H. L. D. Mahindapala When on May 14, 1976  the Tamil leadership, headed by S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, the father of Tamil separatism, passed the Vadukoddai Resolution , declaring war on the nation, they never expected to end up in Nandikadal. They were expecting  one of two things : 1. to win a separate state […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala The first shot in the North-South war , a.k.a. Eelam War, rang out on July 27, (Friday), 1975. Its  vibrations shook the foundations of the sleepy villages and towns of Jaffna. It was never going to be the same again in Jaffna. The shock waves shook Jaffna not because the shot […]

  H. L. D. Mahindapala The mainstream Churches of all denominations aligned themselves with the LTTE in varying degrees of connectivity. In particular, the clergy in the Tamil-dominated Churches threw their full weight behind the Velupillai Prabhakaran’s one-man regime. At the grass root level as well as the international level Prabhakaran could not have dominated […]

H.L. D. Mahindapala At the height of the 33-year-old war – i.e., from the Vadukoddai declaration of war on May 14, 1976 to Nandikadal on May 18, 2009 — two Tamil clerics decided to give a face-lift to Tamil politics by dressing it up in new clothes of Christian theology. Under the cover of waging […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala Part III In a fit of anti-Sinhala-Buddhist rage Mr. Izeth Hussain, the Sri Lankan caricature of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS or Daesh, has warned the ethnic majority (the Sinhala-Buddhists) that what happened to the French colonialists in […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala One should be rather wary of taking on Mr. Izeth Hussein  because  he claims to be  one the five great diplomats  of the world.   With such self-proclaimed credentials – he has yet to name the other four greats which will indicate the true measure of his greatness! – one expects his […]

By H. L. D. Mahindapala – Despite all the hot air pumped to float the UNHRC Resolution A/HRC/30/L. 29 its future is not guaranteed as the stormy atmospherics which seem to be gathering over the horizon are putting a heavy strain on the stability of the Siri-Wicky regime and, more importantly, its ability to deliver […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala With great fanfare and  ballyhoo the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe (Siri-Wicky) government promised that they alone could conquer the international community” (meaning  the big power brokers of the West) which the previous regime of Mahinda Rajapakse had alienated.  This promise to conquer the world and restore Sri Lanka’s position in the world stage was […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala Ranil Wickremesinghe beat all odds and topped the list of preferences – a feat that was considered impossible earlier. At the base level, shorn off the rhetoric and the tinsel, it is an achievement  that reflects the combination of national, international – and even some anti-national – forces. It has triumphed […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala The most noteworthy promise kept by President Maithripala Sirisena after he became president on January 8, 2015 was to appoint Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister. And, needless to say, the rot began from that moment onwards. Together they promised in their Manifesto to take the nation to an ideal society” […]

 H. L. D. Mahindapala President Maithripala Sirisena’s speech, covering several key aspects of his six-month rule, was timed to be a critical political intervention on the eve of election. The broad overview of his stewardship was angled to undermine his bete noir, Mahinda Rajapaksa. Though it was also meant to give a shine to his […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala Ranil Wickremesinghe’s brief honeymoon with his protégé / protector, Maithripala Sirizena, has come to an unexpected and abrupt end. They were indispensable to each other during the 100 days” which, of course, ran into six months, violating the mandate of January 8th, 2015.  It was a symbiotic relationship in which the […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala The unfolding events, one more telling than the other, defines the emerging political trends which, in the foreseeable future, seem to be irreversible. The polarization of the contending forces into Left and Right camps has also fallen into two clear cut political domains. On the Right is the Siri-Wicky regime with […]

By H. L. D. Mahindapala – The unfolding events, one more telling than the other, defines the emerging political trends which, in the foreseeable future, seem to be irreversible. The polarization of the contending forces into Left and Right camps has also fallen into two clear cut political domains. On the Right is the Siri-Wicky […]

By H. L. D. Mahindapala Point No:1: The momentum generated by the historic January 2015 presidential election is being exhausted, and that the minority government appointed for the sole purpose of executing the 100-day reform programme is drifting aimlessly. Point No:2: The current balance of power in the institutions of the state is incongruous and […]

By H. L. D. Mahindapala At the end of the glorified 100 days the nation is left with a sense of déjà vu, if not disappointment and frustration. Nothing significant stands out as exemplary achievements of the Sirisena–Wickremesinghe regime to crow about the promised difference” (when-a-suck). The failure of the Yahapalanaya (good governance) to achieve […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala President’s Counsel, Romesh de  Silva’s brilliant analysis of the politically manipulated Police unit investigating financial crimes confirms that the My-3 regime”  has created an illegal arm of the Police  to pervert justice. His submission to the Supreme Court, has unerringly alerted the public to the Gestapo role of the  Financial Crimes […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala When Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga began her talk on S. J. V. Chelvanayakam by saying Mr. Chelvanayakam and his Party, the Federal Party, engaged in a long and difficult struggle to win the Tamil peoples’ rights” she, obviously, was not aware that she was putting her foot in the mouth. In saying […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala Part II The Senanayakes, who were the enlightened founders of the nation,  continued the colonial administration without making any radical adjustments to meet the post-colonial realities. It was Bandaranaike who stepped in to adjust the fundamentals which, of course, meant ruffling the feathers of the English-educated ruling elite. His most  controversial […]

H.L. D. Mahindapala Chandrika Kumaratunga’s memorial lecture on S. J. V. Chelvanayakam (April 25th, 2015) should be taken seriously not because she claims to be a political scientist” (she did so in her first TV interview after she succeeded in her plot to overthrow of the Mahinda Rajapakse regime) but because it is loaded with […]

H.L.D. Mahindapala On January 8th, 2015 the nation elected Maithripala Sirisena believing that he would make a difference. His main task was to preside over the constitutional transition from a presidential system to a parliamentary system. To impress that he was not craving for power he promised to be the one-term caretaker president who will […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala The post-independent period is a unique segment of Sri Lankan history where everything that ought to have happened, happened without breaking up the democratic foundations of the nation which is a  remarkable achievement.  In the main, the nation faced (1) two left-wing rebellions, (2) one Right-wing coup led by the Westernized […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala Practically every visiting Sri Lankan dignitary to UK – from the head of state downward – is honored  with an official reception accorded at the London High Commission. Following this time-tested tradition the reception for the visiting President Maithripala Sirisena to meet the Sri Lankan Diaspora should have been held at […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala When Arjun Mahendra was appointed as Governor of the Central Bank he, being a shrewd PR operator, made it known to all and sundry that he was on very close terms with Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Prime Minister, by referring to him as Uncle Ranil”. Every other sentence began with Uncle Ranil […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala There are two narratives, with two interpretations, to the North-South events that convulsed Sri Lanka in the post-independent period. The conventional narrative that has gained popularity is the mono-causal interpretation which blames only the Sinhala-Buddhists of the south for the worsening of the inter-ethnic relations. According to this theory events eventually […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala The ideological foundations of the mono-ethnic extremism of the North are based on two primary documents : 1. the  very first speech of S. J. V. Chelvanayakam (December 18, 1949) launching his separatist ideology  at the Government Clerical Service Union Hall in Maradana – the official birthplace of Tamil separatism; 2. […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala On February 27 the My-3” Troika, consisting of Chandrika Bandaranaike,(CBK), Ranil Wickremesinghe and Maithripala Sirisena, passed its half-way mark on its vaunted pilgrimage to political nirvana which, they said, would be achieved in 100 days. This  is the solemn promise they gave the people and, unless they are to be dismissed […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala The 100-day programme of the My-3-pala-naya” had no plans to encounter the Nugegoda rally. Not so soon, at least. They thought they could sail smoothly into the imagined ideal country” located, of course, only in mythical Maithripala’s Manifesto. But within 40 days the My-3-planners” were hit by a backlash that no […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala The message that came out – loud and clear – from the Nugegoda rally is unambiguous : a new political man has risen with a new consciousness to change the political landscape. He is also bent on changing the mistake he made in the last presidential election. Like the Balangoda Man, […]

H. L. D. Mahindapala  The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Resolution passed a resolution on February 10, 2015 accusing successive governments (from 1948) of committing ‘genocide’ against Tamils and called for an international commission of inquiry. This resolution has dealt the first deadly blow to the reconciliation plans of the Chandrika Bandaranaike-Ranil Wickremesinghe-Maithripala Sirisena regime brought into […]