It would be four years in May this year since the Sri Lankan forces succeeded in military annihilation of the LTTE. The victory came at a heavy cost as thousands and thousands of innocent Tamil civilians caught in the war zone became collateral damage. Sadly till date there are no clear answers on the magnitude of the humanitarian tragedy and the culpability of the victors and the vanquished.

This book by a former BBC correspondent Frances Harrison, who had a four-year stint in the island nation from 2000 to 2004, is a valuabl

Little has been done to contain the bloated military structure in Sri Lanka even though over three years have passed since the government formally declared victory in the the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist group which fought for a Tamil homeland in the North and East of the island. In fact, militarisation is a frequent charge made against the government today.

The repressive structures that make institutions vulnerable to militarisation, however, emerged far earlier than thi

Sri Lanka is facing diplomatic difficulties on many fronts.  The latest is that Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador from Sri Lanka for consultations.  This follows Sri Lanka’s own recalling of its ambassador to Saudi Arabia after the beheading of a young Sri Lankan housemaid.  While the severity of Saudi justice has come into question, weakening of diplomatic ties between the two countries can work to the detriment of Sri Lanka.  Saudi Arabia is the spiritual home of Muslims worldwide, including Sri Lanka.&

The nation’s sense of justice prevailed in the case of the young girl and the stolen to buy paint for her school which her parents could not afford. But it left us, with little or no knowledge jurisprudence, whether justice has really been done.

The cops who arrested the girl initially maintained that she had committed a non-bailable offence under the Criminal Procedure Code and that she was duly charged in courts. Those more learned in the law said that she as a juvenile should h

Sri Lanka is losing an advantage it had in basic literacy and the use of English language with other nations catching up fast and information technology literacy becoming increasingly important, a United Nations official said.Sri Lanka had the highest literacy rate in South Asia.

"But simply having a literate population that can read and write will not suffice in a knowledge economy," UNDP Resident Representative Subinay Nandy said.

He said over the past 30 years the English proficiency in Sri Lanka had dec

A vote to censure the Bodu Bala Sena for its anti-Muslim stance was unanimously passed at the monthly sitting of the Eastern Provincial Council yesterday.

The council, sitting under the chairmanship of Ariyawathi Galapathi, strongly criticized the Bodu Bala Sena for instigating communal disharmony in the country specially targeting the peace loving minority Muslim community.

The motion was tabled by A. M. Jameel, SLMC Provincial Councillor. Among the speakers on the motion was Chief Minister Najeeb Abdul Majeed.

Photographs have emerged which are said to show the 12-year-old son of a Tamil rebel leader alive and well in custody less than two hours before he was shot dead.

They show Balachandran Prabhakaran, son of rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, eating chocolate on a bench.

Campaigning group Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka says they are proof the boy was summarily executed.

A military spokesman denied the allegations.

Former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka speaking to Daily Mirror online said the Army had “no information” about the deaths of slain LTTE leader V. Prabhakarans, “ wife, daughter and youngest son”.

“After the final battle which went on from 2009 May 17 night, 18 and 19th till about 10 o clock, we only recovered Prabakharans body together with about dead bodies, and his elder son’s body, his elder son Charles Anthony. These two bodies were personally identified by the p

Describing the killing of Balachandran, the son of LTTE leader Prabakaran, “as the cold-blooded war crime of gravest nature and unforgivable act” Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday called upon India to work together with the United States and like-minded countries to ensure that those responsible were made to face an international trial.

Addressing a press meet here at the Secretariat, the Chief Minister said Balachandran, who was only 12 years old, was just a child. He had not committed any crime. He had bee

After a visit to Colombo last month, a delegation of senior US officials declared that Washington would table another resolution on human rights violations in Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in early March.

The delegation, led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State James Moore, concluded its three-day visit on January 28 after meeting with Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, external affairs officials and opposition United National Party (UNP) and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leade