H. L. D. Mahindapala  The final count in the UNHRC which did not give US-UK-EU-OHCHRC resolution a clear cut majority in a body of 47 members has become controversial with one side claiming that it is half full and the other side saying that it is half empty. Whatever the political arguments may be, it […]

 By Gomin Dayasri    At the rehearsal a marquee was propped to entertain voters – it need be reassembled at the next outing with future elections getting hotter and closer. Who will stand on the victory stand? Is it the obvious candidate, as always?  Eyebrows will be raised if the opposition finds a common candidate.  Provincial […]

Ishara Mudugamuwa Courtesy The Daily News The UPFA acquired one million more votes than the UNP. It is a runaway landslide. The UPFA has also obtained 525,000 more votes than the combined opposition, SLFP Treasurer and Youth Affairs and Skills Development Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said. Looking at the outcome of the WPC and SPC elections […]

Mahinda Gunasekera Toronto, Canada March 31, 2014 Mr. Carl Gershman President National Endowment for Democracy 1025 F Street NW, Suite 800 Washington DC 20004, USA Dear Mr. Gershman, Re: Grants made by the NED to Sri Lankan Groups I am a Canadian of Sri Lankan origin who is very much concerned about funding programs and […]

Courtesy The Daily News Sri Lanka’s efforts at achieving national reconciliation and significant progress in many spheres received support of countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America during the adoption of the resolution on March 27 and consideration of the High Commissioner’s Report on Sri Lanka on March 26 at the Human Rights Council. China’s […]

 Mohamed Faizal,  Eravur-Courtesy: Sunday ‘Nation’ (Sri Lanka) Dear respected scholars from different religions in Sri Lanka, I am writing this open letter to you seeking a religious verdict on an important issue that has grave ramification for a lot of people – use of loudspeakers in religious premises. I think you have a responsibility to […]

By Mario Perera, Kadawata The Resolution finally went through though not in an overwhelming or convincing manner. The sponsors, the few white sharks, and their supporters the multi-coloured sprats compelled to stick to them in the hope of catching the crumbs that fall from their table, apparently had their way. Both the resolution and the […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Saturday, 29 March 2014 00:49 Hectic events over the past few weeks in Sri Lanka have driven home three salient truths on the security front relating to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organisation. The first is that Tiger or pro-Tiger elements in the Tamil Diaspora will persist with efforts […]

Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . Canad 28 March 2014 Hon. John Baird, MP, Minister of Foreign Affairs Deepak Obhrai, MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Lynne Yelich, MP, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hon. Jason Kenney, MP, former Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and Multiculture Dear […]

plumblossom It is very clear that the TNA is a separatist and extremist party and it is painfully clear that their final goal remains Eelam in a combined North and East of Sri Lanka.   What is of great concern is the TNA’s insistence in keeping the ethnic ratio of the Northern province static in […]

Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN, Geneva Sri Lanka’s efforts at achieving national reconciliation and significant progress in many spheres received support from countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America during the  adoption of the resolution on 27 March 2014 and consideration of the High Commissioner’s Report on Sri Lanka on 26 March […]

Senaka Weeraratna Sri Lanka is being hounded at the UNHRC for Human Rights violations by a group of nations led by USA, Britain and EU countries whose involvement in colonial crimes of the most brutal kind, has never been brought to book. The crimes against humanity committed in Asia, Africa, Australia, North and South America […]

P.A.Samaraweera  UPFA again had a landslide victory. Here are the live results from the internet showing the seats secured by the UPFA and the trailing party (UNP) .   Colombo Dist.      seats                     Gampaha Dist.    seats          Kalutara  Dist.   seats                  UPFA                      18                            UPFA                 23                UPFA                   13 UNP                        12                             UNP                  10                 UNP                    06     Galle    Dist            seats                      Matara  Dist.         seats          Hambantota Dist.  seats   UPFA                        […]

PRESS COMMUNIQUE – MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY & COMMERCE, SRI LANKA Colombo District voters launch ACMC to WPC! “Jackpot in our first time outside N & E!”-Rishad Majority votes from Colombo North Polling Div  Political newcomer All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) radiated with sudden joy on 30 March as it bagged an immediate election victory in […]

Pathfinder Economic Flash A recent IMF study used a number of statistical and modeling based methodologies to conclude that Sri Lanka’s current potential economic growth rate is 6.7%.This implies that the economy is likely to over-heat if the growth rate exceeds 6.7% on a sustained basis, i.e inflation would rise above the mid-single digit target […]

Sri Lanka News The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) took the lead and went for another landslide victory for the UPFA while main opposition United National party further deteriorated its vote base at the expense of other opposition parties.. The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has claimed the overall victory at both the […]

Insight By Sunil Kumar March 30th 2014  A United Nations General Assembly Resolution is voted on by all member states of the United Nations in the General Assembly. General Assembly resolutions usually require a simple majority (50 percent of all votes plus one) to pass. However, if the General Assembly determines that the issue is […]

By Our Correspondent Guwahati: All Assam Media Employees Federation (AAMEF) has expressed serious concern at the sudden closure notice issued by the management of Sangbad Lahari, a Bengali daily simultaneously published from Guwahati & Shillong, paving the way for making over 50 direct and 100 indirect media employees jobless overnight. The notice from Ms S. […]

Ira de Silva  London, Canada Another LLRC type investigation is needed urgently is the view of many Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka and overseas.  India abstained from voting against Sri Lanka possibly because in the past two months, when Sri Lankans were aware that India would not support Sri Lanka because of it’s domestic politics which […]

Shenali D Waduge The Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth 2 has made her choice. She has picked General Peter Cosgrove as the Governor General of Australia. Peter Cosgrove is incidentally a former defence forces chief. Though the appointment was officially endorsed by the Queen the appointment in fact was made by David Cameron’s Conservative Party. […]

Courtesy The Daily News Will press ahead with Sri Lanka’s own reconciliation plan Resolution only hurts our reconciliation efforts President Mahinda Rajapaksa rejected Thursday’s UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for a probe into alleged human rights violations, telling AFP that he would instead press ahead with Sri Lanka’s own reconciliation plan. “We reject this,” […]

Dilrook Kannangara UNHRC 2014 was the worst ever for Sri Lanka. However, it was the best in Lanka’s media response.  If we fail to learn from history, we will repeat historical mistakes. It is extremely difficult for us to accept defeat and even more difficult to accept the fallibility of our strategy. But UNHRC voting […]

P.A.Samaraweera, Melbourne The US, UK and Canada, with all their power and might could muster only 23 votes at the UNHRC session – one less than 2012 and two less than 2013. Twelve voted against the Resolution while 12 others abstained. Therefore, as a whole there are 24 against the Resolution. As such, the sponsors and the co-sponsors […]

Shenali D. Waduge Sri Lanka can claim a moral victory on the basis that 2014 UNHRC Resolution was adopted against Sri Lanka with 23 votes while a majority comprising 24 nations did not support the Resolution by either voting against or abstaining with India joining the list of abstentions. This is a striking difference from […]

Editorial  (Daily News) At the time of writing, word was not out on the vote on the US sponsored Resolution against Sri Lanka, at the UN Human Rights Council. Sri Lanka does not expect to win that contest, but the moral victory has long been assured. There is a virtual avalanche of support for the […]

The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva Mr. President, Anyone unaware of the ground situation in Sri Lanka walking into the Human Rights Council today could not be blamed for thinking that Sri Lanka is the most troubled place on this planet. However, as you are […]

Press Release –Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN, Geneva Exercising the right to reply on statements made regarding the arrest and detention of Ms. Balendran Jeyakumari, and the incidents in Killinochchi last week, Sri Lanka asked the member states at the 25th Session of the Human Rights Council on 26 March 2014 how […]

Committee for a United Sri Lanka Following a successful side event at the Palais des Nations, where “The Last Phase”, a documentary based on the lives of two former LTTE combatants and told from the point of view of Jeyawadani, a former female combatant, who grew up with the doctrine of the said terrorists group […]

Warna Hettiarachchi Toronto, Ontario Canada Dear Diplomats, Lawmakers and Distinguished Leaders of World’s Nations,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxVao1HnL1s  May I draw your attention to the above YOUTUBE link of a CBS 60-Minutes report by Christiana Amanpour depicting how the US and Britain secretly planned inhuman relocation of Diego Garcia atoll’s natives and inhabitants through deportation to Mauritius and […]

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Canadian Sri Lankans of Ottawa held a large Hands Off Sri Lanka protest rally outside USA Embassy on Tuesday March 25 2014 from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm in subzero temperatures.  Various Ottawa organizations, religious figures and members from Toronto and Montreal too joined in protesting against the US resolution. This rally […]