“Ordered disorder, planned caprice, And dehumanised humanity…” Brecht (The Exception and the Rule) By Tisaranee Gunasekara That the ancient-city of Dambulla is not sundered by religious violence is thanks to the sense and sensibility of its ordinary inhabitants (of all faiths) and the security personnel on duty. Had the people of Dambulla been as virulent ...

By Dinouk Colombage Following the United Nations Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva, Sri Lankan state media and members of the government have been on the offensive against human rights activists and independent media groups calling them ‘traitors’. Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, acting Minister of Mass Media, in an interview with The Sunday Leader says he ...

A dramatic global theatre jam   By Nirasha Piyawadani Pinnawala Adramatist who has rendered yeoman service to the promotion of local stage drama, M. Shafeer, has a cherished wish and that is to be able to hold an international drama festival in Sri Lanka. Our protagonist M. Safeer, strove to make this dream a reality and thanks to his untiring efforts the first ever international drama festival in...

(Srilankamirror) - Former chief justice Sarath N. Silva says any suspected war criminal could be taken before The Hague despite not being a signatory to the Rome convention. He has refuted opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe’s claim that no Sri Lankan could be hauled before the International Criminal Court as he had not signed the convention as the then prime minister. Speaking to...

(Srilankamirror) -  The Black January protest is to be held at the Lipton Circus at 3.00 pm today (Jan. 25), reports say. The demonstration was earlier scheduled to be held at 2.00 pm at the Fort Railway Station compound. Speaking to 'Srilankamirror' on behalf of the Sri Lanka's Alliance of Media Organizations, convener of the FMM, Sunil Jayasekara confirmed the report. He...

Srilankamirror - Fort Magistrate Kanishka Wijeratne today decided that the ruling of the petition against the Black January protest will be handed tomorrow (Jan. 25). The Black January protest is scheduled to be held in front of Colombo Fort Railway Station tomorrow. Organised by Sri Lanka's Alliance of Media Organizations, the Black January demonstration is a mark of protest against t...

Methods to kill a Lion Newton Method: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Let, the lion catch you. This implies that you caught the lion. Einstein Method: Run in the direction opposite to that of the lion. Due to higher relative velocity, the lion will also run faster and will get tired soon. Now you can trap ...

(Srilankamirror) - Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe says the mobs who hurled stones at him at Sirikotha on December 19 missed their target and hit the Buddha statue in front of the party headquarters building. At a media briefing at his office yesterday (Dec. 20), he displayed one of the rocks, which he said was aimed at him, and said it was thrown by Keli Rajamahendran. As a Christm...

Sarath Fonseka was found guilty on the first charge in an indictment filed in the High Court of Colombo, consequent to an article carried in The Sunday Leader on December 13 2009 -  front page under the caption “Gota Ordered Them To Be Shot - Gen. Sarath Fonseka.” The case was heard at a Trial-at-Bar before ...

“There is a tide in the affairs of men.  Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life  Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures.” – Brutus, in Julius Caesar, Act 4 Winning ...

OCTOBER 17, 2011: Status: Not Free Legal Environment: 23 Political Environment: 30 Economic Environment: 18 Total Score: 71 Despite the end of the government’s long-running war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebel group in May 2009, media freedom remained restricted in Sri Lanka, with journalists subject to myriad forms of legal harassment and physical intimidation. Altho...

The Media Organizations Collective says it unreservedly condemns the arrest of Sirasa TV journalist Indika Sri Aravinda, who was taken to Moratuwa Police Station, where his recorded video footage was deleted. It says in a statement that the journalist faced the incident yesterday (Oct. 05) after he had videoed the mourning relatives of a dead man, who was one of the suspects in the killing of...

Six Media organisations today condemned the action of the Police for forcing a TV journalist to delete pictures he had taken in relation to a news item he had covered in the Moratuwa area. The organizations said that a Sirasa TV journalist Indika Shri Aravinda had videoed the family members weeping over the death of a suspect who died in Police custody when the Police had taken him to the Moratuwa...

(Lanka-e-News -16.Aug.2011, 11.50P.M.) At the last General election ,Kili Raja Mahendran of the Maharaja Organization requested two slots in the National list of MPs at the general elections to which I did not agree . Therefore , his Sirasa media has turned hostile...

Sarath Kongahage, Chairman Rupavahini Corporation, lawyer, political activist, media personality and now ambassador-designate to Germany, spoke to Faraz Shauketaly on his impending  appointment and work at Rupavahini Corporation. He dispelled rumours that he was being replaced at SLRC due to consistent internal dissent. Excerpts: Q:  On what merits were you appointed as Chairman, Rupavahini Corpor...

By Tisaranee Gunasekara "….too many people desire to suppress criticism simply because they think that it will give some comfort to the enemy to know that there is such criticism. If that comfort makes the enemy feel better for a...

by Harim Peiris Last week Sri Lanka commemorated her 63rd anniversary of freedom from colonial rule and Sri Lankans rightly celebrated the achievement of our political independence and democratic rights as a free and sovereign nation. That freedom and sovereignty...

By Harsha De Silva I am generally not the street-protesting type. I try to articulate my arguments with facts and figures, be it writing, speaking or engaging in debate. But the other day, I was in a demonstration and this...

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “People want their freedom. People want their bread. People want to stop their lousy dictators from looting their countries”. — A Jordanian Dissident (New York Times – 30.1.2011) Tunisia and Egypt, in revolt, are at the end...

By Karu Jayasuriya (The following is the statement issued by UNP deputy Leader and Gampaha district Parliamentarian Karu Jayasuriya on the arson attack against the Lanka e-news media organization) A new chapter has been added to the threat to the...

(Lanka-e-News, 17,Jan.2011, 11.05PM) It is over two years since Sunday Leader newspaper Editor Lasantha Wickremetunge was...

Lasantha’s Killers Still Walk Free By Frederica Jansz A year ago, a high profile investigation into the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunge and the attacks on Editors Upali Tennekoon, Keith Noyahr and Namal Perera got underway as senior sleuths attached to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and the Terrorist Investigations Department (TID) sifted through a smattering ...

Vogue Jewellers and Sirasa TV join hands to make wedding dreams a reality! Colombo. Tuesday 04 January 2011. “Mangala Sihinaya”, Sri Lanka’s first-ever wedding reality show hits local television screens this month as Vogue Jewellers and Sri Lanka’s premier television channel Sirasa TV, join hands to both reward and entertain hundreds of thousands of television viewers across the country. Billed...

by Dr.Vickramahu Karunaratne I came back from England on November 7, Tuesday. I was warned by friends that I could get arrested by the Mahinda regime. But the ruler had a better arrangement set for me. I was not disturbed...

The Free Media Movement (FMM) unequivocally condemns Tuesday’s (7th December) attack on journalists at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and views it as yet another serious blow to media freedom, ethical and democratic right to impartial reporting. Lanka E News...

(Lanka-e-News 07.Dec.2010 10.30PM) Lanka e news Journalist Shantha Wijesuriya and Sirasa Katunayake Airport reporter Premalal were attacked by hiring vehicle drivers and Airport employees when they were at the Katunayake Airport to cover the arrival of Left Front leader...

While The Sunday Leader is encouraged to see WikiLeaks picking up where the Western media fell off, we wonder where the leakers are in our own island. America, the country exposed by the latest leaks, is already one of the most transparent in the world. What of Sri Lanka, where so much goes on behind ...

Mega Star Or Mega Joke? For many years, I have been a loyal fan of Swarnavahini. For the past one year, I have been a keen viewer of their reality show Mega Star, which finally turned out to be a ‘Mega Joke’.  Practically, every right thinking citizen of Sri Lanka and any person who has ...

By Tisaranee Gunasekara The welfare of the people in particular, has always been the alibi of tyrants…” — Camus (Resistance, Rebellion And Death) After a lull, the onslaught on the media has resumed. “We need to maintain emergency laws...

Jun 04, Colombo: A Sri Lankan court further remanded former News Director of the Sirasa channel under the MTV/MBC media networks and defeated United National Party Colombo District candidate, Susil Kumara Kindelpitiya until June 17.