One Nation, One People — But on Whose Terms?

One Nation, One People — But on Whose Terms?

By M.R. Narayan Swamy One day in 1997, Sri Lanka’s air force chief, Oliver Ranasinghe, learnt from a “little bird” that the Defence Secretary had gone to the UK with his son to buy two C-130 aircraft. The C-130 was ideally suited for Sri Lanka. It can carry heavy loads and even operate out of unprepared airfields. But there were problems with these two aircraft. Both had been parked on a tarmac in the UK for 13 long years in extreme weather, without being flown or even the engines being run.


M.R. Narayan Swamy

M.R. Narayan Swamy

U.N., Amnesty Representatives Expected at Jaffna Conference on Sri Lanka’s Disappeared

U.N., Amnesty Representatives Expected at Jaffna Conference on Sri Lanka’s Disappeared

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Representatives of the United Nations and Amnesty International are expected to attend a conference in Jaffna on Aug. 30, as families of the forcibly disappeared renew their longstanding demands for truth, justice and accountability. The conference, titled “The Long Journey for Justice,” is being organised by relatives of the forcibly disappeared to coincide with the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, observed annually on Aug. 30. It will be held a


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Facing a Fight for His Seat, Archchuna Turns to Muslim Rights

Facing a Fight for His Seat, Archchuna Turns to Muslim Rights

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A Tamil member of Sri Lanka’s Parliament accused the director of a government hospital in the country’s east on Wednesday of discriminating against Muslim employee. The lawmaker, Ramanathan Archchuna, an independent representing Jaffna District, said nine Muslim women employed as health assistants had been prevented from working at Kalmunai North Base Hospital because of a dispute over their attire and were subsequently transferred to the nearby Ashraff Memorial Hospital.


Our Reporter

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Three Years On, Rajnath Singh’s Sri Lanka Visit Takes on New Significance

Three Years On, Rajnath Singh’s Sri Lanka Visit Takes on New Significance

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — India’s defence minister, Rajnath Singh, is preparing to visit Sri Lanka, three years after a planned trip was abruptly deferred, as the two neighbors move to deepen a security partnership that was formalized last year with their first broad agreement on defence cooperation. The itinerary has not been finalized, and New Delhi has not announced dates for the visit. Mr. Singh is expected to hold talks in Colombo, with a possible stop in Trincomalee. Preparations are already


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

UNAFRAID AND UNBOWED

Archbishop, Archbishop, why hast thou forsaken us in our hour of sorrow and slaughter?

Archbishop, Archbishop, why hast thou forsaken us in our hour of sorrow and slaughter?

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." - Isaiah 58:1 His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo and chief shepherd of the Catholic flock in all of Sri Lanka, has recently marked fifty years in the sacred priesthood. As the highest-ranking prelate whose dominion spans the entire island, he now stands as a mighty voice crying for justice, calling upon the nations of the earth for interv


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

Jaffna Library Burning: The Day They Burned the buddha and his dhamma

Jaffna Library Burning: The Day They Burned the buddha and his dhamma

Why South Asia Reveres Books-and Fears Their Destruction Irrespective of religion, across the Indian subcontinent, books have long held an exalted status. In the indigenous spiritual traditions that emerged from this land-Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism-knowledge is not merely valued; it is venerated in the highest order. In homes, temples, and schools across the region, people treat books with profound reverence-never touching them with their feet, and if done accidentally, offering a


Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Chemmani: Where Justice Was Buried

Chemmani: Where Justice Was Buried

The dead do not speak - but the earth does A few years ago, I visited Cambodia. My original aim was to see the Angkor Wat temple complex. But, as always, my journalistic instincts led me deeper into rural Cambodia, where I found myself in quiet conversations with a few former soldiers of the Pol Pot regime, now living ordinary lives as toddy tappers, farmers, and small shop owners. One of them - a former henchman of the Khmer Rouge - opened up after a few glasses of toddy. In a hauntingly calm


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

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Chemmani Excavation Stops Today With 582 Sets of Human Remains Identified

Chemmani Excavation Stops Today With 582 Sets of Human Remains Identified

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Excavations at the Chemmani mass grave end on Wednesday with 582 sets of human remains identified, among them those of children, and no decision on whether digging will resume before a court date in October. Wednesday is the 56th and final day authorised by the court for the third phase of the excavation, and the 110th day of digging at the site on the outskirts of Jaffna since work began in May last year. Whether a fourth phase goes ahead rests on a hearing set for Oct. 14,


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Ranil Warns Sri Lanka Could Face Bankruptcy Again After 2028

Ranil Warns Sri Lanka Could Face Bankruptcy Again After 2028

COLOMBO — Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe warned on Tuesday that Sri Lanka faces a second bankruptcy when heavy debt repayments resume after 2028, and said the government was spending its remaining preparation time on the Constitution and the judiciary instead of on rebuilding foreign-exchange reserves. He spoke at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall at the launch of Yuddha Dekakata Ura Dee, or Shouldering Two Wars, by Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, whom Mr. Wickremesinghe a


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Our Reporter

Sri Lanka Can Tame Inflation if Oil Holds Near $80, Central Bank Chief Says

Sri Lanka Can Tame Inflation if Oil Holds Near $80, Central Bank Chief Says

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka can return inflation to its 5 percent target if global oil prices hold near $80 a barrel, the country's central bank governor said, while warning that a fresh energy shock would strain a recovery that remains vulnerable to forces beyond the island's control. Nandalal Weerasinghe, governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, spoke in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Sydney, where he is leading an investor roadshow intended to draw foreign money into Sri Lanka's stock m


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Sri Lanka Braces for a Powerful El Niño as Reservoirs Run Low

Sri Lanka Braces for a Powerful El Niño as Reservoirs Run Low

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's weather authority says an unusually powerful El Niño is likely to develop by the end of the year, arriving just as reservoirs across the country are running low. The Department of Meteorology now puts the probability of a "very strong" El Niño at about 90 percent, said Ajith Wijemanna, the department's director general. He said there was roughly a 70 percent chance the event would exceed the intensity of any El Niño recorded since 1950. The forecast tracks closely with re


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