KAMALIKA PIERIS Sarath Fonseka is credited with two achievements relating to the Eelam war. Firstly he single handedly, opposed the Ceasefire Agreement of 2002 (CFA) and secondly he played a major role in winning Eelam War IV. Fonseka had strongly opposed the Ceasefire Agreement. He was the only officer who had the guts to publicly […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Fonseka went in for self promotion once the war ended. DBS Jeyaraj observed that on July 9 2009, Fonseka spoke at a book launch about the war, in which he heaped compliments upon himself lavishly. Token lip service was paid to the President’s role. Gotabaya was virtually ignored. According to Sarath he and […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Due to the much publicized animosity between the Army commander  Sarath Fonseka and the   head of the Navy,  Wasantha Karannagoda,  relations between navy and army was strained  during Eelam war IV .Officers in the army knew this and were wary and guarded in their actions, said Kamal Gunaratne . The animosity between the […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The USA needed supportive persons in Sri Lanka if its plan to take over Sri Lanka was to succeed. Though Sri Lanka did not realize it at the time, Neelan Thiruchelvam was USA’s best link with Sri Lanka.   Neelan Thiruchelvam was a leading advocate of Tamil separatism from the 1970s onwards. Unlike […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The preceding essay recorded the diplomatic exchanges between the   government of USA and the government of Sri Lanka after Ranil Wickremesinghe became Prime Minister in May 2022. In the same month, Ambassador, Julie Chung met with several officials in Colombo. These interviews were mentioned in the media, often accompanied with a  prominent photo. […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS revised 23.6.22 Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned from the post of Prime Minister on 9th May 2022. He was replaced by Ranil Wickremesinghe, a national list” MP soon after, on 12th May. This brought to a sudden end the noisy protests that had dominated Colombo. The purpose of these protests, it is now clear, was […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Why did the attackers not attack the President’s residence in Mirihana, asked Shenali Waduge, though the residences of Mahinda Rajapakse in Tangalle, Medamulana, Carlton House & Kurunegala were burnt down as well as the monument to his father. The attackers were very selective when it came to burning houses. Houses of SJB and […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The south was the most affected when MPs houses were burnt.  In Galle there was a series of attacks on the houses of the former Ministers, Members of Parliament and the government supporters including a number of heads of Local Government Institutions. Former Minister Ramesh Pathirana’s house in Kithulampitiya, Galle was set on […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS From May 9th and May 14, 2022 the houses of nearly 80 MPs,  of which 74 were Pohottu MPs were burnt down.  Houses of some Pradeshiya Sabha and Provincial Council members were also burnt. The activity started around 5.00 p.m. on May 9th, on the same day that the Galle Face protestors were […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The departure of Mahinda Rajapaksa from the Pohottu government resembled a scene from a film. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had asked Brother Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign as Prime Minister. Instead, on May 9. 2022, Mahinda Rajapaksa convened a meeting of his supporters,   at Temple Trees, and asked them whether he should go or stay. Stay! […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS As predicted, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has succeeded in re-establishing the pro-US Yahapalana government. The ‘Yahapalana 2’ puppet government  is now in progress, with Ranil Wickremesinghe back again  as Prime Minister, Gotabaya Rajapaksa  replacing Maitripala Sirisena  as President and Basil Rajapaksa as the key   strategist. Mahinda Rajapaksa is out once again. It is important […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Critics want to know whether Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange problem is a staged default”. Mick Moore has described it as the most man-made and voluntary economic crisis.” The current problems were made in the last two years, he said.  Sri Lanka’s current crisis cannot be blamed on global economic problems. No other Asian […]

KAMALIKA  PIERIS Sri Lanka’s gem-bearing gravels, called illam, are some of the richest in the world. The gravels yield sapphire, ruby, cat’s-eye and other chrysoberyls, spinel, garnet, beryl, tourmaline, topaz, quartz, and many other gemstones. The island was blessed with   geology that provided an ideal blend of chemistry, heat, pressure, time, weathering, for gem crystals […]

KAMALIKA  PIERIS Sri Lanka gems  are celebrated worldwide for  their high quality, their clarity, transparency and saturation. Some are  with private collectors, others are in prestigious museums, a few were bought for necklaces for royalty. In Britain,  a Sri Lanka gem  was at  the centre of the engagement ring worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, […]

KAMALIKA  PIERIS Sri Lanka is best known for the following gemstones: Agate, Amethyst, Aquamarine, Citrine, Cymophane, ‘Cats eye’, Garnet, Moonstone, Rose Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Spinel, Topaz, Tourmaline and Zircon.   Agate is a semi-precious gem occurring in a wide range of colors including brown, white, red, grey, pink, black, and yellow. Sri Lanka is known for […]

KAMALIKA  PIERIS Sri Lanka is one of the top gem bearing countries in the world. It has the highest density of gems in the world and is known the world over as a destination for over 75 varieties of precious and semi-precious gemstones. Sri Lanka is best known for the following gemstones: Agate, ,Amethyst, Aquamarine, […]

KAMALIKA  PIERIS Sri Lanka possesses an abundance of minerals. The best known of these in Sri Lanka is our gemstones. Sri Lanka also has an abundance of good quality non-metallic mineral resources. They are mainly industrial minerals. These include Apatite, Calcite, Clay, Dolomite,  Feldspar, Garnet sand, Graphite, Ilmenite, Kaolin, Mica, Quartz, Rutile, Silica Sand, and […]

KAMALIKA  PIERIS United Nations held its first Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS I)  in 1956.The second Conference (UNCLOS II)  was held in 1960. The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III)   was convened in 1973  and went on till. 1982.   The United Nations Convention on the Law […]

KAMALIKA  PIERIS The ocean resources of Sri Lanka are in the process of expanding due to the relatively new UN Law of the Sea,  announced the media.   The Territorial and Continuous areas will add a sea area 8 times our land area. Sri Lanka will thereafter acquire 200 nautical miles as an Exclusive Economic Zone, […]

KAMALIKA  PIERIS India, Sri Lanka and Maldives  are located in the same area of the Indian Ocean. Therefore it was necessary to  decide on the territorial boundaries  of the sea between these three countries. Maritime  boundary agreements  between India and Sri Lanka were signed in 1974 and 1976 . This was necessary to avoid conflict, […]

KAMALIKA  PIERIS Officials look back fondly on the economic policy followed immediately after independence. R.K.H.M. Fernando, formerly a Director in the Treasury, said that at Independence the Soulbury constitution provided for an Appropriation Act as well as the Financial Regulations, which provided an adequate controlling framework with proper check and balances. All the monies collected […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS This series will not be a series of expert essays, discussing the economy of Sri Lanka.  That must be done by economists. This series brings before the public certain aspects of the economy which may be of public interest. The initial favorable economic conditions that Sri Lanka inherited from its colonial past, provided […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS UNP loyalists were overjoyed when the UNP won a landslide election in 1977. They felt a sense of power, they thought they were going to be there forever and started to intimidate those opposed to the UNP. Wiswa Warnapala saw this in action in University of Peradeniya and wrote about it in his […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS JR’s rule   was a period of lawlessness and corruption. Elections commissioner Punchihewa listed 3 elections as having the worst abuses in Sri Lanka’s electoral history. Two of these were held during the time of JR, the 1981 Jaffna District Development Council polls and the 1982 referendum.  His ministers were corrupt. Critics were beaten […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS JR meddled in appointments. He engaged in nepotism. Brother HW was sent to the UN where he did excellent work for Sri Lanka on the UN Convection on the Law of the sea.   Brother RP was appointed as Chairman Nation Science Council.  JR’s sister in law, Dr. Gladys Jayewardene was appointed Chairman, State […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS JR tried to appear interested in agriculture. I recall a photo in the Daily News at the time, of JR bare bodied and dressed in an amude, inexpertly holding a plough at a Vap Magula. During JR’s period of rule, the Guaranteed Price Scheme for rice was scrapped and the farmers had to […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS  JR meddled in the transport sector. Ceylon Transport Board had been set up on 1 January 1958, during MEP rule. At its peak, it was the largest omnibus company in the world – with about 7,000 buses and over 50,000 employees. The government of J.R. Jayewardene was intent on destroying what was now […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS JR made radical changes to the economic policy of Sri Lanka .He brought in a free market economy, ending   years of socialist bungling. The economic liberalization of 1977 pioneered by JR made radical changes in the economic policy of the country, said economists.  The 1977 economic reforms saw an initial burst of healthy […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS India did not stop there. India was determined to get a good hold on Sri Lanka . India  used the Tamil Separatist Movement for this. A process of negotiations was begun between the Governments of India and Sri Lanka with India playing the role of an interlocutor bringing the Tamil parties and the […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS JR shot to fame when he spoke at San Francisco Peace Conference in September 1951, where he asked that Japan be forgiven after World War II and reparations forgotten Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake had been invited to participate at the San Francisco Peace Treaty Conference in September 1951, held to propose punitive provisions […]