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Some Comments On The Constitutional Draft February 17, 2015 |  Filed under:  Colombo Telegraph , Opinion  |  Posted by:  COLOMBO_TELEGRAPH By  Sumanasiri Liyanage  - Sumanasiri Liyanage I assume that  the discussion paper  that was published in the Colombo Telegraph is authentic. Vaclav Havel once wrote that “if the world today is not to become hopelessly enmeshed in ever more terrifying conflicts, it has only one possibility: it must deliberately breathe the spirit of multicultural co-existence into the civilization that envelopes it.” The basis of this sprit, according to him, is “for different peoples, religions, and cultures” to learn to “respect each other” and to “respect and honor each other’s’ differences”. If we look at from the prism of this grand objective  Maithripala Sirisena  government’s constitutional proposals can be portrayed as the weakest and most regressive document in the constitu...

Jaffna Musings: Displaced People, KP And KG February 14, 2015 |  Filed under:  Colombo Telegraph , Opinion  |  Posted by:  COLOMBO_TELEGRAPH By  Sumanasiri Liyanage  - Sumanasiri Liyanage On February 5 early morning, I took the Chinese built intercity train to Kankasanturai that ran on an Indian tracks after Vavunia. The train took more than 7 hours to reach Jaffna, my destination. This time I travelled by train after 35 years being my last train journey to Jaffna in July 1980, during the time of the General Strike. I visited Jaffna several times during July strike most of the time with late Comrade U E Perera who was the President of then powerful Railway Workers Union. Opening up of railway to North is undoubtedly commendable. My last visit to Jaffna on A9 was in 2011 for the demonstration and rally organized by the  FUTA . Since 2011, things have changed considerably, new constructions in Kilinochchi, better roads, ...