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Home » ColumnsAt my back I can hear…
If I have changed a word or two from Andrew Marvell’s classic poem “To His Coy Mistress” with its metaphysical conceits, it is for good reason. Yes I could hear Time’s winged chariot hurrying near as I lay in a hospital bed earlier this month contemplating the tragic and continued happenings nearby as thousands of [...]
Karuna dances on the graves of Lanka’s war heroes he killed
In peace times, too, have the laws fallen silent and ceased to apply to self-confessed mass murderer Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, better known as the dreaded Karuna Amman, who, as a regional commander of the Tamil Tigers during its reign of terror, carried out dastardly attacks on the Lankan Forces and has now taken to gloat over [...]
Karuna under fire for alleged war crimes
International organisations are expressing concern over the recent controversial remarks by Karuna (his nom de guerre) the LTTE’s onetime Eastern Commander who now goes by the name Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan. He is contesting the Digamadulla district as a candidate of the Akhila Ilankai Maha Sabha and is at the eye of a political storm after remarks [...]
The proud boast
My dear Karuna, I am writing to you because everyone is talking about you these days after certain remarks you made, saying that you are even more dangerous than the coronavirus because you had killed between 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers in one night in Elephant Pass during the Eelam war more than a decade ago. [...]
Reflections on economic development policy perspectives
A plethora of economic policy recommendations to revive the economy and achieve economic growth has emerged. The general thrust of these is that the country needs to pursue different policies after the dislocation of the global economy by the COVID-19 pandemic. Recommendations Individuals, professional groups, research organisations and concerned citizens have written articles, submitted proposals, [...]
Sri Lanka’s state of exception in constitutional governance
Governance in Sri Lanka today is transitioning from a constitutional (albeit flawed) system of checks and balances to tugs of war between competing political power centres that are constrained not by the Constitution or statute but by the sheer praxis of force. In that unseemly struggle over which looms the spectre of a militarised command [...]
August 5 elections unlikely to herald in qualitatively different new parliament
When one reflects on the political future of this country, if one goes by current trends there is little cause for optimism. The prospects of a qualitative change in the composition of parliament following the parliamentary elections scheduled for August 5 look rather bleak. One of the main arguments put forward against the recall of [...]
Election campaign: Focus moves from COVID to Karuna
Controversy rages over former LTTE Eastern commander’s remarks about massacring thousands of troops Major dispute over Harin Fernando’s comments about Cardinal’s role in last year’s presidential election Strict health guidelines for parliamentary elections; concern over voter turnout At one time, he was the most trusted ‘military commander’ of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam [...]
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