Remembrance Day, 19 May 26: Was it traduced?

‘Ferocious in battle, Magnanimous in victory (Col Tim Collins- Brit Army)

Sri Lanka commemorated the 17th anniversary of the end of the 30-year Eelam conflict with a moving War Heroes Remembrance Day ceremony on 19 May 26 at the monument on the Parliament grounds. It was a solemn occasion when the Nation paid tribute to over 29,000 Defence and Police people (women and men) who died in the conflict. Sadly, politics, aberrations and theatrics were also on display.

The gravity of the sacrifices made and consequences of the Eelam war and two Southern terrorist insurgencies (1971 and 1988-9), are felt mostly by those who lost their loved ones in the conflicts as the nation mourns with them. Any hesitation to pay tribute belittle the fallen.

It was regrettable to see that the ceremony was also political. Why were the general public excluded from honouring the fallen? It defies understanding that such actions could take place at an event held sacred by the nation. Is there any other country where citizens are prevented from laying wreaths at a National Remembrance monument?

In the UK, from where this ceremony originates, 10,000 veterans (of an army of 109,000 -just half of Sri Lanka’s) take part in the march past every November. They are selected by their regimental associations from thousands of applications on a first come first served basis. Public access is unrestricted with numbers attending being the only barrier to viewing.

It is shocking that in Sri Lanka while public access is denied (selectively?), ‘invitations’ are given to attend a national Remembrance Day. They were restricted to just three government nominees! Who made this unwise decision and why?

Did the other government cohorts object to being invited? Would they have been embarrassed to come? Is the purpose of this to prevent prominent actors in the victory from receiving overwhelming accolades if they attended? Was there a fear of gate crashing? Perish the thought.

What is the need to make political speeches at an event to honour the nation’s dead? Couldn’t the speeches be made in Parliament or broadcast the day before? Seeing VIPs enjoying a joke at this ceremony hurts.

When laying wreaths at the monument, national customs should be followed by all, as in the past. A traditional low bow with hands clasped humbly, as at funerals, should be the form. In the West the head is bowed. It is unnecessary to imitate Americans by placing one hand over the heart when bowing, as on CNN. Bringing the other hand over the midriff elaborates but is an awkward addition.

The dress for all civilians attending should be similar, respectful and appropriate as for formal events and uniform, matching that of the retired military.

This is the time for the nation to remember and reflect for a moment on the dead in conflict, not only of the Military and Police who sacrificed their lives in thousands doing their duty but also of the innocent civilians who died in tens of thousands. Or, is it that some, other than the NOK, who survived in the North and South, have become hardened to death and do not wish to recall how appalling the losses were? Has death lost its meaning if also not its sting?

During 1988-9, when 60,000 died in 13 months (over 100 a day), a tea planter in Bandarawella was shot dead by Southern terrorists for hoisting the national flag on Independence day.

In the Eelam conflict just one regiment, (regiments are the core and heart of the Army), Gemunu Watch, lost 3,424 KIA and 4,272 WIA. The Imperial British Army after WWII lost 2551 (just over half of the Gemunu Watch number) in war in Korea (1949-51), Falklands (1982), Iraq, Afghanistan (20 years) and 40 years of insurgency in Northern Ireland. (SL Army infantry regiments (SL Light Infantry, Sinha, Gemunu, Gajaba and Vijayba) had about 19,000 of 21,000 of the Army KIA. That is the enormity of the sacrifices made by our indomitable military. Who then struggled to find heroes in the military?

Fisher Weerasuriya from Matara and farmer Vernugopal from Jaffna who never knew each other were brought to a place hundreds of miles from their villages, to blow each other’s brains out. ‘Had they a quarrel? Busy as the devil is, not the smallest. Their political leaders had fallen out; and instead of shooting one another had the cunning to get these blockheads to shoot each other’ (transcribed from ‘Sartor Resartus’ – Carlyle). Do Sri Lankan politicians who stirred the pot not know this when they fervently say they hope to prevent conflict in the future?

Is it correct then to exult that 6,000 troops died in the last phase of the war? Is that an achievement? As FM Montgomery said of the WW1 British Army “Good fighting Generals of the war appeared to have complete disregard for life’.

Reparations are claimed by the winners in wars between nations. After civil conflicts there should be reconciliation. There should be no humiliation. When will commemoration of the dead be national in Sri Lanka? How many from communal minorities attend this ceremony? Every citizen from North to South should be welcomed to attend Remembrance ceremonies in the future. That will hopefully help to sow unity.

The military died without a murmur for their companions so that the nation would survive. Let next year’s commemoration be a truly national event where the focus is on those who died while veterans in large numbers and the next of kin together with the general public, are warmly welcomed.

“If it be life that awaits, I shall live forever unconquered: If Death I shall die at last strong in my pride and free”. – Scottish National Memorial

 

by Old Soldier

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Kandy Royals sign Vijay Shankar for LPL 2026

Vijay Shankar, who retired from Indian domestic cricket and the IPL recently, headlines the Lanka Premier League 2026’s marquee signings.

South Africa’s Reeza Hendricks, England’s Moeen Ali, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan and Sahibzada Farhan from Pakistan are the other overseas signings by the LPL teams ahead of the player draft which will take place on June 1.

Kandy Royals, who have signed Vijay Shankar, have also added three other players, joint-most alongside Dambulla Sixers who have also signed four players, including Hendricks.

Defending champions SC Jaffna Kings have made three signings, headlined by Shakib, while Galle Gallants and Colombo Kaps have signed two players each.

Wanindu Hasaranga, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dushmantha Chameera, Eshan Malinga, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage and Bhanuka Rajapaksa are the Sri Lankan players who round off the marquee signings.

Tournament regulations allowed teams a maximum of two overseas retentions plus two Sri Lankan marquee players before the player draft.

LPL Season 6 – Marquee Signings

Kandy Royals:Vijay Shankar (India), Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka), Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka), Moeen Ali (England)

Dambulla Sixers: Reeza Hendricks (South Africa), Dinesh Chandimal (Sri Lanka), Dushmantha Chameera (Sri Lanka), Sahibzada Farhan (Pakistan)

SC Jaffna Kings: Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), Dunith Wellalage (Sri Lanka), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka)

Galle Gallants:Eshan Malinga (Sri Lanka), Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka)

Colombo Kaps: Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka), Kamindu Mendis (Sri Lanka)

The five-team tournament, in its sixth edition, will run from July 17 to August 8.

[Cricbuzz]

 

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Patidar leads the way as Royal Challengers Bengaluru storm into second straight final

Rajat Patidar led defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) into the final with the quickest innings of 90 or more in the IPL, scoring a delightful unbeaten 93 off 33 to take his team to 254 for 5, the highest total in an IPL playoff, against the best attack of the tournament, Gujarat Titans (GT). Having finished in the top two, GT still have a chance to make the final at their home ground in Ahmedabad in Qualifier 2 as they await the winner of the Eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals. The last eight IPLs have been won by the side winning this fixture: Qualifier 1.

Asked to bat first in chase-friendly Dharamsala, RCB came out full of intent and skill despite missing the injured Phil Salt, but GT nearly snuck back in with a period of 22 balls, 18 runs and two wickets of set batters in a single Jason Holder over. In the time that Patidar scored 93 off 33, the other end, including extras, produced 68 off 37 legal deliveries.

Having never scored more than 233, GT needed something special, and only Jos Buttler came close to that with 29 off 11. The RCB fast bowlers ran riot and took out half the side within the powerplay.

RCB would have dearly loved to have Salt back, but his absence allowed them to play Jacob Duffy as the fourth overseas player. Venkatesh Iyer started the innings with two fours off the first two balls, moving around in the crease to try to mess with the lengths of the GT fast bowlers. It took Virat Kohli four balls to lay bat on Kagiso Rabada’s hard lengths, but Venkatesh ramped him for a six first ball even though he got into a tangle.

Even though Rabada came back immediately with the wicket of Venkatesh, the makeshift opener had done his job with 19 off seven. Immediately after the wicket, Kohli charged at Siraj and drove him over mid-off. Some classic batting – a flick off the hip, a late cut and a square cut – from Devdutt Padikkal consigned Rabada to 18 in his second over and brought up the team fifty in just four overs.

Rattled, GT had to move away from bowling Siraj and Rabada through the powerplay for the first time in eight matches.

Jason Holder took back-to-back wickets [BCCI]

Holder and Rashid Khan combined to bring GT back into the contest. Holder kept hitting the hard lengths, and Rashid bowled his first two overs for no boundary. In between, Holder managed to remove Kohli and Padikkal for 43 off 25 and 30 off 19. Not big innings but ones that understood the assignment.

Having gone funky with their selection – no Romario Shepherd in the batting-first XI so they could play an extra bowler if Shepherd was not needed – RCB promoted Krunal Pandya to likely maintain ideal points of entry for Tim David and Jitesh Sharma. While Krunal did his job with 43 off 28, it was the other batter that led to dropping jaws.

Patidar broke the spell off 22 quiet balls with a pulled six off a Holder ball that wasn’t quite short enough. After a boundary-free first over from Kulwant Khejroliya, playing his first game of T20 cricket since last April, Prasidh Krishna created two opportunities in the 14th over. The first one, a leading edge, fell between the converging wicketkeeper and deep third. The second one went straight to Rabada at deep square leg, but was dropped with Patidar on 26 off 20. At the end of the 14th over, RCB were an even 140 for 3, the last time you could say the match was even.

Starting with no-balls from Khejroliya in the 15th over, the flood gates opened for 114 runs in the last six overs. Two of his nine sixes were bona fide highlights reels for the year. The first an extra-cover drive off Rashid from the crease, and then a back-foot drive over cover off Rabada, who by now had the purple cap. That shot off Rabada left even Kohli awestruck.

The GT bowlers didn’t quite try a quick bouncer at him, but Patidar nicely steered a slow bouncer over short fine with a delayed hook. At one point, even a century seemed likely, but he didn’t quite get enough strike.

Jacob Duffy took a crucial three-for•  [BCCI]

For the first time ever, both innings of an IPL match started with two fours as B Sai Sudharsan hit Duffy for fours, but the GT openers were not as successful as the RCB top order at upsetting the bowlers’ lengths. Both Shubman Gill and Sudharsan tried charging at Bhuvneshwar, but got only two runs from his first over.

The pressure was mounting, but the first wicket came in an unconventional manner, with Sudharsan losing his bat as he cut Duffy away for four. The bat ricocheted onto the leg stump before the ball could reach the fence. Bhuvneshwar then extended his dominance over Gill with a wobble-seam delivery that got his leg stump. Now Bhuvneshwar leads the head-to-head with six wickets in 79 balls for just 80 runs.

No option left, Buttler came out swinging, looked dangerous, but Josh Hazlewood got the better of him with a knuckle-ball legcutter. The rest was always going to be a formality but RCB carried it out in style. Rasikh Salam bowled a double-wicket maiden to get Nishant Sindhu and Jason Holder to leave GT five down within the powerplay. Duffy ended up with three wickets, Bhuvneshwar reclaimed the purple cap, and only some late damage control from Rahul Tewatiya prevented this from becoming the biggest defeat in an IPL playoff match.

Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 254 for 5 in 20 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 19, Virat Kohli 43, Devdutt Padikkal 30, Rajat Patidar 93*,  Krunal Pandya 43, Jitesh Sharma 15*; Kagiso Rabada 2-54, Jason Holder 2-39, Prasidh Krishna 1-53) beat Gujarat Titans 162 in 19.3 overs (Sai Sudarshan 14, Jos Buttler 29, RahulTewatia 68; Jacob Duffy 3-39, Bhuvenshwar Kumar 2-28, Josh Hazelwood 1-39, Rasik Salam 2-24, Krunal Pandya 2-16)  by 92 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Undermining the democratic political framework

Aragalaya betrayed? ‘The treason of the intellectuals’ in the age of populism – Part II

The JVP/NPP conceptualisation of the ‘Jathika punarudaya’ (national renaissance) interpreted the Sri Lankan Renaissance as the aspiration to regain the moment we lost in the global modernisation project, which is believed to have emerged in the twentieth century as a result of the Western European Renaissance and Enlightenment imagination. Jathika punarudaya values modernity as the era of citizens based on a representative democratic model founded on a common social contract. It values human rights, civil rights, and political rights as the core of modernity. It values social interventions based on the values of social justice and collectivism. But is the current government acting on the basis of those renaissance beliefs that they claim to believe in?

This government came to power within the framework of bourgeois parliamentary democracy. However, the opposition alleges that the government is working to limit the right of the opposition to question the government’s actions within that framework, and within Parliament itself. The continued postponement of provincial council elections by the government has been criticized as a delay in the implementation of decentralised political power, especially in provinces inhabited by Tamils and Muslims.

The promise to abolish the executive presidency and restore a parliamentary-based political power structure continues to be postponed. This has drawn attention as a possible way to suppress trade union activities and intimidate political activists through repressive laws such as the Public Security Act and the Emergency Law, which are continuously implemented through the authoritarian use of the power of the executive presidency.

‘Honest party leadership,’ not the institutional system

The JVP, the core political party of the current government, which insists that its members are honest, claims that even if they violate certain rules and regulations in the course of governing, there is nothing wrong with it because it is not done for personal interest but for the common good. This implies that this government does not rely on rules, regulations, and a system of institutions built to last, but rather on the leaders of its own party, the JVP, whose leaders believe themselves to be honest. The system of institutions established on rules and regulations is for the rest of the people.

Attempts to subjugate institutions and public opinion to the government’s opinion

It is apparent that the government wants to implement its pre-designed agenda without any hindrance. To that end, the government is trying to subjugate all institutions and public opinion to its sole opinion. The most striking example of this approach is the government’s attempt to implement, without any genuine public discussion, neoliberal reforms formulated by previous governments regarding national education, which will have a decisive impact on the future of the country. The leadership brags that the proposed education reforms will be implemented as originally designed, regardless of any criticism or objections.

The government sets up committees at the local level claiming to represent the public, but people complain that they exclude anyone who does not conform to their way of thinking.

Freedom of expression

Civil rights activists say the current government’s continued use of the Online Safety Act, which was passed by the previous government despite public opposition, poses a serious threat to freedom of expression. Freedom of expression has been suppressed under the guise of legality. The government has made it a policy to summon and question individuals who criticise the government—even national-level politicians—at the CID. This amounts to intimidating its critics.

The government has not only broken its promises by failing to repeal the existing PTA but is also attempting to pass a new anti-terrorism law that local and international civil rights organizations have unanimously condemned as even more repressive. It has been stated that there is scope for the proposed new law to intensify the current use of anti-terrorism law as a weapon to suppress freedom of expression.

“The Arts Council has become an arts police!”

The latest instance of the government’s attempt to curb freedom of expression that has come under serious public criticism is the detention of four books by a Sri Lankan writer, Theebachelvan, who writes in Tamil, by Sri Lankan Customs when they were brought into the country from India. Later, a statement issued by the Director of Customs said that two of the novels would be released based on recommendations issued by the National Arts Council and the Literary Council, while the other two would not be released based on the recommendations of those boards and the Ministry of Defense.

The statement that “The Arts Council has become an arts police!” sums up the public protest that arose questioning the “legal and moral rights of the members of the Arts Council and the Literary Council who have received political appointments” to “measure and mark the boundaries of freedom of speech and expression at their own discretion” by giving such recommendations and assuming a power that they do not have.

Going beyond this general situation, the serious question that has been raised is: on what basis did Customs consider the views expressed in the two books by Theebachelvan that have been censored to be equivalent to the crime of ‘sedition’ under Section 120 of the Penal Code, which was cited as the reason for the detention? A related question is whether there is a connection between the allegation of sedition and the fact that the writer is a Tamil from Kilinochchi.

The irony here is the intervention of the current government’s Minister of Culture, the heads of the Arts Council under the Ministry of Culture, and its own literary sub-council in deciding this matter, along with the follow-up statements defending the government’s decision made by the same authorities, as well as by writers, artists, intellectuals, and academics who have been holding positions under the current government and those who have not.

There was strong public criticism that these individuals—who were believed to have held radical, liberal views on freedom of expression and ethnic rights before the current government came to power—have been appointed to various positions under the current government and now approve its repressive decisions in the name of ethnic reconciliation.

The following sentiments extracted from the comments made by Sumathy Sivamohan on her FB page, expressing her shock at a statement made by one of the leading Sinhala writers involved in making such statements, encapsulate the essence of the public criticism of the issue:

” I am shocked at [name of the person]’s words on the detainment of Theebachelvan’s works by Customs. … The radicalness, the liberalness, are just thin veneers of their Sinhala-only stances. …. Now, they talk of Reconciliation. Reconciliation via Repression. …. Reconciliation, my foot! …. reconciliation is in your head, I think …. [I am] outraged. But now, [I] am certain of one thing. This is the bluff and bluster of liberals. …. That [name of the person] and others think, when Sinhala people think there’s reconciliation, there’s reconciliation, smacks of very deep-rooted racism

I don’t understand the argument, ‘we have to protect this government’ sentiment, touted by many liberals, who in intimate circles voice criticism. And these are the same people who supported the LTTE too, when it suited them—their liberal Sinhala agendas. … Now, they are blubbering …. it is shocking, for it whisks the mask off the faces of these liberal faces. There is a side of Sinhala liberalism that slavishly supports sentiments pertaining to the LTTE. They are the same, they are all the same. Those radicals, those liberals, those everybody, who think because they are Sinhala they have superior knowledge of matters. Sickening.” (reproduced with permission). (To be continued)

by Kumudu Kusum Kumara

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Donald Trump says the US is developing medicine 'to bring people back to life'

The US President claims that the drug has been tested and shown promising results

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INSEE Lanka powers ‘Build Sri Lanka Exhibition 2026’ as corporate sponsor

INSEE Lanka, Sri Lanka’s fully integrated cement manufacturer and market leader, took center stage as the Corporate Sponsor of the Build Sri Lanka Housing & Construction Exhibition 2026, organised by the Chamber of Construction Industry of Sri Lanka (CCI). The partnership showcases INSEE’s commitment to advancing the country’s construction sector through quality, sustainability, and industry collaboration.

The exhibition was held from 22-24 May 2026 at BMICH. Stakeholders representing different sectors of the Construction Industry and international participants will be present.

As Sri Lanka’s construction sector enters a new era, the need to unite, innovate, and collaborate has never been greater. Build Sri Lanka is recognized as one of the industry’s most influential events and brings together the full construction value chain including manufacturers, suppliers, architects, engineers, developers, and homeowners into one dynamic platform.

Build Sri Lanka also plays a vital role in bridging industry knowledge with public understanding, enabling informed decision‑making for the construction ecosystem.

For INSEE Lanka, the exhibition is an opportunity to showcase capabilities to contribute to shaping the future of construction in Sri Lanka. Participation also highlights a dedication to drive progress to benefit the sector and the country, creating lasting value for communities and the environment.

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Urgent dog food recall as warning issued over plastic contamination

The Food and Drug Administration announced that the item has been recalled as it may contain plastic

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