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Post-P2P, Pre-Geneva: The GR Regime’s Zero-Option Offer To The Tamils  Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka Prof Rohan Gunaratna has long been a confidant of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. It is a relationship that goes back at least to the second-term of MR, though the latter did not give him the access to, let alone influence in the policy making process, especially the foreign-policy making process, that the (then) Secretary/Defense had suggested.  In 2018, Gotabaya Rajapaksa held a very successful second annual convention of the Viyathmaga at the Shangri-la hotel. Prof Gunaratna was the key speaker on foreign ...

Posted on February 6th, 2021 H. L. D. Mahindapala To understand contemporary national politics and its complex combinations and permutations it is imperative that any student of politics must first get a firm grasp of the two political cultures that divides the North and the South. The gap is much wider than the Palk Straits that separates us from India, thankfully. For instance, the Tamils have never tasted equality, dignity, liberty, justice and peace under any of the Tamil rulers starting from the time of Sankili who went down to Mannar and massacred 600 innocent T...

Even in the best of times, invisible strains have haunted bilateral relations between India and its closest ocean neighbour, Sri Lanka. Today, they are all at sea, all at once, and all over again, thanks to two specific issues, namely the continuing ‘ECT row’ and what has by now become the traditional ‘fishermen’s dispute.’ The ‘China factor,’ the ‘Sri Lankan ethnic issue,’ and the attendant ‘UNHRC resolution’ too have negatively impacted bilateral relations, but they have different connotations. The fishermen’s issue and economic ties, in contrast, are more direct and...

COLOMBO (News 1st): The Parliamentary Council convenes today (Feb. 03) under the patronage of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, at the Speaker's official - Get the latest breaking news and top stories from Sri Lanka, the latest political news, sports news, weather updates, exam results, business news, entertainment news, world news and much more from News 1st, Sri Lanka's leading news network.

How President Gotabaya Got To Geneva  Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka A key speech by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been quoted at some fair length and in the Report of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet as evidence which corroborates the charge of majoritarian ethnocentrism. His elder brother Mahinda never got himself in that situation; not even in wartime.  I was in the room when he engaged across the board in Geneva in 2007 with everyone from High Commissioner Louise Arbour and UN High Commissioner for Refugees – currently the UN Secretary-General – Antonio Guterres, to...