The witness had received telephone calls from prominent members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the witness said yesterday at the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to investigate and inquire into violations of human rights, of which the Pottuvil Massacre is a case.

By Mohamed Jamaludeen

We the Muslims of North salute those members of the armed Forces who are relentlessly fighting to liberate the Country from the clutches of the separatists, who had been menacing the entire populace of Sri Lanka, for decades, particularly those of North and East, causing terrible misery, loss of live and property.

By Thalif Deen at the United Nations

A cartoon in a US news magazine many moons ago showed a Palestinian woman huddled together with her child in a makeshift shack as American-made Israeli Phantom jets rained fire on the refugee camp. As she looks up at the skies, the woman says to the child: "I think the UN must have just passed a resolution condemning Israel." She was probably dead on target -- and she may have been right about it last week too.

The east-west trade between Asia and Europe came into the hands of the Muslims when trading nations such as Persia went over to Islam. The Muslim traders used the monsoon for sailing in the Indian Ocean. The last stop to wait for the change of monsoon was Sri Lanka. On leaving the Malabar Coast, the next landmark they looked out for was Adams Peak.

By R. H. Gunesekera

(An article in The Island of November 19, Daring to Hope for Change, by Kath Noble has inspired me to pen this)

Life in Sri Lanka could be simple. Very simple indeed, if we ‘Sri Lankans’ just outgrew the need to display superiority of our respective origins. We also need to be able to avoid the compulsion to claim the ownership of our fair land. What the likes of Champika Ranawaka forget when putting forth the argument that the Sinhalese are the only original race in Sri Lanka, is that the aboriginal Veddah communities can claim prior ownership of this land as they are believed to be the descendants of the Yakkas and Nagas, the original tribes of our motherland.

Both sides of the political divide have found comforting words in a rare statement issued by Malaysia’s rulers which comments on the shaky state of current affairs.

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.”

Shakespeare - Twelfth Night    

Many commentators have portrayed Mr. Ashraff as a visionary, political thinker, humanist, poet etc. My attempt here is to go down memory lane and briefly recount a few instances of his innovative approach to politics. In his brief but eventful political career spanning for 14 years many notable achievements were made. He had unlimited supplies of energy within him to achieve things. A man born to do things. In short a “doer”.  

The article, A new approach to the management of our foreign relations, by my former colleague and friend K. Godage (published in The Island of September 19 and also in the Lakbima News of September 21) had the following : "In this regard, I wish to refer to two particular incidents, both in Trincomalee, where our armed forces were NOT involved but as a result of the police not arresting the perpetrators who, according to the respected Jaffna University Teachers for Human Rights, were Muslim Home Guards (in the incident involving the French NGO) and a small group of armed men (NOT members of the regular Armed Forces) in the second incident where a group of students were killed, the good name of the brave men of our Armed Forces, to whom this country owes a deep debt of gratitude, has been tarnished."

The 15th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) successfully concluded its two-day proceedings on 3rd August, where leaders of the eight member countries agreed to adopt four major agreements on food security, trade and terrorism related issues.

Threatened by the expanding influence of China in its backyard, India has sought to bolster the sale of miltary hardware to Sri Lanka. India is apparently concerned with the growing reliance of Sri Lanka on Pakistan and China for its military requirements.