Columns
Home » ColumnsPM stops bid to ban Muslim veil
Believe it or not! The National Security Council (NSC) recently considered a proposal by a top Defence Ministry official to impose a ban on Muslim women in Sri Lanka wearing the burqa or niqab. The burqa is the full body dress, usually black, with a mesh cover over the eyes. This is worn by some more [...]
Sirisena cracks the whip; bites the bullet, risks splitting Party
Rajapaksa faction reacts by deciding to form new political movement; SLFP to split for local, provincial polls and referendum next year PM to outline alternative revenue generating system, but VAT issue still a crisis; Ranawaka proposes more direct taxes for the rich non-payers By Our Political Editor After the religious rituals ended on Nikini Poya day [...]
Ruling sans some Blues
My dear Maithri, I thought I must write to you to congratulate you on completing a one year ‘yahapaalanaya’ partnership with the Greens but then, you seem to have celebrated already in style – sacking a dozen or so Blue stalwarts from their organiser posts! I know that you had a hard time during the [...]
Fiscal and monetary policy coordination vital to contain inflation and trade deficit
The recent increase in the policy interest rate by the Central Bank was a move in the right direction. The objective of the increase in interest rates was to contain aggregate demand to contain inflation and imports. Yet, some could argue that its increase by 50 basis points was too little. However, changes in the [...]
Let us avoid waste and lead a simple life
We need to be happy at the efforts made by a majority of the people to cut down waste and live in a simple way. Earlier also our people had lived simple life with thrift. But later, we saw a situation where people would not spend to have a proper meal but waste money on [...]
The ends cannot justify the means in nation-building
A revealing comment was made to me by an infuriated social justice activist last week in relation to disturbing trends that have surfaced in public debate. As he said caustically; ‘when we raise criticism of government policy in discussion, the immediate response within some civil society groups is that of unmitigated fury.’ We are asked [...]
The OMP Act: The first step on the Long hard road to reconciliation
If those ultra chauvinists who thump the ‘Sinhala only’ drum, do so out of a genuine concern that a separate state of Tamil Eelam will sooner or later be established on Lankan soil if measures are not taken now to prevent its inevitability, they should be amongst the first to hail the establishment of the [...]
Where oh where is that code of conduct?
It was meant to be a happy and festive occasion. It was the mid-April Sinhala and Tamil New Year this year. It could not have been entirely happy for some households which probably had to dig deep into their pockets and even savings to provide the traditional feast and new clothes for their families, so [...]