By Gomin Dayasri Are we heading to the loony bin? Are two war heroes getting ready to battle it out, while those who made every effort to destabilize them during the war and damage the nation become the cheer leaders, edging them to brink of the cliff to see one fall to the gorge below? […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratne This story is best told in pictures. It’s the story of planet Earth and its place in the universe. Once upon a time, long before the Hubble Telescope, humans thought that Earth was the center of the universe. Now we know that Earth is a mere speck in the still expanding […]

Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚©2009 By “step land”ƒ”š‚ I mean America, the land that adopted me. By motherland I mean Sri Lanka, the land of my birth. My claim to be a world citizen derives from my blend as a cultural mix of these two countries and, to a lesser extent, of the countries where I […]

Shelton A. Gunaratne ƒ”š‚©2009 ƒ”š‚ My last fling with Lake House (June 4-Aug. 16, 1991) did not work out as well as I expected because ANCL failed to honor the terms of a paid internship as stipulated by the ASNE. Observer editor H. L. D. Mahindapala expected “donated”ƒ”š‚ labor at his disposal and presumed that the […]

Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario .Canada October 25, 2009 The Editor (Letters) THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Sir: While I have the utmost respect for Peter Showler as a critic on the Canadian refugee system and own his book “ƒ”¹…”Refugee Sandwich’ as one of my references on the subject, it was frustrating to […]

Piyal Samarakone Hiding a victor from a victor is probably the best way to live among the people to gain all the grounds for much needed political longevity. The issue is can a victor become yet another victor in different kind of a battle? The battle against corruption, bureaucracy and above all emerging neo-nepotism. President […]

Kumar Moses The war has ended in victory to Sri Lanka but the Tamil Elam struggle continues. It is a struggle against logic, multiethnic coexistence and Sri Lanka, a nation made up of people belonging to various races. Clearly the Tamil Elam struggle is against all odds and therefore it needs support from some source […]

Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario Canada October 23, 2009 Tom Malinowski Director of Advocacy, Human Rights Watch Washington DC, US Dear Tom: I heard what you said loud and clearly – ƒ”š‚ “Human Rights Watch called for an independent international investigation’, on the 73 page US State Department’s Report on Sri Lanka’s […]

Ira de Silva London, Canada The Letters Editor Ottawa Citizen Ottawa, Ontario. ƒ”š‚ Dear Sir: ƒ”š‚ Re: Canada’s Refugee Challenge ƒ”š‚ The challenge to Canada’s self-image from what you call a “ship full of desperate migrants” is not it’s dedication to compassion, tolerance and justice but a challenge to Canada’s lax immigration laws and system of justice. The […]

ALI SUKHANVER Are we heading towards a blind alley?ƒ”š‚  Is this war in Waziristan going to be a death knell for 170 million Pakistanis? Will the anti-Muslim Allied forces succeed in wiping off Pakistan from the world map? Most of the Pakistanis are going to say “ƒ”¹…”No”ƒ”š‚ in response to all these questions; simply because […]

Media Release Embassy of Sri Lanka Washington DC A set of fishermen turned smugglers operating across the Palk Straits in 10 foot dinghies with OBMs, in the late 70’s progressed over a period of time to transform into a formidable and ruthless terrorist outfit by the late 90’s. This terrorist organization was eventually capable of […]