Fall of the Kandyan Kingdom - lessons still to be learnt

One of the serious failings of Sri Lankan polity, particularly from the time of the Kotte and Sitavaka Kingdoms had been to seek Western support against other contenders to power and in turn supporting them in their surreptitious schemes of territorial aggrandizement. King Bhuwanekabahu's overtures to the Portuguese to defeat Mayadunne of Sitavaka led to the Portuguese getting a foothold in the Maritime Provinces, with adverse and far reaching consequences on Sri Lankan culture and Buddhist religion in particular, never to be erased.

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Globalism versus Globalisation

Socio - economic scene

The extent to which the festival is rooted in the community was revealed a few years ago when the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) tried to legislate it out of existence with the Tamil Nadu New Year (Declaration) Bill of 2008, in favour of Thai Pongal. Widespread opposition to the move led to the holiday being preserved in memory of the great Dalit Buddhist leader BR Ambedkar. Last year, the Tamil Nadu Assembly quietly rescinded the legislation.

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Sri Lanka Right Watch

Girl Guide initiative on violence against women and children

A couple of days after government had held a consultation about implementation of the Human Rights Action Plan with regard to women and children, the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association convened a General Assembly on the topic of violence against women and children. It seems that the World Association had thought this a matter of urgency to have 'a wide spread campaign of stopping violence against women around the world', and the Sri Lankan Association had taken the matter up through a very effective mechanism, namely asking each province to examine a particular topic and make recommendations.

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Dudley Senanayake’s 39th death anniversary tomorrow:

A towering figure in SL’s political firmament

Dudley Senanayake, one of the most colourful politicians and a statesman, four times Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, passed away 39 years ago on April 13, 1973, New Year's day, common to both Buddhists and Hindus. This great leader died at the age of 61. He was a towering figure in our political firmament. A man of impeccable integrity and honesty, his contribution to Sri Lanka was enormous and he was an outstanding leader.

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