The steely hand behind Tigers’ demise

Under the firm guidance of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan military did what the Tiger leadership least expected it to do-double its manpower and bring the fight direct to the enemy and inflict decisive psychological wounds. This was all-flanks engaged warfare based on common-sense and strategic insight.

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Internal governance of the universities in Sri Lanka

The University was, as its very name implies, was a community of scholars who, as intelligent men, were not prepared to be subservient to authority. The medieval society, on the other hand, was authoritarian by nature. The University scholars, from the very start, were aware of the need to protect their rights and regulate their own affairs.

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Remembering Sunil Santha

In the early 1940s I was playing around one day with the radio when accidentally I touched a button and out came a well modulated voice singing a song in Sinhala. What struck me at first were the words used - the Sinhala spoken in daily use in contrast with the prevailing 'classical' style used by our popular singers of the 'gramophone era' in our time. Its melody was even more remarkable, it seemed wedded to the words that were being spoken.

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Senator Ted Kennedy:

Towards a globally friendlier America

Late Senator Ted Kennedy, the last of the most storied family in America, sought the “American Idea” to be validated ultimately by human experience, so it could not deviate from its core elements of English legal tradition, French Enlightenment thought, or the inherent Republican values of Greece and Rome. He passionately injected his native Irish optimism into American politics striving to reach that higher ground amidst near insurmountable odds.

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