H. L. D. Mahindapala
Who said that Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead?
According to a report in TamilNet (Friday 19, March) his voice is still alive and screaming. In fact, his voice was heard again by a small gathering assembled at Veerasingham Hall on Friday. The message in the voice was so familiar they must have been [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
Ranil Wickremesinghe’s entire political career is comparable to that of a man who takes a strong dose of laxative after dinner and then takes a sleeping pill before going to bed. Needless to say, the mixture of the two ill-conceived and contradictory prescriptions invariably ends in total disaster.
 For instance, he agrees to [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
Among other things the former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva told the media on Monday at the Galadari Hotel that Sri Lanka is not a democracy. Coming from the ex-CJ, this should be stunning news to those who are concerned about Sri Lanka. But this also raises some relevant questions: When did [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
Even before the nominations closed on Friday for the next parliamentary elections to be held on April 8, 2009 Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Leader of the United National Front, has admitted that he cannot win. His aim, as declared by him, is not to win the election but to prevent the ruling UPFA [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
Highlighting the rise of Irish terrorism once again The Wall Street Journal reported that last Monday, in the dead of night, “a 225-pound bomb went off in a car near the front security gates of the courthouse of Newry, a town near the border with the Republic of Ireland.”
How did the Prime [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
Sydney Morning Herald has done it again. The Editor publishes editorials as if he is the last word on Sri Lankan politics but when errors are pointed out they black out the corrections. That’s Aussie rules for you. The following is an expanded version of the original letter sent to the Editor [...]

WHY ONLY ONE SIDED STORIES ARE PUBLISHED ON SRI LANKA IN AUSTRALIAN MAIN
MEDIA????????
Two leading newspapers of Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) and the Melbourne Age published identical editorials urging Australia to spearhead a campaign to ban Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth. Thefollowing response was sent by H. L. D. Mahindapala to both but predictably [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
 Those who are keen on finding out the perversity of our moral leaders must take a peek at the statement issued by the some Catholic and Anglican Bishops of Sri Lanka on the latest presidential polls.
A Reuter report said: “Catholic and Anglican bishops in Sri Lanka have criticized recent presidential elections as [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
The mounting evidence from foreign and local sources against Gen.(retd) Sarath Fonseka, now held by the Military Police at a Naval base in Colombo, indicate that he is in deeper trouble than he knows.
 First, there is the internal evidence collected from the rank and file. In it there is substantial evidence to [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
 Retired General Sarath Fonseka is one of those tragic Shakesperean heroes who is doomed because of a fatal flaw in his character. In short, Fonseka has been the main cause of his own downfall. In the last few days Fonseka was asking for it and he got it last night. He was [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
Q: When a man fights for 40 years of his life for a cause and then overnight joins the enemies he fought what do you call him?
A: Sarath Fonseka, of course!
Q: When a man who gets the biggest ride in his life to fame and glory in the most viable vehicle available [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
What is already known is that President Mahinda Rajapaksa will win on January 26. The question then is: what will the opposition do on January 27? Informed sources predict that they will come out crying foul on January 27 and ask for re-count or another election with the JVP-led mobs taking to [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
The major plank of the Wickremesinghe-Hakeem-Mangala-Mano-Sampanthan-Soma-HANSA was to project “Roti” Fonseka – remember how he forcibly thrust a roti down the throat of his cook because it was misshapen? – as the man to combat corruption and restore peace and reconciliation. But the mounting scandals, exposing his character and his career, have [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
On the eve of the 2005 presidential elections I wrote that “Mahinda Rajapakse will win with a paper thin margin that can be slipped under the door.” Trying to predict election results is a hazardous business. Not even the pollsters get it right all the time. However, I’m ready to gamble again [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
The JVP-UNP campaign to project their Common Candidate, Sarath Fonseka, as “Mr. Clean” was dented severely by Capt. Upul Illangamge, close family friend of the Gen. Fonseka for 35 years, who unmasked the hidden face of Fonseka, yesterday at a press conference in Colombo. The overall picture he presented to the media [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
Considering that the nation was plunged into violence for 33 years, starting from the Vadukoddai Resolution of 1976, it was incongruous and irrational for the “free media” agents to demand that they be given carte blanche right to publish anything and everything deemed necessary by the editors, including some military secrets. [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
The state of the media in Sri Lanka is not all black and white. It has it own gradations and shades. It has its ups and downs. It has its own strengths and weaknesses. But what is remarkable is the staying power of the media to produce pluralist opinions under the most [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
The good news is that J.S. Tissanayagam, the journalist jailed for 20 years rigorous imprisonment, can be released on bail. The better news will be if the government pardons him and gives him the “put-put” fare to go home. I think he has paid enough for whatever he is supposed to [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
Don’t believe a word of what the state media says about Sarath Fonseka, the Common Candidate of the Opposition. They are biased. Believe only what the Sunday Leader says about Sarath Fonseka. It can never be wrong about Fonseka because it is the only paper that has openly declared [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
Never in the annals of military warfare has an army commander led his forces successfully against the enemy and then turned around and fired indiscriminately on his own forces. But Sarath Fonseka, whose chest is overloaded with medals earned by the blood and sweat of his foot soldiers, will be remembered forever [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
Even before the presidential election could get into first gear Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Vice President of the International Democratic Union (IDU) — a club of the right-wing Christians of the West including Bush, Blair and John Howard of Australia — is dodging the critical issue that is before the nation: Is he [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
Gen. (retd) Sarath Fonseka thought he was hurling a deadly missile when he accused Maj-Gen. Shavendra Silva of carrying out the orders of the Defence Secretary, in his absence, to eliminate the top LTTE leaders in Nanthi Kadal as they were coming out with white flags. But his missile hung in the [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
Each time Ranil Wickremesinghe tries to lift the UNP up it sinks a foot or two deeper in the mud in which it is located right now.. Each time he tries to raise his head he is knocked on the head by his own stupidity. Each time he thinks that he has [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
Whether General Sarath Fonseka wins or loses there is no doubt that, at the end of it all, Ranil Wickremesinghe will be the loser. If Fonseka loses it is Wickremesinghe who will have to cop the flak. It will prove once again that he is a born loser. In the unlikely event [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
War brought out the best in us. Peace has brought out the worst.
War helped us to close ranks and hold us together. Peace has blown this apart.
War taught us that we have the capacity to overcome all obstacles and achieve the impossible combating local and external forces. Peace is now throwing us [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
At the core of the current controversy on the environment is also the role of science and technology. This argument invariably invokes the metaphor of Frankenstein – the metaphor of science growing into a monster which man cannot control. But Judge Weeramantry is not an obscurantist who goes against all science. He [...]

 Come down to earth, warns Judge Weeramantry
H. L. D. Mahindapala
Part 1
The marked and recurring theme in Judge C. G. Weeramantry’s legal philosophy has been to resurrect and elevate religions and traditional values to the highest level in the global agenda as a guide to the future. He demonstrated his commitment to his principles when, as [...]

Politics threaten the environment
H. L. D. Mahindapala
Part II
In his book Tread Lightly on the Earth Judge Weeramantry provides a compelling argument for humanity to rediscover the wisdom of traditional societies that found their happiness in less than in craving for more and more. For how long can 6.5 billion people keep on exploiting the limited [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
President Mahinda Rajapakse is scheduled to meet the expatriates today. A meeting of this kind was long overdue. Whether they are liked or not, (some like the expats, some think that they are interfering busybodies) the diaspora, consisting mainly of the Sinhala and Tamil communities, has come to stay as a formidable [...]

H. L. D. Mahindapala
Broadly speaking, the people who vent their opinions publicly can be divided into two categories: 1. those who know their subject and 2. those who think they know their subject.
Let the readers decide into which category Lynn Ockersz, the Deputy Editor of The Island, belongs after reading this response to his punditry [...]