Shenali D Waduge The cold blooded killing of an Englishman in British army uniform in broad day light in Woolwich, London by two black men a few days ago was a heinous crime that shocked the public in both England and overseas, but it has nevertheless opened a Pandora’s box related to accountability for crimes […]

Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP Courtesy The Daily Newsƒ”š‚  One of the sadder aspects of Tissa Jayatilaka’s celebration of American values and conduct with regard to Sri Lanka is his suppression of the change that took place in American policy with the change of government at the beginning of 2009. While many of us thought that, […]

Statement by H.E. Mr. Ravinatha P. Aryasinha Ambassador / Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka & Leader of the Sri Lanka Delegation to the 23rd Session of the Human Rights Council, 27 May 2013 At the outset, Sri Lanka wishes to associate itself with the statement made on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement. ƒ”š‚ My delegation takes […]

By A. Abdul Aziz Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at “ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Sri Lanka. ƒ”š‚ May 27 “ƒ¢¢”š¬…” is being observed as “ƒ”¹…”Khilafat Day’ by Ahmadi Muslim throughout the world. After the demise of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad “ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in May 26, 1908, the system of Khilafat (the Spiritual Leadership in […]

Dr. Mareena Thaha Reffai, With the recent immolation of ƒ”š‚ the bhikku demanding cattle slaughter to be banned from Srilanka and advocacy for vegetarian food to be staple diet of Srilanka is gaining attention. We can safely predict this will never come to pass. The first and foremost reason being that the politicians will never allow […]

Christine Perera The Sunday Island editorial is shameful and resonates why the Buddhists are angry. When a monk self-immolates himself in protest against cattle slaughter “ƒ¢¢”š¬…” what does the Editor of the Sunday Island say “ƒ¢¢”š¬…” “why only cattle”ƒ”š‚ using his pen and his ability to reach out to the people who buy the island […]

By Afshain Afzal Changes in Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) of 18 September 2001 thatƒ”š‚  allowed USA forces to go after the perpetrators of the 11 September attacks on Pentagon and World Trade Centre are being worked out. The barbaric geographicallyƒ”š‚ limitless War on Terror that allows USA without any legal authority to […]

By Prof. Sunanda Sugunasiri writing from Toronto British author, Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses was regarded as blasphemous and raised ire in the Islamic world. A fatwa condemning the author to death was issued by the Iranian spiritual leader in 1989.The furore brings to mind the treatment of the Buddha in two works of fiction, […]

Prof. Suwanda H J Sugunasiri, writing from Toronto, Canada The Buddha’s last words, and last advice to his Disciples, were, “Samkharas are subject to decay. Strive with diligence” (Vaya dhammƒÆ’-¾ƒ”š‚ saƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚¼khƒÆ’-¾ƒ”š‚rƒÆ’-¾ƒ”š‚. AppamƒÆ’-¾ƒ”š‚dena sampƒÆ’-¾ƒ”š‚detha). SamkhƒÆ’-¾ƒ”š‚ra is a difficult term which is probably why there is no Sinhala term for it. All we have is a Sanskritized […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala India has not only lost its moral compass in foreign policy which was packaged and hailed as the “Panchaseela” at the height of the Non-Aligned Movement but also the strategic compass to navigate in the Indian Ocean. India needs an ethical / balanced foreign policy to win back the moral and […]

ƒ”š‚ Sri Lanka Support Group, Australia Further to our Sinhala Media Release (posted on Lankaweb on 24 May 2013), we unequivocallyƒ”š‚  repeat that formation of the Northern Provincial Council under 13thƒ”š‚  amendment of the Constitution will lead to formation of the Tamil Eelam. We say the Government can fundamentally do two (2) things to abolish the […]

Dilrook Kannangara Twisting history to claim ownership of land has become the modus operandi of certainƒ”š‚ communal elementsƒ”š‚ in the island. Obviously they cannot have a long history in the island as they still practice religions and use languages not unique to the island. If they had a long history in the island, there is no reason […]

Sumanananda Premseri Kuala Lumpur, Fri- Wesak was grandly celebrated throughout Malaysia. Millions of adherants throngedƒ”š‚ the Buddhist temples and centers all over Malaysia including local Buddhists and foreign Buddhists from Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, etc. At the capital, more than a hundred thousand people visited the 118 year old Buddhist […]

By Manjula Fernandoƒ”š‚ Courtesy The Sunday Observer External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris told the TNA to shake free of the notion “ƒ”¹…”that it is the international community that is going to frighten us, intimidate us and impose a solution on us.’ External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris “I tell the Hon. R. Sampanthan on the […]

ƒ”š‚ Pravin Banker Greenwich, CT., USA Dear All Sri Lankans I was born in Srilanka when it was called Ceylon before migrating to the USA by chance. I would like to inform readers that my first in a series of four books has just been released by Amazon and is available globally on its website under […]

Asada M Erpini ƒ”š‚ It has been a series of incessant calls from every human rights preacher and his dog for war crimes investigations as regards how the armed forces of Sri Lanka concluded their campaign, shifting of the CHOGM meeting away from Sri Lanka, giving the Tamils the opportunity to live with dignity or implementing […]

Shenali D Waduge All Sri Lankans are united in extending their sympathies to the family of 25 year old British army officer Drummer Lee Rigby who was cut and chopped to death in broad daylight by 2 Islamic protestors who were allowing themselves to be taped and gave a message to the world that beckons […]

Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . Canada 23 May 2013 Justin Trudeau, MP and Liberal Party Leader House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario Dear Justin: I was appalled, sickened and humoured reading your Statement on the Anniversary of the End of the Sri Lankan Civil War. I suspect you have not only […]

Shenali D. Waduge Sri Lanka with a Theravada Buddhist civilization that protected and fostered Buddhism has much to introspect. With over 70% of the population being Buddhists it is a national shame that we continue to forget the very basic teachings of the Buddha whose message to us was to treat non “ƒ¢¢”š¬…” human sentient […]

Ira de Silva London, Ontario, Canada Hon. Justin Trudeau Leader of the Liberal Party House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario. ƒ”š‚ Dear Sir: ƒ”š‚ Itƒ”š‚ was with disgust that I read your statement of May 19th on the anniversary of the death of the leaders of the most ruthless terrorist organization in the world, ƒ”š‚ the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) which […]

C. Wijeyawickrema Reminding us the “this war is not winnable”ƒ”š‚ Colombo black-white crowd in the past decades, and as if he got a propaganda job from the Indian RAW, Dayan J has begun a vigorous campaign to scare MahindaR about an imminent Indian invasion of Sri Lanka with American backing, if MR does not hold […]

Dr Kalinga Seneviratne, Coordinator / Founder, Lotus Communication Network On this auspicious day of VESAKƒ”š‚  we would like to officially launch the website of the LOTUS COMMUNICATION NETWORK (http://www.lotuscomm.net/) ƒ”š‚ The Lotus Communication Network (LCN) is an informal network of like-minded Asian Buddhist media practitioners and scholars that is in the process of being developed into […]

Janaka Yagirala I am no expert on military matters or national security but I can never ignore the uneasy feeling I get when the Army Commander of Sri Lanka states that the number of army camps in Jaffna will be reduced to just 3 from 17. When a persistent request was made by the US, […]

Shenali D. Waduge We certainly agree that everybody have to be accountable for their actions. But, we chose to pass on following Britain’s example of “accountability”ƒ”š‚ when its own investigation into a massacre that took place in 1972 underwent 2 British inquiries and lasted 38 years for families of the slain to finally be told […]

R Chandrasoma ƒ”š‚ A hypothesis (or belief) is false if it does not square with the facts. It is also false if its deductive entailments do not match the facts as empirically revealed. Suppose some learned person declares with a great sense of infallibility that those born when stormy weather conditions prevail will die prematurely. This […]

By Shelton Gunaratne, author of From Village Boy to Global Citizen (Vol. 2): The Travels of a Journalist (Bloomington, IN: Xlibris). On my island wide tour of Sri Lanka last month (April), I was taken aback by the official ticket checkers’ insistence at some tourist attractions that I should pay the incredibly high entry fees […]

From: The Citizens of the United States To:ƒ”š‚ ƒ”š‚  Ms. Jill Abramson Executive Editor New York Times 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018 Please share this with Alissa Rubin and Matthew Rosenberg. Thanks. Dear Executive Editor of the New York Times: Today we read this realistic geopolitical analysis based on the ground situation in Afghanistan […]

Shenali D Waduge Buddhist Sri Lanka warmly welcomes the arrival of the Prime Minister of Thailand Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra during this Wesak month. The arrival of the Thai Premier will serve to strengthen the pristine links of Theravada Buddhism to which Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Buddhist communities in several other nations of […]

Dr.Tilak Fernando I was distressed to hear from my friend Daya Ananda Ranasinghe in London, the editor and publisher of the Sinhala tabloid Lanka Viththi, the sad news about the demise of his Sinhala journal after 16 years of continuous publication. In a poignant note he wrote in his email thus: “Last Saturday, May 5, […]

Prof. Suwanda H J Sugunasiri President, Buddhist Council of Canadaƒ”š‚  Today (May 24th) is “ƒ”¹…”Wesak Day’ƒ”š‚  at the UN, as well as in Toronto, as proclaimed by the Mayor of Toronto. This piece looks at the historical Buddha who is being respected today, and throughout the month of May. ƒ”š‚ DHARMA DAY MESSAGE IS MODERATION Ears […]