By Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka
The Minister of External Affairs Prof GL Peiris usually gives no reason to be described as ‘irate’.
That however, was the newspaper description of his uncharacteristically sharp remonstration, urging Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe not to ‘outsource’ the role of the Opposition to the international/diplomatic community.
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December 10th: 63rd Anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Tamil Centre for Human Rights – TCHR/CTDH, in association with other Human Rights organisations, Institutions, Human rights defenders and with many others around the world celebrates today the 63rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights -UDHR.
The UDHR contains thirty articles. Articles 1 and 2 outline the philosophical claim of the UDHR and emphasise that human beings are born free in equal dignity and are entitled to all rights and freedoms without any kind of discrimination.
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TNA urges government to honour mutual agreement reached and not to place new impediments
Full text of statement released by Tamil National Alliance, Dec 3, 2011
At the Bilateral talks between the TNA and the government delegation on the 16th of November the parties identified the issues to be discussed and agreed upon in evolving a political solution.
The parties agreed on the specific order in which these issues were to be discussed and for this purpose scheduled four meetings, on the 1st, 6th, 14th, and 15th of December 2011. Thereafter, a time-table setting out these dates and issues was also circulated.
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[dbsjeyaraj.com] Pandemonium erupted in the Sri Lankan Parliament on Monday November 21st 2011 as MP’s belonging to the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance(UPFA) and opposition United National Party(UNP)clashed openly in the presence of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa during the presentation of the budget for the forthcoming year.
In what was a shameful spectacle viewed by several diplomats ,high ranking govt officials,media personnel and eminent citizens ,there were fisticuffs, scuffles, manhandling, hurling of water bottles,books,files,papers, abuse, threats and tugging of sarees worn by some woman MP’s.
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[dbsjeyaraj.com] The count down has begun for “ Great Heroes Day” (GHD) on November 27th. Rival factions of the overseas Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE)competing with each other to commemorate the event in Western countries where substantial concentrations of Sri Lankan Tamils are prevalent.
November 27th falls on a Sunday this year. This has reinforced the efforts of both factions as the chances of drawing massive crowds is greater because of Sunday being a holiday.In a scenario similar to a market place both factions are doing their best to ensure that the Great Heroes Day(GHD)events organized by them get the highest number of attendees.
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[dbsjeyaraj.com] Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra , gunned down brutally on October 8th 2011 was a vibrant personality who could be portrayed as an “anti-hero” of real life. The circumstances of his untimely end casts him in the mould of a tragic anti-hero.
Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra – 26, January 1956 – 8, October 2011
In literature, stage and screen an anti-hero is a complex character with some negative qualities of the typical villain while also retaining some of the positive attributes of the conventional hero.The anti-hero character is a blend possessing heroic qualities and intentions on the one hand and villainous personality flaws on the other.
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