The Government and the All Ceylon Jaamiyathul Ulama (ACJU), reiterated today, that obtaining of the halal certificate is voluntary and the entire process is based on International specifications.

Leader of the House and Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, on behalf of the government, made a detailed response today to Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who asked the government to take steps to ease religious tension. In his statement the previous day, Mr. Wickremesinghe said that the ACJU, the apex body of Muslim clerics, had

DMK members were suspended from the Tamil Nadu assembly till Friday when a debate on Sri Lanka caused an uproar that the speaker ruled was undignified.

Upset over Local Administration Minister K.P. Munusamy’s remarks against DMK chief M. Karunanidhi, DMK members stormed to the speaker’s podium shouting slogans.

Deputy Speaker R. Jayaraman ordered them evicted, saying their conduct breached the dignity of the house and that their protest was undemocratic.

Speaker P. Dhanapal later suspended the

A conspicuous Sinhala right wing preoccupation, both in an outside the government, is to attribute all ills that beset Sri Lanka as being rooted in colonialism and its “exploitation”. Among most of these groups the condemnation of colonialism is harsh and expresses a deep-lying hatred and lust for revenge. The public expression of these strong negative emotions poison the receptive audiences, who most often are the under-privileged rural youth, who do not have the benefit of a proper education that would give them the ability

Sadly the CJ impeachment protests within Sri Lanka have become a whimper. Income tax officials suddenly pursuing the CJ is probably because someone vindictively asked them to. As Dharisha Bastians’ midweek column notes, President Rajapaksa informally constituted a three-man committee, which debunked the three charges on which the PSC had pronounced guilt.
And yet, the President acted on that debunked finding by his parilamentarians described by Ranjan Ramanayake, MP, as consisting of cattle thieves, ganja dealers, gold chain s

Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday sought effective and urgent action from the Government to nip the rising hate campaign against Muslims in the bud in order to prevent further attacks on mosques and protests being carried out in various towns, fuelled by communal hatred between the Muslims and Sinhalese.


This was the first instance the recent frictions between the two ethnicities were taken up in Parliament, with Select Com-mittee involvement sought to ensure an amicable and lasting settlement. &ldq

Failing to interpret the definition of ‘terrorist’, Parliament prematurely adjourned the debate on the Suppression of Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Bill tabled yesterday. Party leaders will arrive at a suitable definition today and will resume the debate tomorrow, amending the Convention on the Suppression of Terrorist Financing Act No. 25 of 2005.

Raising objection on the definition, Opposition lawmaker Ravi Karunanayake stated that in the absence of an interpretation, the continuation of a debate is useless and

The Sri Lankan government on Tuesday protested against the inclusion of Sri Lanka in the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) agenda claiming that it is contrary to Commonwealth rules.

During a meeting with Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma in London, External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris pointed out that such a course of action is contrary to the decisions taken by the Commonwealth Heads of Government at their meeting in Perth, Western Australia in October 2011 regarding the mandate of CMAG and the

“The Sri Lankan government’s blatant disregard for the Commonwealth’s principles of human rights and democratic reform makes it a poor host for this important event. Unless the government urgently addresses abuses and ends impunity, the international recognition it will gain by hosting the Commonwealth summit while repressing its key values will be an embarrassment to the Commonwealth and its member countries.”Brad Adams, Asia director

(New York) – The Commonwealth should shift the venue of its No

A prestigious award The Order of Isabella the Catholic of the Kingdom of Spain was bestowed upon Water Supply and Drainage Minister and Chief Whip of Parliament Dinesh Gunawardena at a ceremony at Waters Edge on February 1. The Order, Orden de Isabel la Católica, was created in March 1815 by King Ferdinand VII of Spain in honour of Queen Isabella I of Castile.

Minister Dinesh Gunawardena receiving the award. Picture by Saman Sri Wedage

It is a Spanish civil order granted in recognition of an extraordinary civ

Sri Lanka may face a tight situation at the April meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) in London with the likelihood of the country being included in the Agenda for the meeting, informed sources said yesterday

As a preemptive measure External Affairs Minister G.L Peries met Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma on Tuesday in London with the intention of warding off such an inclusion.

However, he received no confirmation from Mr. Sharma that Sri Lanka will not be included in the agenda