Dilrook Kannangara Last year (2022) saw some unprecedented events in Sri Lanka. For the first time in history, a president and a prime minister were removed and replaced without a vote. Although the parliamentary composition remains same, the direction, policies, events, decision-making, priorities and international standing have changed for the better. While some lament their […]

Dilrook Kannangara Those who allege local and foreign conspiracy in 2022 regime change have a responsibility to their people. If their allegations are true, it is a very serious violation of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, the Constitution (on many counts), the franchise, fundamental rights of individuals, the Penal Code and many other laws. Internationally, it is […]

Dilrook Kannangara India’s sudden interest in Buddhism seems to be driven by militarization than anything noble. India uses Buddhism as a weapon against China, a bargaining tool against Burma and Bhutan and as an extortion tool against Sri Lanka. All this happens while India’s Buddhists endure acute discrimination, marginalization and deprivation. This has many learnings […]

Dilrook Kannangara Sri Lanka needs anti-terror and anti-subversion laws. Sadly, the seven decades since Independence are dotted with subversion, violence, disruption and terrorism. Current Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) introduced in 1979 has its use but falls short of many security risks the island faces. Parts of it are outdated. Singapore’s Internal Security Act is […]

Dilrook Kannangara A recent book by a parliamentarian equates the events of Aragalaya (2022) in Sri Lanka to Euromaidan uprising (2013) of Ukraine. However, the two are vastly different; in fact, opposed to each other. Most of these claims are unsubstantiated and only based on either hearsay or guesses. Understanding key differences between Euromaidan and […]

Dilrook Kannangara Major problems, ailments and disasters brew slowly. There are unmissable signs of impending danger that are often disregarded for convenience. At other times humans simply do not want to hear them as they have enough on their plate. They wish the problems will go away or find an easy scapegoat. These are the […]

Dilrook Kannangara Sadly the nation has been pushed to a corner without many options. Who did it is a bygone debate now as time is running out. Sri Lanka needs a surviving mechanism. Without it the island nation will totally capitulate to the New Great Game. Those who dream about utopian options that does not […]

Dilrook Kannangara Selling state enterprises is not the right thing to do. If Sweden, Singapore and even Sri Lanka before 1972 could do it, state business undertakings can profit and run efficiently. However, the current state of affairs surrounding state businesses is pathetic and they cannot be salvaged. On top of that Sri Lanka is […]

Dilrook Kannangara As if economic crises are not enough, the nation has to deal with never-ending strikes by teachers at various levels of teaching and exam marking and a worsening lack of doctors and other professionals. Both these are tied to long term economic instability. The nation needs a steady flow of professionals for its […]

Dilrook Kannangara Even a schoolkid who has studied Year 11 Commerce would tell you that the Central Bank must be independent of the government. And that’s how it is around the world. However, Sri Lanka does not follow the rest of the world. Well established norms are questioned, challenged and changed in Sri Lanka to […]

Dilrook Kannangara JVP was the last of the Sinhala political parties to accept 13A and provincial councils in 1999. By then UNP, SLMP, SLMC, EPRLF, SLFP and PA had succumbed to the 13A honeypot. It was a wise decision of the JVP to at last embrace the inevitable. 13A has no benefits for the nation; […]

Dilrook Kannangara There is a silly trend of glorifying and romanticizing the pre-Independence era. Those who do so have no idea how things were then. Although Sri Lanka is in a dire economic and political situation today, some matters are better than then. Yes; there are things that are worse today. Sri Lankans are utterly […]

Dilrook Kannangara In 1971 there were more than 20,000 ethnic Sinhalas were living in the Jaffna District alone. None of them lived on rent. They had their own properties as with everyone else in Jaffna. However, after the TULF election win in July 1977, Tamils attacked Sinhala people in the north during Black August 1977, […]

Dilrook Kannangara If functioning well, the gem industry has the highest local value addition of all exports. Unlike garments, EPZs and tea, the gem industry does not have imported raw materials. There is no requirement for foreign investments as locals are capable of investing with required machinery and expertise. In other words, the net export […]

Dilrook Kannangara Replacing provincial councils with District councils worsens the problems of separatism, corruption and waste. It must never be attempted. If provincial councils are bad, the system must be retracted. Replacing it with a worse system is unwise (Mahadenamutta could not have done it better in the case of palm sugar cubes). There are […]

Dilrook Kannangara A social media activist has lost his bearings and ventured into the territory of hate speech. Calling politically active Buddhist monks by insulting names is fair game as they have entered the political fray. However, religious symbols are beyond political insults. Associating a religious symbol with a sexual object is an offence and […]

Dilrook Kannangara At last the government is doing something about the ice mafia. It is a very lucrative industry and the mafia is fighting back. The mafia cannot fight the police or the STF directly as they know it will be their end. Instead they agitate sections of the people to support them and save […]

Dilrook Kannangara Tamil-only political parties rarely vote in favour of the national budget. When they do it raises many questions. At least one TNA MP has said he supports the 2023 budget to help resolve problems affecting Tamil people and to meet Tamil aspirations. Looks like the 2023 budget has replaced the LTTE which stood […]

Dilrook Kannangara Amidst the economic crisis racist politics has raised its ugly head once again. Instead of addressing the problems of 22 million people, tribal politicians want special treatment for their tribe of 3.5 million people. In order to perform their extortion racket, they are still using the ethnic problem begging bowl. The so-called ethnic […]

Dilrook Kannangara This year’s Olcott Speech at Ananda College by Thilan Wijesinghe was a refreshing presentation of what went wrong with the Sri Lankan economy. It was an apt topic given the fact that the school had produced many winners who decorated the nation with prestige and who saved the nation when under threat. The […]

Dilrook Kannangara Sri Lanka is in a NATO debt trap. Over 50% of Sri Lanka’s external debt was raised in the US and European NATO nations. Another 12% is held by another key US military ally in Asia. Altogether they hold over 62% of Sri Lanka’s external debt. Having trapped Sri Lanka into a perpetual […]

Dilrook Kannangara The nation and the people are in a deep economic crisis. In the midst of the crisis, the government has decided to dish out 15,000 rupees each only to Hindus in the plantations sector. This is highly discriminatory and is a violation of the Constitution which guarantees equal rights to all individuals. If […]

Dilrook Kannangara Many nations including Sri Lanka face a hunger problem. Instead of looking for easy ways out, blaming this and that and finding faults with everything suggested, nothing much happens in Sri Lanka. Various types of beans grow in all parts of the island. Beans can be grown in a small garden. Almost all […]

Dilrook Kannangara The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was introduced in 1979 for very good reasons. Acts of terrorism was on the rise including the bombing of the Air Ceylon passenger plane by Tamil terrorists in 1978, attacks on banks and killing of politicians and police officers in the north. As visible around the world, […]

Dilrook Kannangara Sri Lanka’s current taxation system is only focused on taxing income and consumption. How about wealth? Sri Lanka has a horrible disparity between the top 1% and the bottom 50%. The top 1% (about 200,000 people) owns 32% of the wealth while the bottom 50% (over 11 million people) owns just 3.7% of […]

Dilrook Kannangara Sri Lanka’s governance cost doubled since the introduction of provincial councils in 1988. A new layer was introduced to governance which was never needed. A white elephant. Instead of one minister of education, health, etc. now we have 10 of them; 9 from provincial councils. Corruption, waste, etc. also doubled. Tax collection had […]

Dilrook Kannangara Sri Lanka has an estimated 6.3 million individuals suffering hunger. World Food Program (WFP) distributes money to a selected crowd, mostly based on ethnicity. The north, east and Nuwara Eliya districts are the biggest recipients of WFP’s food aid. However, these areas have only a small population of hungry people. Other areas have […]

Dilrook Kannangara Having read an interesting article by Garvin Karunaratne prompted me to write this to bring to attention real issues of today that were disregarded in it. In short, if a separate state or states are declared in the northern and eastern provinces, they will be rich and developed countries in a generation thanks […]

Dilrook Kannangara IMF help is getting delayed and delayed. So many rounds of negotiations have been held but Sri Lanka is yet to see the money. Even if IMF help comes, it will be a loan which will have to be repaid with interest just like other loans. Since all economic powers have to approve […]

Dilrook Kannangara Sri Lanka’s economic crisis in not unique. Other countries have been in it and some are currently in it too. Economics is all about trade-offs. One basic premise of economics is that resources are limited but needs and wants are unlimited. The way to succeed economically is to manage needs and wants (not […]