MahamahaRaja For a Buddhist nation, news emanating from Sri Lanka contains an awful lot of violence. And I don’t mean the recently concluded war on terror, which was a noble cause and virtuously won. What I’m talking about is a longstanding problem, because even before the Tamil insurrection, there was bloodshed on the island. Opening […]

MahamahaRaja 2011 has been an interesting year for Sri Lanka. Early on, it was the Moon Panel which dominated all discussion. Fortunately, this proved to be the farce that many predicted all along. Its inherent flaws were many and varied. Legally, it stood only on an unprecedented and undemocratic diktat from a disgruntled Secretary General […]

MahamahaRaja Sri Lanka’s university student population is a disgrace. Through the Languages Act and affirmative action in university admissions through standardization, post-colonial governments sought to democratize the state apparatus by creating an educated class of ordinary folk (of all ethnicities) who could replace the entrenched hordes of imperial stooges. This would uplift society, protect the […]

MahamahaRaja ƒ”š‚ MOST WRITERS and commenters on this website cannot be faulted when it comes to their response to the issues of Sri Lankan sovereignty and its people’s arduous and successful fight against Tamil terrorism. What is disappointing however is how quickly the clarity, understanding and plain common sense displayed here melts away when the topic […]

MahamahaRaja ƒ”š‚ Michael Roberts is interested in Sri Lanka. “Tear asunder”ƒ”š‚ the link that equates Sinhalese and Sri Lanka, he implores his followers. Go for the “Eelam you can get”ƒ”š‚ by living and working in the south while having an autonomous culturally pure north, he says. And so “have your cake and eat it”ƒ”š‚ he exclaims […]

MahamahaRaja ƒ”š‚ It was not surprising that the Moon Panel’s report on the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka was little more than Tamil terrorist propagandising hooey. Despite not even being published yet, the Moon report was leaked to the media and it was seized upon by the usual suspects “ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the anti-Sri Lanka […]

MahamahaRaja ƒ”š‚ What began in Libya as another seemingly run-of-the-mill “people’s revolution”ƒ”š‚ against a longstanding Middle Eastern dictator, has slowly degraded into something a lot more opaque. Perhaps it was the revelation that many of the “rebels”ƒ”š‚ were actually connected to al-Qaeda (1), or perhaps it was the realization that a large number of Afghan and […]

MahamahaRaja The scale of Thursday’s electoral triumph for Mahinda Rajapaksa’s UPFA coalition was somewhat unexpected. Many believed that though a UNP defeat was inevitable, there would be significant erosion into the SLFP’s margin of victory due to the opposition’s slogans having some resonance with the polity: the cost of living has indeed increased, and corruption […]

MahamahaRaja To the Editor, the Island ƒ”š‚ I must say that the recent writings about a possible Sri Lankan ‘Obama’ are nonsensical. Not only do your writers twist facts, they also insult the intelligence of the Sri Lankan people in general, and the Sinhalese Buddhists in particular. ƒ”š‚ In the case of both America and India, the […]

MahamahaRaja ƒ”š‚ Sri Lanka stands at a key moment in its history, thanks to crushing Tamil terrorism once and for all in 2009. The nation, its people, and its political leaders have reached a pivotal stage, which must be capitalized to ensure future prosperity. Against our march to progress and development stands a vast array of […]

MahamahaRaja ƒ”š‚ Editor, the Island. I read with some amusement Izeth Hussein’s article in the paper today. During the war period, he said that the election of Premadasa to the presidency of Sri Lanka was the equivalent of President Obama being elected to power in the US. Now, after a slew of criticisms from his co-conspirators […]

MahamahaRaja ƒ”š‚ Sri Lanka’s enemies have been relatively quiet over the past year or so. Yes, there was all that kerfuffle just as the war ended and soon afterwards, but after the defeat of the meddlers at the UN Human Rights Commission in late 2009, things did quieten down. While the articles, the lectures and the […]

MahamahaRaja Whenever western media report on Sri Lanka, they are always very keen to point out that while the Sinhalese may be happy that the war is over, Tamils often, privately, confess to them that they are weary. These journalists insinuate, and sometimes openly state, that most Tamils still want self-rule over the northern and […]

MahamahaRaja It can’t be stopped now. Ordinary people “ƒ¢¢”š¬…” students, workers, teachers, professors, doctors, nurses, journalists, lawyers, religious, secular, men, women, even children “ƒ¢¢”š¬…” these ordinary citizens, these average Joes, these huddled masses yearning to breathe free, they have all awoken now. Across the Middle East and North Africa, they, the people, have shown courage, […]

Author: MahamahaRaja High food and petrol prices, soaring energy bills, corruption at all levels of government including political appointments and pilfering of the public coffers by MPs and ministers, graduates without jobs, abject poverty, rising theft and mugging, and worsening inflation. Sri Lanka? No, I’m talking about Britain. They even have problems we don’t have: […]

MahamahaRaja There have been momentous events taking place in the Middle East. Tunisia, a small country tucked away in a corner of the world, has ignited a beacon of liberty whose flame had long been doused by neo-imperialist puppet regimes through political oppression, personal intimidation, police brutality, systematic impoverishment, media propaganda, and a reign of […]

MahamahaRaja ƒ”š‚ Many people around the world hail democracy as a great form of government, at least the best we as a species have come up with so far. I am one of them. With democracy being of paramount importance, not just for the one-man one-vote which so empowers all citizens, but also because of the […]

MahamahaRaja On this important day for our nation, we should reflect on the nature of our country, and specifically on a vital pillar of our system of government. What can be said about opposition parties in democracies? What is their role? Of course, it is to hold the government to account to its own manifesto […]

MahamahaRaja This is intended as a contribution to the recent debate on Lankaweb relating to the role of Asia in the 21st Century. ƒ”š‚ It is common knowledge that the balance of power, militarily, economically and culturally is shifting away from the West. After 500 years of domination, the ageing, morally and materially bankrupted Western nations […]