Provincial Councils election and government’s economic woes

Columns

Apr 10, 2021

By Lankathilaka

Sri Lankan politics are in a state of flux with nobody in the know where the country is heading. On the one hand, there seems to be a school of thought that the government should hold the long delayedProvincial Councils election without further delay. On the other hand, there is another which think that Provincial Councils will not serve any purpose but is a waste of public money. However, the government is in a dilemma trying to find political space for the second layer of ...Continued

The Government’s Provincial Council conundrum

Columns

Apr 3, 2021

By Lankathilaka   • Latest US State Department report points to alleged human rights abuses • Is ASP Perera the victim of a political witch hunt? • The Government’s war with conservationists continues unabated     President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, with an unassailable logic in mind, appears to have determined to rely on an indigenous or a more homegrown system to devolve power to the provinces. The sentiments expressed by the President during the dialogue he held with villagers in Pitabaddera in the Matara district have ...Continued

The UN Resolution with a ‘bite’

Columns

Mar 27, 2021

By LANKTHILAKA

The UN Human Rights Council adopted Resolution A/HRC/46/L.1/Rev.1 on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka. Twenty- two countries voted for the Resolution, 11 countries voted against it and 14 countries abstained from voting. Despite speculation during the weeks in the run up to the vote that it would be a hotly contested one, in the end it turned out to be a cakewalk for the global North which voted en– bloc for the adoption of the Resolution together with some Latin American ...Continued

Bhagya- a whistleblower for environmental protection as Lanka faces challenges...

Columns

Mar 20, 2021

BY LANKATHILAKA

 Photo courtesy- web  Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries. —Jimmy Carter Has man’s love for nature been thrown out of the window because of his greed for money? It is an axiomatic assumption that from the early ages man lived with the help of nature.  The shining sun, the trees, waterways, the rain, the wind and the natural landscape, all of which helped the existence of man on earth. Animals, birds and other ...Continued

Politics for a purpose

Columns

Mar 13, 2021

By Lankathilaka

Sri Lanka seems to be undaunted in the face of an imminent threat of a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council which may call on the country to address accountability issues. Accountability issues concerning Sri Lanka since the end of the war in 2009, hangs over her like the sword of Damocles. There has also been a respite from time to time, especially when the “Yahapalanaya” government was in power. The Yahapalanaya government headed by the UNP co-sponsored the resolution, diluting its fervour to ...Continued

Easter Sunday attacks: jury is still out on the perpetrators

Statecraft

Mar 6, 2021

The storm clouds are brewing and it’s going to be a Black Sunday.  The priests of the archdiocese of Colombo are organizing a special prayer during mass on the 7th of March and the church bells will ring out. Churches across the country are expected to join and to do the same, especially those in the dioceses of Colombo, Gampaha and Batticaloa where the churches and hotels which were targeted by the Easter Sunday suicide bombers were located. The activities are being organized to seek ...Continued

Will the UNHRC be Sri Lanka’s nemesis?

Statecraft

Feb 27, 2021

By Lankathilaka

• GoSL categorically rejects OHCHR report • Sri Lanka and Pakistan sign MOUs for bilateral cooperation • BASL election a protest vote against the government? The 46th UN Human Rights Council sessions have begun and they are testing times for Sri Lanka even though the trajectory is not unfamiliar, nor is the path to be traversed.   Herein lies the rub.  The global north and a large number of human rights organisations and activists are raising the red flag.  They see a dangerous slide back ...Continued

The Government’s burgeoning human rights concerns, President Gotabaya turns to...

Columns

Feb 20, 2021

By Lankathilaka

• Mounting pressure from human rights lobby: a chorus call to end impunity for accountability and justice • The balancing act with India and Pakistan • Rating agencies dismiss government’s claim of a rosy economy Sri Lanka stands on the threshold of the 46th sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council and the storm clouds have been gathering.  The latest rap comes from Amnesty International. In its newest report, Old Ghosts in New Garb, Sri Lanka’s Return to Fear, which was released last week ...Continued

The Government at a crossroads with Covid -19 burials

Columns

Feb 13, 2021

By Lankathilaka

    • Wither Wimal Weerawansa? • Last week’s paada yatra a resounding success. • A host of issues burning bright for the UNHRC.   • Crudia zeylanica: another nail in the coffin of the country’s catalogue of environmental disasters.   Today, Wimal Weerawansa has become a household name among urban and rural Sri Lankans for all the wrong reasons. Politics apart people dislike Weerawansa for his erratic behaviour.  A maverick politician he has so far been successful with his political chess games. After breaking ...Continued

The political victimization of the ECT andSri Lanka takes hardline...

Columns

Jan 29, 2021

STATECRAFT

  • Sri Lanka under pressure from several quarters on human rights issues • Tamil political parties and civil society groups to write a series of letters to the UN and others • Pakistan PM to visit Sri Lanka on 23 February   The alleged sale of the Eastern Container Terminal (ECT) is going through rigorous and sharp criticism by Ministers of the Rajapaksa government itself which is creating a myriad of problems to the topmost figures of the higher echelons of government. They maintain ...Continued