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Professor Mahesh Nirmalan MD, FRCA, PhD, FFICM University of Manchester Ethnocentric politics, appealing to the sentiments of one’s own ethnic group has resulted in several post-colonial countries being trapped in perpetual cycles of conflict. The situation is further complicated when larger nations intervene on behalf of a side with ‘real or perceived’ injustices, or more diabolically, exacerbate these differences to promote their own global ambitions. As a consequence, affected countries are

Former Northern Province Chief Minister and Tamil People's Council Secretary-General Justice C.V. Wigneswaran has sharply criticized the National People's Power (NPP) government, accusing it of acting with "more racial bias and less intellectual understanding than any other party that ruled Sri Lanka" when it comes to restoring self-governing rights to Tamils. Wigneswaran made the remarks recently while inaugurating the Tamil People's Council headquarters on Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan Road in J

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ordered that a summons be issued to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in connection with a 2020 sugar import tax concession that allegedly caused the government losses exceeding Rs. 15.8 billion (approximately USD 53 million). Legal sources noted that Rajapaksa — a dominant figure in post-war Sri Lankan politics — has previously avoided direct legal accountability in several corruption inquiries despite substantial evidence of irregularities. However, they suggest

Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya has firmly rejected calls for an international investigation into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, insisting that accountability must be pursued through domestic mechanisms—a position that has drawn sharp criticism from Tamil parliamentarians and raised questions about the Prime Minister's apparent ideological shift from her activist past. Government's Stance: Domestic Over International Speaking in Parliament in response to oral questions, Prime Minister Har

The first mortar shell screamed just after dawn on 10 June 1990. It tore through the coral-stone ramparts of Jaffna Fort, the blast rattling every window in the city. Inside the pentagonal walls, 130 men—soldiers of the Sinha Regiment and young police recruits—looked at one another and knew: this was no skirmish. This was a siege. For 107 days, the old Portuguese-Dutch-British fortress became the eye of a storm that swallowed the peninsula. Outside, LTTE snipers hid in the Public Library, mort

In a sobering reflection of how old prejudices continue to shadow modern Sri Lanka, Robert Rajeswaran—better known behind the turntables as DJ Rob R—says he is shutting down his newly launched Indian restaurant, Tiffins, in the southern coastal town of Ahangama following weeks of intimidation, death threats, and physical assault from locals. The decision has left the 30-something artist questioning whether a Tamil entrepreneur can feel truly safe in a Sinhala-majority area, even 16 years after