainwashed armed cadres on the banks of the Nanthikadal Lagoon, thereby bringing to an end 32 plus years of mayhem, murder and destruction which cost the nation the loss of nearly 80,000 lives and an inestimable amount of valuable property.  The end result has been a new dawn of peace which ushered in an era... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/10)

The Truth about War Crimes Allegations - Even Neo-LTTE Organizations Doubt War Crimes Stories
Dilrook Kannangara
Obviously Sri Lankan security forces didn’t commit any war crimes. It is a well known fact. But some opt to keep it a secret. They are the losers of the 34 year old war that ended in May 2009. These elements allege that Sri Lankan security forces committed war crimes. To substantiate this claim, neo LTTE groups bring in totally irrelevant and fabricated nonsense. But the most convincing evidence of their dishonesty comes from themselves. LTTE, when functioning, collected US$300 million a year from the Tamil Diaspora. It’s a mammoth collection by any standard. US, Canada,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/10)

WAR CRIMES IN SRI LANKA, ICG Asia Report N°191 – 17 May 2010
Ben Silva
The report by, ICG with the above title  suggests that during the liberation of the occupied territory ‘saw tens of thousands of Tamil civilian men, women, children and the elderly killed’[4].  Clearly, ICG is ignoring the millions killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and hounding Sri Lanka, the victim of Tamil racist terrorism, funded by sources from Western countries. The garbage, baseless reports produced by ICG is nothing new (ref: http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items07/150807-2.html.) It appears that those in ICG that produce reports do not know how to separate facts from fiction and lies produced by LTTE sympathizers. ICG do not... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/10)

MAY 18TH THE DAY OF FREEDOM
Ranjit Wickremeratne
May 18th 2009 was the day of FREEDOM to all citizens of SRI LANKA from Dondra to Point Pedro irrespective of race,color,religion or party politics. This was the day we raised our LION flag all over after thirty years of brutal war with the most ruthless barbaric killer Velupillai Prabakaran and his gang of murderers. I dont think anybody who loves his or her Motherland will forget that day except traitors to our nation. It was the day our true Sri Lankan war heros led by H.E.the President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his fearless brother Gotabaya brought freedom to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/10)

May 18 - The Day the Civilised Vanquished the Uncivilised
- Kumar Moses
It was Friday 17th September 1999. Laughter of villagers faded into the tranquillity of the night in remote Gongala village in Ampara District in Eastern Sri Lanka. HM Premasiri (29) went to bed late that night after a long pleasurable conversation with a large number of relatives and friends who had come to his place for a religious ceremony. Around two hours after midnight the serenity of the night was shattered by screams of men, women and children. About 75 Tamil Tigers and their accomplices, mostly women, brutally massacred 27 men, 17 women and 10 children... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/10)

President Rajapaksa meets Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khumenei and Iranian leaders
By Janaka Alahapperuma
President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is currently in Teheran to participate in the G15 Conference has met Islamic Supreme Leader of Iran Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hoseyni Khumenei last evening at the Revolutionary Leader’s residence. The Iranian Supreme leader wished the Sri Lankan President for his achievements and requested to carry forward continuously the speedy development process now taking place in Sri Lanka. Pix by: Sudath Silva   President Rajapaksa arrived in Teheran on Sunday to attend the Summit which is scheduled to begin at the International Islamic Conference Hall in the Iranian Capital on Monday 17th... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/10)

Two Events Mark Vesak Celebrations in Minneapolis
Minneapolis, MN
The Minnesota Buddhist Vihara has organized two events to celebrate Vesak Day (Buddha's Birthday) this year.  The celebrations begin Tuesday  [May 18] 7 p.m. at the Vihara premises, 3401 N. Fourth St., Minneapolis with a special Dhamma sermon by the Venerable Uda Iriyagama Dhammajeeva. A meditation session will follow the sermon at 8.15 p.m. Dhammajeeva is the head meditation instructor and abbot of Meetirigala Nissarana Vanaya, Sri Lanka.   A daylong Vesak celebration will take place at the Vihara premises Saturday [May 22]. The Ven. Witiyala Seewalie, abbot of the Vihara, said the celebration will commence at... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/10)

Sri Lankans in Washington present an outstanding event at the Kennedy Center
Anjalika
As a part of the Asian American Heritage Month Celebration,  The Asian American Music Society under the leadership of Dr. Mira Yang (President) presented a dance and song program at the George Mason University Center for the Performing Arts on May 6 that included a booth display on Sri Lanka,  followed by a program at the Kennedy Center, Millenium stage on May 7 to showcase Burma, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Bangaladesh dance groups.  The grand finale was a tribute to America.  The performance was broadcast worldwide in streaming video on the Kennedy Center website. The video is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/10)

18 MAY - REMEMBRANCE DAY OF SRI LANKA
By DR M D P DISSANAYAKE
On 18th May , Sri Lankans  celebrate  the most important day in their calendar. There is no other day in the hearts and minds of Sri Lankan mothers, fathers and children alike that brings the greatest inspiration to their lives.   We all waited for this day for decades, most times we thought that day will never come during our life times. If  that dream did not come true, as parents we could not close our eyes peacefully,  not knowing what will happen to our land of peace and to our children.   Each... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/10)

Local Muslim sect decries terror acts
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
CHINO - While recent headlines underscore the threat of domestic Islamic extremism to American citizens, a local Muslim group is trying to get more people to recognize the peaceful nature of their faith. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Chino has started a massive advertising campaign with signs on nearly 200 local Omnitrans buses in the Inland Empire. The banners, which will run inside the buses for the next six months, read "Muslims for Peace, Freedom, Loyalty and Justice for all ... Love for all - hatred for none." The banners are meant to spread... -Full Story- (dailybulletin.com - 17/05/10)

LTTE Techniques Give Maoists Lethal Capabilities
The deadly Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack by Maoists in Chattisgarh today was strikingly similar to the precision strikes of the LTTE in its battle against Sri Lankan soldiers before being wiped out. The device itself is believed to have been planted days before today's strike in which at least 40 persons were killed, officials said today. The IED was triggered by the Naxals armed with real-time intelligence that Special Police Officers (SPOs) were travelling in the civilian bus. The Left Wing Extremists used the technique to blow-up a civilian bus today in which at least 40 people were feared... -Full Story- (news.outlookindia.com - 17/05/10)

How Peter Mandelson gave birth to the Con-Lib coalition in Britain
Ajit Randeniya
Reports over the last week were incessant as to how the formation of a coalition government between two most unlikely partners, the Conservative and the Liberal Democratic parties is going to usher a new era for Britain.  Much has been made about the similarities between the new Prime Minister David Cameron (Call Me Dave) and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg: they are both 43 and of course, come from wealthy backgrounds; Clegg the grandson of Russian nobility - Cameron the offspring of a Baronet's daughter; Cameron educated at Eton and Oxford - Clegg at Westminster and Cambridge.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/10)

Event organized by Amnesty International on Sri Lanka in Berlin – Sri Lankan Diaspora Switzerland is getting involved – Zuerich, 12.05.2010
magnus engel  from switzerland,
A group of the Sri Lankan Diaspora Switzerland went to Berlin on 11th May 2010 to visit an event on the topic „The Human Rights on Sri Lanka one Year after the End of the War – Situation and Perspectives“ organized by the University Group of Amnesty International at the Technical University Berlin. The reason for the trip of the group of the Sri Lankan Diaspora Switzerland was the rather strange composition of the speakers of the event. Journalist Sunanda Deshapriya speaking on press freedom in Sri Lanka was allegedly responsible for the killing of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/10)

General Fonseka has become a turncoat
HeroldLeelawardena
Last week many a newspapers reported that General Fonseka is to be produced in a civil court. This time, the incriminating charges would be based on a fictitious statement Fonseka is said to have made to ‘The Leader’. On the 13th December 2009, the headline of ‘The Leader’ had been: “Gota ordered them to be shot – General Fonseka”.  Ms. Federica Janz reported that Fonseka knew about the so-called ‘war crimes’ that westerners have been harping on for some time. She also said as Fonseka said; Fonseka would not save anyone but would volunteer to give evidence against... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/10)

RECOMMENDATIONS TO REGULATE HAJJ PILGRIMAGE FROM SRI LANKA
Reyyaz Salley
HE the President to appoint Hajj Committee comprising of Chairman and 04 Members ,to oversee and regulate Hajj pilgrimage Hajj Committee to initially negotiate with Government of Saudi Arabia for a quota of 5,000 pilgrims . Hajj Committee to select 1,000 pilgrims to perform Hajj for the first time on District Basis through public advertisement. Sri Lankan Airlines/Mihin Air to handle the transport of the 1,000 pilgrims at regular airfare. Travel Operators to be graded based on Performance, Capacity and Capability. Registration Fee and Refundable Deposit of Travel Operators to be revised. The Hajj is the annual... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/10)

President Rajapaksa visits Iran to attend G15 Summit
By Janaka Alahapperuma
President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived in Teheran on Sunday 16th May to attend the G15 Summit which is scheduled to begin at the International Islamic Conference Hall in the Iranian Capital on Monday. Sri Lankan President was received by Minister of Commerce of the Iranian Government Mr.Mahadi Ghazanfam at the Meherabad International Airport this morning. Pix By Sudath Silva President Rajapaksa is due to be officially welcomed by President Mohamoud Ahmadinejad at the President’s Palace in Teheran this afternoon. He will take over the Chairmanship of G15 from his Iranian counterpart Ahmadinejad at the summit for a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/10)

ICG: Report on Sri Lanka
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada
16 May 2010 Madam Louise Arbour President/Chief Executive Officer International Crisis Group (ICG),  Brussels, Belgium  Dear Louise Arbour: Just read  a troubling news item in Sri Lanka’s SUNDAY OBSERVER, which said:   “The International Crisis Group (ICG) will publish a report calling for an international inquiry into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. “They have sought information from Sarath Fonseka, the former Commander of the Army but none of the allegations framed by the ICG curiously touches Fonseka except to state that he was informed but they have named and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/10)

ICG Report: Sri Lanka guilty of war crimes?
By Gomin Dayasri
International Crisis Group (ICG) is preparing an exparte report calling for an international inquiry into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. To give credibility to itself, there will also be a vague finding against the LTTE. With the LTTE ceasing to exist - such an adverse finding would cause no impact on a defunct LTTE. ICG naming them too as a guilty party- will be a mere eyewash. It is the backroom boys at the ICG that are playing the role of scripting the ghost report to discredit the Defense Forces of Sri Lanka. Why... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/10)

ලේ පුල්ලි සහිත කළු සල්ලි
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
මේ දිනවල දිනපතාම පත්‍රවල පලවන්නේ වර්තමාන සඛ්‍යය ආමාත්‍යවරයා මුහුණ දෙන අරගලයයි. "සේ ලයින් ගුවනින් ගෙන්වයි." "රෝහල් වල ඖෂධ හිගයට වහාම පිලියම් යොදයි" යන ආකාරයේ සිරස් තල යටතේ පලවෙන පුවත්ය. මේ ලෝක සඛ්‍යය සංවිධානයේ සභාපති යටතේ පාලනය වූ, රෝහල් පද්ධතියක නිර්මණය කර ඇති අර්බූදයි. එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මහා මණඩලයේ ලේකම්, ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානයේ සභාපති යන විවිධ නාමයන්ගෙන් පිදුම් ලත් පල් හොරු ලෝකය පුරාම යෙහෙන් වැජඹෙන වකවානුවකදී, සැබෑ ලෙසම මෙම පදවි වල වැජඹෙන්නේ තඹයක් ජනතාවට නොවටිනා පාපතර, කද බඩ පමණක් දරණ රට කන පණුවන් බව, හිටපු ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානයේ සභාපතිවරයා මෙරට ජනතාවට ඇස් පනාපිට ඔප්පු කර ඇත. මෙරට ජනතාව... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/10)

Amantha Hodge of The Australian circulating Tamil Tiger propaganda
H. L. D. Mahindapala
The reports on Sri Lanka written Amantha Hodge, the South Asia Correspondent of The Australian, have one recurring theme: to blacken the image of Sri Lanka by using Tamil Tiger propaganda as the only valid yardstick to measure Sri Lankan events. In her latest report titled Sri Lanka hunts for Tamil Tigers operating abroad (14/5), she regurgitates the familiar Tamil propaganda without balancing it with reality checks.  For instance, she quotes the Tamil propagandists who say that “40,000 Tamil civilians (were) killed in the last days of the 26-year civil war.” She picks that figure... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/10)

Paticca Samuppada as a Universally Applicable Theory (Part 2)-TROJAN HORSE OF RIGHTS, SOVEREIGNITY, GLOBALIZATION
By Shelton A. Gunaratne, Ph.D., professor emeritus Minnesota State University Moorhead
 In this essay, I shall go deeper into establishing that Buddhist philosophy is irrevocably irreconcilable with the adoption of sovereignty as the guiding principle to shoo-away external interference or to nick-in-the-bud potential internal rebellion or terrorism. Moreover, why ought we to fall in love with the high-sounding puff associated with sovereignty within the context of the outdated Treaty of Westphalia?  Do we not have the gumption to anchor our political institutions and concepts to significant events in our own past? Buddhist Interpretation of Society The Buddhist philosophical view... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—27 (Part B)-A PEEK INTO MEXICO: THROUGH A CAPITAL TRAP IN 1967
By Shelton A. Gunaratne © 2010
 Nostalgia overwhelmed me when I listened to Neil Diamond’s famous lyric years after I first visited Ensenada in 1983: In Ensenada We were running from the things that we knew best We only took the good and left the rest In Ensenada Small mountain ranges back the Ensenada landscape giving it much of its charm. Ensenada lies in the heart of a wine country that many compare with the Napa Valley of California. The story goes that the first vitis vinifera (Common Grape Vine) made it to the peninsula (specifically to the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/10)

New Assignment in Obscurity!
Vajiragnana Warnakulasuriya Melbourne.
To Mr.Milliband MP and Mr.Gordon Brown MP  New Assignment in Obscurity!  Finally Labor had to quit 10 Downing St paving the way to Conservative – Lib Democratic bedfellows to occupy the vacated house. The Economy, Health, Education & Employment were sent berserk due to Labors idiotic involvement in Wars that has no bearing to the country. In supporting the concocted false fear of the presence of WMD in Iraq by Dick, Bush duo brought about this chaotic state in Great Britain! So did it spread all over the Globe!  The vain loss of innocent lives of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/10)

පෞද්ගලික විශ්ව විද්‍යාල හා නිදහස් අධ්‍යාපනය.
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පවතින්නේ ධනේශ්වර ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී දේශපාලන වටපිටාවකි. මේ ක්‍රමය නිර්මාණය වී ඇත්තේ සකල විද සියලු දේ විකුණා මුදල් හම්භ කිරීමටය. මුදල රජයන මෙවන් වූ යුගයක. නොවිකුණන, නොවිකිණෙන කිසිදු දෙයක් නැත. හැමදේම මුදල්ය. පුංචි කඩදාසි කෑල්ලක කාගේ හෝ රුවක් මුද්‍රණයකර, දිය සලකුණක් සටහන් කර, රිදී නුලක් හරස්ව ඔබ්බවා, නෝට්ටු අංකයක් සනිටුහන් කර, වටිනාකමක් සටහන් කර ඇති මේ කඩදාසි කැබැල්ල වෙනුවෙන් ගරුගාම්භීර මිනිසුන් පවා දක්වන්නේ මහත්වූ ලබැදියාවකි. රටේ සෑම දෙයක්ම තීරණය කරන මේ කඩදාසි කැබැල්ල මෙරට අධ්‍යාපනයද විකිණීම හා මිලදී ගන්නා භාණඩයක් බවට පරිවර්තනය කර ඇත. අනගාරික ධර්මපාල තුමාලා, සර් හෙන්රි ස්ටීල් ඕල්කොට් තුමන්ලා, මෙරට ප්‍රබල බෞද්ධ පාසල්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/10)

T20 LOSS-SCAPEGOAT SANATH, KUMAR OR TREVOR BAYLISS?
By DR M D P DISSANAYAKE
In the first match at Providence Stadium, Guyana against NZ, Sri Lanka lost the match by 4 runs. Kumar Sangakkara had two dropped catches visa-vis stumping chances.  Sanath was sent into bat at  No. 7 and  remained not out, without facing a ball.  Wasn’t Sanath good enough to score 10 to 4 runs, had he come earlier? Then Sanath bowled the maximum number of  4 overs permitted, with no maidens, 17 runs and taken one wicket. He did his best, disregarding the  ill-treatment by the Skipper. In the second match against Zimbabwe, Sanath... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/10)

Canadian Tamil Congress holds May Remembrance in Canadian Parliament
Asoka Weerasinghe (a card carrying Conservatives) Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 Canada
May 14, 2010 Hon. Bob Rae (Liberal Party Foreign Affairs Critic); Jack Layton (Leader of NDP);  Patrick Brown (Conservative MP for  Barrie); Andrew Kania (Liberal MP for Brampton West);  Robert Oliphant (Liberal MP for Don Valley West); John McKay (Liberal MP for Scarborough-Guildwood);  Jean Dorion (Bloc MP for Longueuil-Pierre Boucher); Albina Guarnieri (Liberal MP for Mississauga East-Cooksville); Jim Karygiannis (Liberal MP for Scarborough-Agincourt); Paul Calandra (Conservative MP for Oak Ridges-Markham) Canadian House of Commons, Ottawa Dear Bob, Jack, Patrick, Andrew, Robert, John,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/10)

To: Sanath and 'Little Kalu' - World cup 1996
From: Mario Perera, Kadawata
Memory's screen my time machine Nostalgy kindling every fibre of my being rolling thought waves flowing backwards conjure before me vistas of green   Sprawling stands filled to the brim Oceans of humanity in hysterical strains beset unleashed is every fancy and every whim scenes no Lankan can e'er forget   On every pitch be it bouncing or turning Under every light, blinding or suave eleven warriors their brown skins gleaming proved themselves the bravest of the brave   Led by a captain  clothed in legendary fame they met the the best the world could offer not... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/10)

සිංගප්පූරුවේ අගමැතිවරු දෙන්නා හා ලෝකයේ ප්‍රථම සිංහල බෞද්ධ ජනාධිපති
චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
             ලංකාවේ පරණ, වයසට ගිය මන්ත්‍රීවරු (විශ්‍රාම ගිය යුතු හා වැඩකට නැති), අළුත් තරුණ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ව, බදු රහිත කාර් වලින්  විශ්වසනීය (ආශ්චර්‍යමත්) ගමනක් ගෙන යෑමට සැරසෙන මේ වකවානුවේදී, මා දුටු, සිංගප්පූරුවේ වත්මන් අගමැති ඇමෙරිකාවේ පී.බී.එස්. රූප වාහිනියේ චාලි රෝස් සමඟ කල සම්මුඛ සාකච්චාවක් ගැන ලිවීම කාලෝචිතය කියා මට සිතුනි. අළුත්ම කාර් වෙනුවට රෙපයාර් කර හොඳට දුවන්නට හැකි කාර් දහස් ගණන් ආණ්ඩුවේ ගැරේජ් වල නැද්ද? අළුත් තරුණ මන්ත්‍රීන් ට ඇම දීමේ, දූෂණය කිරීමේ පළවෙනි ක්‍රියාව මේ කාර් සෙල්ලමය. ලංකාවේ හොර මන්ත්‍රී ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදයේ කැතම උදාහරණයක් ලෙස මේ බදු රහිත කාර් මගඩිය සඳහන් කල හැකිය. මේ මගින් හැම මන්ත්‍රීම තම තමන්ගේ හොද්ද... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/10)

Well-done Jayasuriya for your self-inflicted destruction
By Lankaputhra
Sanjay Manjrekar, analyzing the Sri Lanka's defeat against England in the T20 world cup semi-finals, commented that performance of Sri Lanka team was below par and the obvious reason being Jayasuriya at the top and failing.  He said Sri Lanka would realize that persisting with Jayasuriya at the top was a mistake.   Yet, who knows cricket better than Rajapakse. He is the person who ordered return of Jayasuriya to the National team when he was dropped after his repeated failure.  However, the President’s shallow decision forced the entire nation to pay heavily. Persisting with failed Jayasuriya... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/10)

Blaming Sri Lanka's T 20 World Cup Exit On Individual Players Should Shift To The Selectors Who Named Them!
Top Spin By Suni
14th May 2010 Its high time the diatribe against individual players as a result of Sri Lanka bowing out of the T20 World Cup was called to a halt and the accusations about lack of performance  on the part of just one player snuffed out~ as cricket is a team game and there are 11 players who have collectively failed to deliver the goods and win thechampionship!   Indeed  the focus is on Sanath Jayasuriya's poor showing in the T20 World Cup but the onus as far as his failure in addition to his poor... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/10)

Private Universities: An Idea that’s Long Overdue
By Ven. Udagama Sumangala, Los Angeles, California
Dear Editor:  I am writing to commend the new Minister of Higher Education’s recent brave decision to allow the establishment of private universities in Sri Lanka.  In the past there were many roadblocks to this idea, including the JVP, the University Grants Commission, some senior academics, and others.  I’m pleased to see that these obstacles have finally been surmounted, and we can proceed with an idea that is long overdue.  Mr. S. B. Dissanayake has given a “green light” to this concept at a time when it is most needed – for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/10)

Viragaya the Inimitable Psychological Novel
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge 
Viragaya novel is a turning point in Sinhala literature. Literary genius Martin Wicramasinghe vibrantly portrays Aravinda s character in Viragaya digging in to the inner psyche. Therefore Viragaya can be considered as one of the first and best psychological novels in Sinhala literature.  Aravinda was a virtuous character trapped in biological instincts and cultural pressure. The complexity of Aravinda s character reveals the inner world of a man who was brought up according to the Buddhist village traditions and how he struggles to fulfill his hidden desires leading to a dramatic transformation. According to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/10)

රුපියල් 300ට මිලදී ගත්තා යයි කියන පුංචි බෝනික්කී ජාතියට හඩගා කියන කථාව
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි
සෙනුදි ලිමන්සා මාපලගම නම් වූ සිගිත්තිය, කැළණි පුද බිමේ දී අතුරුදන්ව, මාරවිලින් මතුව, නැවත ඇයගේ දෙමව් පියන් භාරයට පත්ව ඇත. ඉතා කෙටි කාලයක් තුලදී ඇයගේ දෙමව් පියනට, මවකට හා පියකුට ජීවිතයේදී අත්විදිය හැකි විශාලම කම්පනය හා දැඩි වේදනාව උරුම විය. මෙම තත්වයට මුහුණ දුන් මෙරට දෙමව්පියන්ගේ සංඛ්‍යාත්මක අගය ඉතාම ඉහල අගයක් ගනී. මෙරට දෙමව්පියන් මුහුණ දුන් මෙවන් තත්වයන් ප්‍රභාකරන් විසින් ජනාධිපති ආර් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතාව ඝාතනය කිරීමත් සමගම සමනය වූ අතර, පසුගිය වසරේ වීරෝධාර හමුදාවන් විසින් ප්‍රභාකරන්ව ඝාතනය කිරීමත් සමගම මෙරට තුලවූ තවත් දෙමව්පිය පරපුරක් මුහුණ දුන් එවන් දුක්කදායක තත්වයන් බොහෝ දුරට නිමාවට පත්විය. ඒ දේශපාලන ඝාතන... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/10)

Please have a heart
By Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai
Having won  thundering victories one after the other, is the government going on a spree of getting people’s ire? As it is the nature is playing havoc with the poor. One day they have the sweltering heat, and next day they have torrential rain with floods. Business come to standstill, people loose houses, crops and lives. Now and then you hear of horrible accidents. On top of these, government has suddenly gone berserk trying to drive people in droves towards  crime.  One day the pavement hawkers are driven away, with no alternative earning... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/10)

Mothers abandoning their children
By Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai
The rate of mothers abandoning their children is alarming. We had two cases of mothers throwing their children into rivers and recently one handing over hers to the authorities. How many more undetected, unreported  cases are there? It had not been unusual for mothers abandoning their illegitimate children but now it is grown up children – this state of affairs says a lot of where our society is heading. On one hand people are loosing hope. There are many  single mothers eking out a living on meager income and still surviving, sometime bringing... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/10)

There is a trickster on prawl!
Dr. Mareena Reffai
There has been some incidences which happened to several people at the same time within the last one month. A person who calls himself Iflar calls a moulavi or an organization and says he has brought money from a famous donor from Saudi and that he will meet you to hand it over to you in a week or two. He mentions large amounts like 2 - 5 million. After a week or so he calls and says he had given part of this to other needy people and goes into great details of who the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/10)

KEEP YOUR LABEL AND RETIRE LIKE A GENTLEMAN " MASTER BLASTER"
RANJIT WICKREMERATNE
Cricket is a gentleman's game and every cricketer should play it like a gentleman. You was called Master Blaster, best opener, best allrounder, best of best in everything in cricket and lately you was called member of parliament Sanath Jayasuriya. So now Mr.Master Blaster your time has come to retire and give another village boy like you to become another Master Blaster if you are not jealous. We all have a time limit to do things in our life and there will be a time to take hard decisions whether it's wrong or correct.Now that time has come... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/10)

SRI LANKAN CRICKET-WE NEED ELEVEN SANATH JAYASURIYA’S
BY DR M D P DISSANAYAKE
Sri Lankan cricket rankings have been fluctuating like Japanese Yen currency, for the past several years.  This is a reflection of our teams overall performances in all forms of cricket. It is sad to notice that the team hasn’t got the “killer instinct”.  On a good day, the team is extremely good and on a bad day, they are like wooden spoons.  In contrast, teams such Australia and New Zealand have maintained consistency in their performances in all three departments of bowling, batting and fielding.  Australia did suffer series of set backs during... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/10)

SOWING INJUSTICE REAPING TERRORISM
ALI SUKHANVER
Of brain, heart and hands, no doubt, the brain is always the most important gadget in the whole of human machinery. The brainless actions guided by an eager heart always lead to a whole-sale catastrophe. Successful are those who think well before they leap; whose actions are under the command of their brain not their heart. .The actual problem begins when our heart starts thinking and becomes the controlling authority of all our actions. Ruling all over the world without any sharing and interference is a natural desire of every living nation but most of the times... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/10)

Tamil Tiger fundraiser gets 6 months
A Toronto-area man who pleaded guilty to raising money for the Tamil Tiger rebels was sentenced to six months in jail on Friday morning in Vancouver. Prapaharan Thambithurai, 46, is the first person convicted under Canada's anti-terrorism legislation for knowingly raising money to benefit a terrorist group. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Powers said Thambithurai would be able to serve the sentence in Ontario. The Maple, Ont., resident was arrested in New Westminster, B.C., in March 2008 and charged with providing money, property or services to a terrorist group, in this case the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a banned... -Full Story- (cbc.ca - 14/05/10)

Tamil Tiger fundraiser jailed for six months in Canada
VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) – A judge sentenced a Tamil Tiger fundraiser to six months in jail here Friday after the man pleaded guilty to raising money in Canada to help support the Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka. "This is a serious offence," said Justice Robert Powers, noting the "great harm to all Sri Lankans" from the violence of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Prapaharan Thambithurai, 46, was the first person to be charged under new Canadian legislation against financing foreign terrorist organizations. He had been out on bail since shortly after police arrested him in Vancouver in 2008.... -Full Story- (Yahoo - 14/05/10)

India extends ban on LTTE
Exactly a year after the Sri Lankan military destroyed the Tamil Tigers, the Indian government yesterday extended the ban on the outfit by two more years. “The central government has extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as an unlawful association by two years. The notification to this effect was issued today,” a brief home ministry statement said. The statement didn’t give the reason for extending the ban that New Delhi first imposed in 1992, a year after the LTTE grotesquely assassinated former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Official sources said the ban had been extended... -Full Story- (Gulf Times - 14/05/10)

Petition of slain Tiger chief’s mother rejected
India’s Supreme Court yesterday rejected a plea seeking direction to the central government to fly the ailing mother of the slain Tamil Tigers chief to Chennai for medical treatment. Parvathi Ammal, 86 and mother of Velupillai Prabhakaran, is suffering from paralysis. She is presently in Colombo. A bench of Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice H.L. Dattu asked the petitioner-counsel R. Karuppan: “Is it a case for interference by this court?” Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi announced this month that the central government had agreed that Parvathi Ammal could come to India for medical treatment provided she made no contacts... -Full Story- (Gulf Times - 14/05/10)

Radhika’s remembrance of Regi and his mother’s shame -Part II-
H. L. D.Mahindapala
Just before I left Sri Lanka in 1994 I was jousting with Regi Siriwardena in the columns of The Sunday Observer over the value of Jane Austen as a novelist. That was my last battle in the The Sunday Observer. It began when Mervyn de Silva, the Editor of the Lanka Guardian reproduced my essay on Jane Austen’s masterpiece, Mansfield Park. Regi, who was a cultural icon of the English-speaking elite, used this as an opening to attack me by relying on his status as a respected critic of the fine arts, particularly English literature which... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/10)

PATICCA SAMUPPADA AS A UNIVERSALLY APPLICABLE THEORY (PART 1)
By Shelton A. Gunaratne, Ph.D., professor emeritus Minnesota State University Moorhead
In response to my views on the Buddhist doctrine of paticca samuppada (dependent co-arising) and the Westphalian concept of state sovereignty, several readers have expressed doubts on my assertion that abstractions such as “sovereignty,” “independence,” and “freedom” are incompatible with the complex process of mutual causality on which the entire structure of Buddhist philosophy rests. One critic asserts, “To my knowledge, nowhere does ‘Paticca Samuppada’ relate to matters that are connected to governments or governance.” Just like a schoolmaster of the colonial era, he asserts, “It is a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/10)

Tigers’ Honey Traps
Malin Abeyatunge
The Island of May 1 reproduced a very interesting letter titled ‘Russian honeytrap: Seduced by the oldest trick in the book’ by Dominic Sandbrook, published in The Telegraph Group, London. It brings out interesting historical events in the world of espionage, political alliances where sex working girls ( a refined term for prostitutes) used to obtain secret information, influence politicians, VIPs etc. He/she quoting the Mata Hari case wrote, ‘Perhaps unsurprisingly, history’s most famous Honey Trap agent operated in France; the files now suggest, however, that Mata Hari, the Dutch courtesan executed in 1917 for passing French... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/10)

ඉන්දියා විදේශ ලේකම් නිරූපමා රා ඕ වයින් කල බෝනික්කියක් මෙන් හැසිරීම
චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
1980 ගණන් වල සිදු වූයේ ඉන්දියානු තානාපති ඩ්ක්‍ෂිට් විසින් ජේ. ආර්. ජයවර්ධනට පාඩම් කියා දීමය. දැන් 2010 දී සිදුවී තිබෙන්නේ මා වැනි සුළු පුද්ගල්‍යින්ට පවා නිරූපමා රා ඕ වැනි ලෝක විශේෂඥයින්ට හතේ පන්තියේ මට්ටමේ පාඩම් කියා දීමටය! නිරූපමා ඉන්දියන් සිවිල් සේවයේ නිලධාරිනියක් ද නැත්නම් ලිස්සායන ආකාරයේ කතා කරන දේශපාලකයින්ගේ හොල්මනක් ද? ඇගේ කතා විහිළු කතාද, බොළද කතාද, ඔල්මාදයෙන් කරන කතා ද? ලංකාවේ අනාගතය ගැන දිල්ලියේ ලඟදී පැවැත්වූ සම්මන්ත්‍රණයක දී ඇය කරන ලද කතාවක සාරාශංයක් බී.බී.සී සිංහල.කොම් වල මැයි 11 දා පලවී තිබින.     ඇමෙරිකන් ඩොලර් හා ඉන්දියන් රුපියල් කෝට් එක බැඟින් ලංකාවේ උතුරු-නැඟෙනහිර ට දෙන බව කියන... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/10)

Now Burmese junta mouthpiece criticises NLD
Nava Thakuria
 While the international community and media continue condemning the military rulers of Burma for its farcical electoral laws, the junta has put forward its argument that the National League for Democracy adopted narrow-minded practices. Junta’s mouthpiece The New Light of Myanmar has come out the headline news that ‘if NLD wants to amend the Constitution it should run for the election and should act in accord with the law calling for constitutional amendment ---’. Quoting the junta officials, the government-run news paper also urged the Aung San Suu Kyi led NLD to adopt a broader view and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/10)

Most of us approved “military activity” against Prabhakaran – Radhika Coomaraswamy Part 1
H. L. D. Mahindapala
In commemorating the 88th birthday of late Regi Siriwardena, an icon of the foreign-funded, West-leaning NGOs, Radhika Coomaraswamy, the former head of the International Center for Ethnic Studies (ICES), says: “Regi Siriwardena and Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam made ICES a special place where the best minds discarded old truths and searched for new answers together.” (The Island, May 9, 2010) The two subjects mentioned in this sentence and every phrase in the predicate deserves close scrutiny because she talks of these “best minds”, “discarding old truths” and “searching for new answers.” She wants us to believe... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/10)

STOP SANGAKKARA BASHING !
Ananda De Costa
In India, people used to set fire to homes of cricketers when they fail. Fortunately in our society we never have such tendency among general public because they are learned cultured people. But lately we could see people blaming Sangakkara for various reasons. In early days, true, he behaved badly- but he learned quickly and now is a much better captain. He is a well disciplined man with a good character who is honest in the field. Every captain and every cricketer is human and they make mistakes. We must learn to forgive them but... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/10)

Sri Lankan High Commissioner’s visit to Toronto
Reported by Our special Correspondent Michel Walter from Toronto
Sri Lankan High Commissioner Her Excellency Mrs. Chitranganee Wagiswara had a courtesy visit to Toronto City on 9th May 2010 to meet Sri Lankan Canadians and Tamil Diaspora members. It was a very cordial meetings and she was explaining Sri Lankan Government Development progress and President’s view of “Mahinda Chindana” next stage to improve unity among communities after the united the country under one Flag. She was enthusiastically answering all questions raised by Tamil Diaspora Members and explaining the Sir Lankan government genuine commitment to find solution for minor... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—27 (Part A), A PEEK INTO MEXICO: THROUGH BAJA [LOWER] CALIFORNIA 1983
By Shelton A. Gunaratne © 2010
 We visited Baja [Lower] California on our Trip 3 through San Diego, 10-13 Nov. 1983. I first visited Mexico in 1967, from 12-22 July, as a guest of the National Tourism Council (Consejo Nacional de Tourismo). On that occasion, however, we saw only the 295-km (183-mile) north-south corridor of the country from Mexico City through Cuernavaca and Taxco to Acapulco on the Pacific Coast. (More about that later.) So our 1983 foray into Baja California gave the first whiff of Mexico for my son Junius and wife Yoke-Sim; and the second for me. Mother... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/10)

What significance that western scholarship possesses in countering the western ideological hegemony within our social fabric?
GEETHANJANA KUDALIGAMAGE
Rajapakse, regional politics, “Eurocentric Developmentalism” and the western hegemony (Part 8-A)  “I am talking of millions of men who have been skillfully injected with fear, inferiority complex, trepidation, servility, despair, abasement.”  Aime Cesaire Does this statement of Aime Cesaire possess any relevance to our struggle against all forms of hegemony? Isn’t this statement valid beyond geographical or language barriers and present a resemblance of thoughts among all marginalized people world over? By bringing knowledge of others into the forum, I wanted to bring a sense of solidarity among peoples who struggled for the same cause; by... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/10)

RACIST SAMBANDHAN’S FRESH BID TO ESPOUSE HATRED AND DISUNITY
A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA.  
Although it is one year since our heroic security forces annihilated the world’s ruthless terrorist gang under the splendid commandeering of the President Rajapakse who snubbed all local and international interventionist efforts to prevent an end to the war, it is quite clear that the embers of terrorism still prevail under the ashes of defeated terrorism.  The vultures nourished by the terrorism incessantly make frantic efforts to inflame these embers and reverse the victory achieved and the peaceful atmosphere prevailing in the country since last year. While the Tamil Diaspora and international rogue elements on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/10)

Cartoon,David Miliband's farewell speech
GEETHANJANA KUDALIGAMAGE
... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/10)

සමහර යූ. ඇන්. පී. උප-නායකයින්ට හිටි හැටි යේම බුද්ධාගම මතක් වීම
චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
දේශපාලන පක්‍ෂ විසින් "මන්ත්‍රී ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය" යන නම යටතේ බොහෝ වශයෙන් කරන්නේ බොරුවක් බව ලංකාව, ඉන්දියාව, එංගලන්තය, කැනඩාව, ඇමෙරිකාව යන රටවල සිදුවෙන දේවලින් පෙනේ. සුළු පිරිසක් විසින් 90% ක් පමණ ජනයා පාලනය කිරීම, රැවටීම හා සූරාකෑම ලෝක ඉතිහාසයේ, මිනිස් සමාජ ඉතිහාසයේ සිදුවුන, සිදුවෙන දෙය ය. ඇමෙරිකාවේ පක්‍ෂ ක්‍රමය බල්ලාටම ගිහින් ය. ග්‍රීක-රෝම කාලයේ වහලුන් තබා ගත්තේත්, 1860 ගනන් වනතුරු ඇමෙරිකාවේ වහල් ක්‍රමයක් තිබුනේත්, යාපනයේ කුලහීන ජනයාට කෝවිලේ තබා ක්‍රිස්තියානි පල්ලියේවත් බිම මිස බංකුවක වත් ඉඳගැනීමට නොදුන්නේත් මෙසේ පාලක-සේවක වශයෙන් මිනිස් සමාජය හැමවිටම බෙදී යාම නිසාය. කළු සුද්දන් පරම්පරාවක් බිහි කිරීමේ යටත් විජිතවාදී උපක්‍රමය මගින් වුනේ මේ සමාජ බෙදීම... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/10)

Avatar or American lunacy
Sunil Vijayapala, Oxley, Australia
With initial disinclination to watch this movie in a cinema hall as we, who live in this lucky country,  pay about 50-100% more for a movie ticket, (or to any other commodity) compared with other developed countries,  we finally purchased the DVD and watch it at home.  Wonder how many westerners are aware that the Sanskrit word Avatar means 'descent from heaven' but however the movie certainly did not depict this, rather it portrayed an astral body referenced in most eastern religions.  As you watch along you realise the director has taken a BOLD step to expose... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/10)

No Excuses Sri Lanka, You Played The Aussie Quickies Like Novices.
Sunil Kumara
May 11, 2010 When Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara refuses to admit that his team were overwhelmed by pace and bounce generated by Australia's fast bowlers on the Kensington Oval pitch in their T20 World Cup 2010 outing, and put down the 81-run defeat to the inability to build partnerships it is a lame excuse as the Lankans were like lambs being slaughtered by the executioners of the best pace attack the world has ever seen since the days of the awesome Windies and names like Walsh, Ambrose, Garner, Holding, Bishop and co. the demolishers, crop up in equal... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/10)

What Really is the Point Pedro Institute of Development ? Is it a registered Association ?
Charles.S.Perera
My friend Athulathmudaly, drew my attention to a rather ambiguous website http://pointpedro.org . I hope every body, including the Secretary of Defence takes a look at it.  The government is doing its best to develop the North and East, expecting the people there to understand that the efforts being made by government are in fact the respect given to the wishes of the majority Sinhala and other communities in the south, expressed by their vote, to get closer to the Tamil people and build a true and a sincere union of the communities, to make a united attempt... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/10)

Hung British Parliament & Potential Consequences for Sri Lanka
Pro. Hudson McLean
Mother of Parliaments is in Gallows!  Britain is looking at a Hung Parliament, either with a Political Partnership or a Brave Minority Government. In either case the "King-maker" Liberal Democratic Party are going for the kill with their demands for Reform and a heavy list of concessions. Either the Conservatives or the Labour, whoever wins the Lib-Dem "open-marriage" will have internal rebellion within the Party and its supporters. Will the Lib-Dems get a Portfolio with a number such as 11, 12, or the 666 (Devil's Plate)? Both Conservatives and Labour are fuly aware that by giving... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/10)

Frederica Jansz puts us all in a log jam with mixed metaphors
Ajit Randeniya
The Sunday Leader, if you haven’t heard about it yet, is the practitioner of ‘Yellow Journalism’ in Sri Lanka: it presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead, gives vent to just malicious grumbling of its backers, uses blaring headlines and sensationalised stories of non-news. It generally resorts to scandal-mongering in an unprofessional and unethical fashion.  Expecting to read rational, reasonable commentary and analysis on the government’s performance in this ‘newspaper’ is like expecting a busker in a western city square to play Bach's St Matthew Passion on a ukulele: it is not going to happen.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/10)

Dr. Rachel Joyce: Sri Lanka
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent. Gloucester . Ontario .  Canada
May 9, 2010 Dr. Rachel Joyce Defeated Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Harrow West Middlesex, UK. Dear Rachel Joyce: Since I was shadowing your candidature after I read your statement headlined in a newspaper as, ‘British candidate calls Tamils victims of genocide”, I did not want you to win and extremely happy that you did not get elected as a Member of Parliament as I was afraid that you would be spouting lies about Sri Lanka in the British parliament to support your Tamil constituents. In your BlogSpot you say, “I must... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/10)

Ranil Wickremasinghe"s Latest Rhetoric On The Fonseka Court Martial, Far Fetched!
Insight By Sunil Kumar
May 9th 2010 Introducing Ranil Wickremasinghe~ leader of the opposition whose latest antics have not done him proud nor brought him recognition as a legitimate politician by any stretch of the imagination and here's why!  He's at times the object of national ridicule and now add to it the label international ridicule as he continues his merry way in gay abandon seemingly oblivious to the global titterings he seems to arouse most times he makes a statement which is either a huge contradiction or such a blooper which is unbecoming of his political stature as... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/10)

Fonseka: EU makes its stand very clear
Courtesy The Island
The European Union (EU) "has no position on any on-going court case in Sri Lanka," the EU delegation in Colombo said on Friday in a three-paragraph press release. This was a clear reference to a statement made in parliament by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who said that GSP+ can be rescued if Gen. Sarath Fonseka is released. The EU press release confirmed that a Sri Lanka government delegation will visit the European Commission’s (EC) headquarters in Brussels later this month. Discussions between this delegation comprising the Secretaries to the Ministries of Finance, External Affairs, Justice and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/10)

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ආණ්ඩුව හා ජීවන බර
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
මේ වනවිට ජනතාව තුලින් හීන් කෙදිරි හඩවල් කෙමෙන් කෙමෙන් ඉස්මතු වෙමින් පවතී. පාන් ගනන් ගියා. ගෑස් ගනන් ගියා. හෙට අනිද්දාම පෙට්රල් හා අනිකුත් භාණ්ඩ මිල ක්‍රම ක්‍රමයෙන් ඉහල නංවනු ඇත. අපි කුඩා බිලිදුන් නොව, අවුරුදු ගනනාවක් මේ ක්‍රියාදාමය හොදට දැක ඇති පැසුන අත්දැකීම් ඇති මිනිසුන් වෙමු. අප කුමක් කරමුද? අපට කිරීමට දහසකුත් දේ ඇත. ඒවා නිවැරදිව පලමුව අප හදුනා ගත යුතු වෙමු. මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා යනු මෙරට විධායක ජනාධිපතිතුමාය. ජේ. ආර්. ජයවර්ධන මහතාගේ නිගමනයන්ට අනුව, ඔහුට කල නොහැක්කේ එකම එක කාරියකි. ඒ ගැහැණියෙක් මිනිහෙක් කිරීම හා මිනිහෙක් ගැහැණියක් කිරීමේ කාර්යය පමණි. කියමන එසේ වුවද, මෙරට බහු... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/10)

A Lesson in Maths from Mother of Parliaments - The British Election 2010
Prof. Hudson McLean
Heare Ye All, in ex-Colonial Backwaters! This is how Democracy should work. Close doors on Voters who have been waiting for hours! Print less Ballot Papers than Voters! And it Works! Labour Party & Conservatives will NEVER let the Lib-Dems get anywhere near Power! First, during 13 years, Labour Administration carves the electorate in such a way to keep the Safe seats very safe. This is clearly demonstrated when out of a Total Number of Seats - 649: 29% = 258, 23% = 57, 36% = 306. Liberal Democrats were clearly marginalised. Number of Seats -... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—26-A TASTE OF SAN DIEGO: SAY HELLO TO WILD ANIMALS AND NUDISTS
By Shelton A. Gunaratne © 2010
 Fullerton (pop. 126,000) was the base for my extensive travels on the West Coast during my Fullerton year (1983 through January 1984). It was my most extensive travel year bar for 1966-67, the year of my World Press Institute Fellowship. I took advantage of my exchange year at Fullerton College to visit and enjoy almost all nooks and corners of California that I adjudged worthy of a visit. Fullerton is 25 miles (40 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles, and 11 miles (18 km) north-northwest of Santa Ana, the Orange County seat. San Diego, just... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/10)

සුවදායක මරණය
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
ඔබට සුවදායක මරණයක් අවශ්‍ය නම් එය ඉටු කරදීම සදහා සැදී පැහැදී සිටින රාජ්‍ය පද්ධතියක් මේ ලෝකයේ උත්තර ධ්‍රවයට ආසන්නව පෙල ගැසී බලා සිටී. එම රාජ්‍ය පද්ධතීන් අතරින් මෙම කර්තව්‍යය සදහා මූලිකත්වය දරන්නේ ස්විස්ටර්ලන්තයයි. මනරම් වටපිටාවකින් යුත් මේ මනරම් රාජ්‍යය රටවල් තුනකින් කෑලි එකතු කර ගොඩනැංවූවකි. ප්‍රංශයෙන් එක කැබැල්ලකුත්, ජර්මනියෙන් තවත් කැබැල්ලකුත් ඉතාලියෙන් කැබල්ලකුත් අමුණා, ගොඩනංවා ඇති මේ රාජ්‍යය අනිකුත් ලෝකයෙන් වියෝව ගොඩනැංවූවක් සේ දිස්වේ. සාධාරණත්වයේ ප්‍රතිමුර්තියක් සේ විද්‍යාමානව වැජඹුණ මේ රාජ්‍යය සම්බන්ධව සැක කල කිසිදු රටක් රාජ්‍යයක් මෙලොව තිබු‍ණේම නැත. මේ හේතුවෙන් ජනතාවට සුවදායක මරණයක් උරුම කරවීමේ ක්‍රියාදාමයට එරෙහිව අන් රට වලින් මේ රටට එරෙහිව කිසිවෙකුත්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/10)

'cultivating the tiger'
cartoon by GEETHANJANA KUDALIGAMAGE
... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/10)

Re-organisation of the UNP
By Charles.S.Perera
Therer is a proposal to reorganise the UNP. The UNP as the oldest political party deserves a reorganisation as it has not so far contributed to Sri Lanka’s social or economic growth.  Only contribution it made in its inception was the bringing in of all communities together to work for the independence of Sri Lanka from its colonial rule that had lasted for nearly three hundred years.  But the Independence alone was not sufficient to establish the sense of freedom - being a Nation a part entire.  It had to await the  launch of a new political... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/10)

Sri Lankan Cops - Useful Tips
Dr. Mareena Reffai
1. A single Cop, CANNOT stop you on the road ! he must be accompanied by another one.     (it's prohibited and you are not suppose to Stop either !) 2. A single cop CANNOT seize your driving license ! 3. Only a 'traffic control' cop has the authority to request anything MORE than your NIC when you are behind wheels. 4. A single traffic cop NEVER can press charges against you.     HE MUST HAVE A WITNESS IF DOES SO. 5. That's why you always find 'two' cops together 6. Police is a peace... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/10)

The Island newspaper reneges on word to publish Buddhist perspective on sovereignty and freedom
 Sri Lanka News
When Dr.  Shelton Gunaratne, professor of mass communications emeritus at Minnesota State University Moorhead and former Lake House journalist, sent an essay on the Buddhist perspective on state sovereignty and press freedom (re- produced below) for publication in The Island newspaper, the editor sent the following e-mail message dated 26 April 2010: “Thanks a lot for a very interesting contribution. Will print it shortly. Best, Prabath [Sahabandu]”  But to Gunaratne’s dismay, editor Prabath failed to keep his word. Who intervened to prevent the publication of Gunaratne’s elucidation of Buddhist philosophy on two very important political concepts? ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/10)

Lessons for Sri Lanka from Chile
Ajit Randeniya
One of the more bizarre gestures of international relations came March 2 when Hillary Clinton was captured on photo, gifting a satellite phone to the out-going Chilean President Michelle Bachelet; the gesture was considered bizarre because the purpose of Clinton’s visit was to offer US condolences and material aid following the magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile on February 27, causing damage to the tune of around $30 billion.  Those who closely follow the more devious elements of US foreign policy found the gesture involving the satellite phone to be more than the useless material aid it... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/10)

Chemicals in farming and cancer
Ben Silva
It as been reported in the media that thousands of innocent people are unnecessarily dying in NCP of Sri Lanka, due to the consumption of contaminated water. Many more will have their  kidneys, thinking ability and brains damaged due to consumption of  water contaminated with heavy metals such as lead and contaminated with  toxic  weed killers  and pesticides etc. Ref: http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items08/190508-6.html.  A recent CNN program indicated that farmers in Punjab are suffering from cancer due to consumption of toxic water ref. http://www.cnn.com/video//video/tech/2010/05/03/kapur.india.organic.farming.cnn It appears that farmers  in Punjab now want to move away from using chemicals... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/10)

Election in UK
GEETHANJANA KUDALIGAMAGE

... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/10)

General Election 2010: British voting system too 'corruptible', warn Third World observers
The British election system is too open to possible corruption, abuse and malpractice, according to a group of official observers from the developing world.The 11-strong observation team countries including Bangladesh, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia and Nigeria were been in the UK since Sunday to observe the work of candidates, polling stations and the count. In a joint statement tonight at a press confernce at the Royal Commonwealth Society they said the system “relies a great deal on trust” which may have worked in the past, but could have to be reformed in the future. One of the teams had “heard about... -Full Story- (telegraph.co.uk - 07/05/10)

Poll watchdog swamped with complaints
By Bob Sherwood and Andrew Bounds
Liberty, the human rights group, raised the prospect of legal action over the debacle as it said it too was investigating the allegations that hundreds of potential voters were disenfranchised. The campaign group said its lawyers were examining the case for a potential judicial review of the election process... -Full Story- (ft.com - 07/05/10)

WIN- WIN SITUATION
Chandra Ratnayake Whitby, Ontario  Canada
Dear All, To all who love politicians and who hate politicians. We were born in Srilanka and several of us received free education, health care and some times food as well. But my point is that the politicians and the political situation in Srilanka are changing. Srilanka as a country and our relatives and friends in Srilanka remain ours. So why can't we help them and gain as well? A few hints: 1.      Financially help relatives/friends establish businesses (make sure to get a contract signed or you may end up losing friends... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/10)

Sri Lanka Records World’s Highest Growth in Tourism
Sri Lanka has topped another list by recording the highest growth in tourist arrivals during the first two months of 2010. An interim report of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) lists Sri Lanka with a 50 percent growth in tourist arrivals among 77 countries that have reported international arrivals data so far. The small Indian Ocean island, which emerged one year ago from a brutal armed conflict with separatist rebels, outperformed 23 other countries with double-digit growth rates. Saudi Arabia ranked second (+45%) with Israel (+37%), Vietnam (+36%) and Nepal (+30%) rounding out the top five. Read more... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/10)

Of beggars and ministers
Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai
It is heart warming to hear that the President has taken pains to sort out the problems of the street hawkers. However this situation has to be looked into in details. Two days back ( 5/5/2010) the daily mirror carried  a front page article on  unemployment – how it is increasing. Another colored column on the front page  states that 466 MP’s will receive pensions. Makes one wonder what these worthies have done for the country to receive life time pensions. This money can certainly be used for some youth program to make them... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/10)

Fonseka vows to expose war crimes
Sri Lanka's ex-army chief yesterday vowed to "expose" any war crimes committed at the end of the country's civil war, raising pressure on the government, which has resisted calls for a probe. The United Nations estimated that 7,000 civilians perished in fighting in the early months of last year when government troops overwhelmed Tamil Tiger rebels and ended their 37-year separatist campaign. General Sarath Fonseka, who fell out with President Mahinda Rajapakse and quit after successfully crushing the Tamil rebels, said there were allegations that should be thoroughly and independently investigated. "I will go out of my way to expose... -Full Story- (thedailystar.net - 06/05/10)

Lanka to go for LTTE war probe
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Sri Lanka plans to appoint a commission to probe into violations of internationally accepted norms of conduct during the last phase of the war between government troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The commission would also investigate the circumstances that would have led to the violations and identify the persons or groups responsible. Also for the first time, the commission would recommend compensation for war victims and their families who suffered during the conflict.... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 06/05/10)

Former Army Chief Fonseka's Desperate Attempt To Discredit The Government Exposes His Own Mendacity
Insight By Sunil Kumar
It needs to be put into perspective objectively that Sri Lanka's ex-army chief recently threatening to "expose" any war crimes committed during the end of the country's civil war last year and said he would go "out of his way" to assist with a probe,  is a justificationof the charges of treason now being brought against him which  now becomes even more plausible as the man is veritably putting his own neck into the noose and incriminating himself as he was the man in charge of military operations in a military sense rather than administrative which role... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/05/10)

BRITISH ELECTIONS AND THE TAMIL DIASPORA
A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA.
Britain goes to poll on 6th May to elect 650 Members of Parliament for its House of Commons. Population statics of Britain indicate that the Tamil populations in Britain amounts to over 300,000 persons and of which around 200,000 are Sri Lankan Tamils.　 Most of these Sri Lankan Tamils are economic refugees settled down in Britain during and after the 1983 progrom unleashed by the J.R.Jayawardene government.　 These Sri Lankan Tamils have become a significant voting bloc in many electorates in Britain and the Tamil Diaspora operating under the agenda of Global Tamil Forum (the new... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/10)

MYTHS AND REALITIES OF SRI LANKA-ABUSE OF AN ISLANDS HISTORY
J JAYASUNDERA
Sri Lanka the tear drop island below India is a victim of a barrage of propaganda which is abusing her history, her religion her soul that needs addressing. Sri Lankan population comprises of 74% Sinhalese ,12% Sri Lankan Tamils , Recent Indian immigrant labour 7%,& 7% Muslims. Sinhalese are mainly Buddhists and Tamils mainly Hindu. Sri Lanka has been variously called Ceylon, celan, Taprobane, etc The ancient name is Sinhale the land of the Sinhalese or in Tamil Singhalam. Sinhale even figures in the Chinese chronicles including the records of Buddhist countries by Chinese  Buddhist monks and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/10)

Freedom of the Press.
By Charles.S.Perera
 It is at least interesting to see how some Western Democracies , and their Agencies, select the  winners for  awards for Press Freedom or Human right activities.  It appears that the awards are not  given in appreciation of the  deeds themselves,  but  according to  the extent to which their actions had harmed the country which the awarding country or the Agency  wants to dishonour.   The runner up for the  first annual Freedom Defender’s Award  selected by the US Embassy in Sri Lanka was Mano Ganesan.  Mano Ganeshan was well known for his close relationship with the terrorists, and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/10)

Presidential May Day Call For Opposition To Unite Needs Response From Nation!
LankaWeb Weekly Editorial May 6th 2010
"Oh what a wonderful place this resplendent Isle of our would be if all parties unite to make it even more resplendent." is a thought for the times at hand albeit obviously the musing of a dream which could perhaps be a reality only if the unexpected happened and all parties did indeed unite under one leader, one banner and one constitution.   Despite many optimisms from many sectors however, this is not likely to transpire within Sri Lanka in the very near future short of a miraculous coming together of all parties as the idealogies and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/10)

Rhythm of Life -Part II
By Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge
Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought  and the thought has found words.  Robert Frost Ali Bumaye He who looks like a butterfly Stings like a bee No scares in his face He is the champion of champions  When he was drafted He refused to kill the yellow man He said they did not call me a nigger So I will not go to Nam He defeated many boxers Also fought against injustice Mohamed Ali is still fighting This time may be Parkinsonism No matter how long it will take He... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/10)

ඩග්ලස් දේවානන්ද හා දෙමළ ජනතාව
චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
මැයි 5 දා ලක්බිම පත්තරයේ ඩග්ලස් දේවානන්ද මහතා සමඟ කල සම්මුඛ සාකච්චාවක් වාර්තා කර තිබිණ. කොටි ත්‍රස්තවාදය විනාශ වී යෑම ගැන සතුටුවන ඔහු ජනවාර්ගික ප්‍රශ්නයකට විසඳුම් බලා පොරොත්තුවෙමින් සිටී.     ඩග්ලස් ට අනුව ව්සඳුම ඉතාමත් සරලය. ඔහු කියන්නේ 13-ඒ, ලුනු ඇඹුල් ද සහිතව ක්‍රියාවට නැගීමෙන් "දෙමළ ප්‍රශ්නය" විසඳන බවය. දයාන් ජයතිලක කිව්වේ 13-ඒ ප්ලස් හෝ 13-ඒ ක්ලැසික් එකක් ගැනය. මෙම ඩග්ලස් හා දයාන් මෝඩයින්ද, කයිරාටිකයින්ද,  එසේ නැත්නම් ඔවුන් අපව මෝඩයින් කරන්නට හදනවා ද?     13-ඒ කියන්නේ ඉන්දියාව, ලංකාවේ උතුරේ හා නැඟෙනහිර දෙමළ නිජභූමියක් තිබෙනවාය කියා පිළිගෙන එය නීතිය මගින් 1987 දී ලංකාවේ ක්‍රියාවට නැගීමය. මෙය 1956 දී... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/10)

Diaspora Representatives Join Talks on Post-Poll Political Process - May 4,2010
Ira de Silva London, Canada
The Editor The Island Colombo, Sri Lanka   Dear Sir:   The news report that representatives of the Tamil Diaspora, who everyone knows is the LTTE Tamil diaspora, are going to New Delhi to discuss political processes for Sri Lanka with the Indian Government should be a cause for concern for the non-LTTE people of Sri Lanka as it constitutes a threat to the peace and stability of the country.    The current government of Sri Lanka is well aware that the cause of Eelam is not dead and is now being driven by the LTTE... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/10)

Four more Ministers and Six Deputies sworn in
By Janaka Alahapperuma
Pix by: Sudath Silva Four more Ministers and six Deputy Ministers were sworn in before President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the President’s House this morning on 5th April increasing the size of the Cabinet to 42 members. Kandy District MP and former Minister and Media Spokesman on National Security, Keheliya Rambukwella has been appointed as the Minister of Media and Information and S.B. Dissanayaka appointed as the Minister of Higher Education. Leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, Tissa Vitharana (National list MP) was sworn in as the Minister of Technology and Research and the leader of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/10)

DHL Global Forwarding appoints Najeeb-ur Rahman as Country Manager for Sri Lanka
press release
Colombo, 5th May 2010: DHL Global Forwarding, the world’s leading air and ocean freight company, today announced that Najeeb-ur Rahman will take over as Country Manager of DHL Global Forwarding with effect from 1st April 2010. Najeeb brings with him extensive experience and knowledge in operations management, business development & strategic focus. With 25 years experience in the logistics arena, Najeeb has been responsible for many innovations within the industry. He has built a team of exceptional professionals who are well conversant with the continually changing demands on an industry that is fundamental to the success of any... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/10)

SHAMELESS RAW SHAMS CURRENCY
BY: PREM RAJ
INTRODUCTION What a shame for ‘RAW’ when exposing Madame Madhuri Gupta, an Indian diplomat, charging her with baseless allegations to fashion her naked that too  having no proof against her even then has been sent to jail. “RAW” acts like a mad dog biting each one associated with Pakistan. The poor diplomat’s name was firstly attached with a person named ‘RANA’ from Pakistan, in a concocted knot, with whom she fell in love and hence had provided very important documents to ‘ISI’ of Pakistan, remained the premier stance of India until the story unveiled. Miss... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—25 (Part B)-CALIFORNIA EXPLOITS: UNCOVERING SAN FRANCISCO WITH FAMILY
By Shelton A. Gunaratne ©2010
Uncovering Golden Gate Despite rainy weather, we spent most of Day 3 (Friday) at the 1,017-acre rectangular-shaped (0.5 miles x 3 miles) Golden Gate Park, located about four miles south of the Golden Gate Bridge, a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. We had already crossed this bridge on our camping trip to Mount Tamalpais in August. Built in1937, it has been ranked fifth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects. However, our focus on this occasion... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/10)

Tamil Elamists Plot to Get UN Recognition Either as a UN Non-Member State or as a UN Observer
Kumar Moses
All these moves pose a mortal danger to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. Since nothing tangible happens in relation to Sri Lanka, many tend to discount the relevance if these moves. However, when coupled with other sinister LTTE moves, this can create heaps of trouble for Sri Lanka.  Having the TGTE recognized as a non-member-state of the UN is still difficult although they are likely to make a push for that. In doing so, they will tap into legal concepts accepted by the UN including the right of a group of people to self... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/10)

“Pottu” Radhika’s anti-Sri Lankan politics bring disrepute to UN
H. L. D. Mahindapala
When on May 27, 2009 Dayan Jayatilleka turned the tables on the West at the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Geneva and scored the biggest ever diplomatic victory, by not only throwing out the West’s draft resolution against Sri Lanka but also by imposing his own, it stunned the West, the Tamil lobby and even the Foreign Office of Sri Lanka. At the UN Radhika Coomaraswamy, Under-Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict,-was driven to desperation by Dayan’s stunning victory. The reaction of the Tamil diasporic lobby, which was hoping to win through the European... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/05/10)

Rhythm of Life- Part I
By Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge
Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought  and the thought has found words.  Robert Frost Woodstock Convention  Near bethel NY Three Days of Peace & Music Half -million souls gathered Towards one direction  It was a catharsis It was a cry for freedom It was an ultimate emancipation It was the magical multicolored phenomenon of pop culture  The insignificant group of social outcasts  Went in search of truth Have they found it? We don’t know yet  They were determined to go back to the Garden Challenging the conservative traditions Revolting against the political hypocrisies... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/05/10)

LTTE duping the Tamils again
Note by the Editors of Sri Lanka Watch:
In recent months we have done extensive investigations in the North and East of Sri Lanka and came to the conclusion without an iota of doubt that the Tamils have done away with not only the LTTE but also the Tamil Diaspora in the western world and Down Under. Most people in the Diaspora who are in the forefront of the transnational farce have been identified as those who have criminal records in Sri Lanka, known as LTTE activists and some supporters of other terror organizations, and a large number who... -Full Story- (srilankawatch.com - 03/05/10)

The Divisional Development Councils Programme of Sri Lanka 1970-1977
Garvin Karunaratne
 The experience of the Divisional Development Councils Programme(DDCP) of Sri Lanka(1970-1977) is currently of great importance to those handling economic development. This is because it is an employment creation programme, i.e. a programme that really creates employment. This is due to the fact that there are very few employment creation programmes in the world. What one can find are training programmes which provide training but do not include placing the trained in an income generating project, including guidance till the project- either on a self employed basis or a cooperative endeavour, is successful. The DDCP included all... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/05/10)

Why a two third Majority, when according to Feizal Samath’s Article “Jaffna Tamils Decry Development Plan of Gov’t” -Part One.
By Charles.S.Perera
Why a two third majority ? If it is to  amend the constitution to  allow devolution  of political power to the Tamils; it is far better to leave the constitution alone for the time being. It serves no purpose to accept the most undependable politician Rauf Hakeem,  the shameless opportunist ManoGaneshan,  or  the slaves of the terrorists Sampanthan and the rest into the government fold  merely to increase the numbers to have the two third majority.  The Tamils should engage themselves completely  with the government to participate in the Nation  building activities as a part of its... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/05/10)

Why a two third Majority, when according to Feizal Samath’s Article “Jaffna Tamils Decry Development Plan of Gov’t” -Part Two.
By Charles.S.Perera
The ordinary Tamil people  do not hate the majority Sinhala Buddhists. But it is an artificial hatred that has been created by the Tamil politicians, Tamil business community, the Tamil journalists and the Tamil intelligentsia.  It is they the Tamil journalists, politicians, and the Tamil intelligentsia who should come forward to bring the communities together, and persuade the Tamil people that it is only by accepting the Sinhala majority as compatriots, and working together with them that their problems could be solved.   It is not an aggressive dialogue with the Sinhala majority that will  make it possible... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/05/10)

මර්වින් සිල්වා හා සන්ඩේ ලීඩර් පත්තරේ ෆ්රෙඩරිකා ජෑන්ස්
චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
ජෑන්ස් මෙනෙවිය, මර්වින් සිල්වා ගැන ලියා ඇති විස්තරය (මැයි 2 දා) කියවූ මට, ඇය එය ලියා ඇත්තේ බලවත් විදේශ බලවේගයක උසි ගැන්වීම හා ආරක්‍ෂාව මත බව ගැන කිසිදු සැකයක් නැත. මර්වින් සිල්වා කරන සමහර වැඩ නුසුදුසු බවත්, මර්වින් සිල්වා ගැන ඇති චෝදනා සොයා බැලිය යුතු බව ගැනත්, එසේ නොකිරීම මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ රජයට හානි කර බවත් මගේ මතයය. විශේෂයෙන් ඔහු පාතාල කල්ලියට හවුල්ද යන කතාව ගැන කට කතා මිසක් ඒ ගැන ඔහුට විරුද්ධව ක්‍රියා කිරීමට ඉදිරිපත් වන ජෑන්ස් කෙනෙක් නැත.     ජෑන්ස් ගේ වාර්තාවෙන් වැඩිම හානිය සිදුවී ඇත්තේ චන්ද්‍රිකාට ය කියා මට සිතේ. වික්ටර් අයිවන් ගේ පොතෙන් වුනාට... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/05/10)

Sri Lanka one year on: Has peace brought happiness to this island nation?
By Peter Popham
The ancient man with the walrus moustache, his white coat ablaze with medals, greets me like a long-lost friend. The huge lobby, dazzlingly bright and hot and open to the four winds, is unchanged. The morning after I arrived, a fancy wedding was going full pelt, with drummers in turbans, small children dressed up as princes and princesses, and dramatic local beauties sashaying up and down the winding stairs in the latest sari styles. Here at the Galle Face, Colombo's famously eccentric colonial hotel, locals and foreign visitors are spending Sri Lanka's peace dividend like there... -Full Story- (independent.co.uk - 02/05/10)

JOIN US TO REBUILD OUR MOTHERLAND WITHOUT BEATING WAR DRUMS ABROAD.
Ranjit Wickremeratne
Far far away we can hear the sound of war drums beat by the so called Tamil Diaspora who stiil believe in separating our beloved homeland in to pieces with the help of our enemies in the International community. They try every trick on the book to tarnish our image abroad by making movies,Dramas,and having discussions and distributing booklets brandishing our Motherland as an evil country where innocent Tamils were killed by our gallant security forces and the Sinhala population. Though they know in their hearts that's not true and it is the other way around they somehow managed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/05/10)

LTTE lethal weapons still unearthed
defence.lk
In the backdrop of the country getting ready to celebrate the first year anniversary of the defeat of the LTTE lethal weapons buried by the outfit are still being unearthed from the North and the East according to the Army’s media unit. Sri Lanka Army troops continued clearing operations have uncovered more LTTE military hardware hidden in Vavuniya,Mannar,Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu districts yesterday (01 May), military sources said. Troops of 56 Division, while conducting a search and clear operation in general area Mathiyamadu in Vavuniya district recovered 02 x locally made weapons. In general area Periyapandivirichchan East, troops of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/05/10)

Where to buy a land mine in Lanka!
The civil war in Sri Lanka may be over, but you can buy a land mine on the side of the road in Jaffna though they're more likely to explode in your mouth than anywhere else. In the main city on Sri Lanka's northernmost peninsula, besieged by 2½ decades of bloody sectarian violence until last May, the spicy samosa sold by street vendors throughout the city is still known by its nom de guerre: midi-vedi, the Tamil word for land mine.... -Full Story- (thedailystar.net - 02/05/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—25 (Part A) -CALIFORNIA EXPLOITS: UNCOVERING SAN FRANCISCO WITH FAMILY
By Shelton A. Gunaratne ©2010
The San Francisco Bay Area (comprising nine counties, 101 cities, and 8,000 sq miles or 22,000 sq km) is home to some 7.4 million people. But the combined city-county of San Francisco (occupying a land area of 47 sq miles or 121 sq km) has a population of only about 810,000. It is, therefore, the fourth most populous city in California—after Los Angeles (3.8 million), San Diego (1.3 million) and San Jose (1 million). I first visited San Francisco in late December 1966—exactly 17 years before—as a World Press Institute fellow. I had revisited... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/10)

Sri Lanka - Must Listen To It's People
Ira de Silva London, Canada
The Editor The Guardian U.K.   Dear Sir:   I just read the commentary by Nash Colundalur on Sri Lanka. The writers bias is evident in the very first sentence when he states that a bloody civil war followed an oppressive history of the Tamils. He has obviously read only the false propaganda of the LTTE. I will point a few of the falsehoods on which he bases his comments/arguments.   The oppression in Sri Lanka was by the British during their colonial rule where thousands of people, all Sinhalese, were murdered, driven from their... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/10)

History created at the University of Oxford: New cricket series featuring S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia inaugurated
Press Release: Oxford University Sri Lanka Society
History was created recently at the University of Oxford. Last Sunday (25th of April) witnessed the inauguration of a cricket series featuring the alumni of S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia and other prominent schools in the island. Themed “S. Thomas College OBA (UK) vs. Combined Sri Lankan Schools XI” cricket match worked off at the exclusive University Club of the University of Oxford.  The event was jointly organised by the Oxford University Sri Lanka Society and the S. Thomas’ College, Mt Lavinia OBA in the UK (STC ML OBA-UK). The distinguished guests... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/10)

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