The dilemma of independence

More than five decades have passed since independence, and the fifty-fourth anniversary has to be marked with sadness rather than pleasure. What the country has done with its freedom, measured against the neighbours who started level with it, is the subject.

Invasion of Jaffna inevitable

The Army Commander says Elephant Pass was given up on strategic grounds. What the LTTE had in fact done was bring the base to a point where the army could not get water or food into it — and a base abandoned for strategic reasons still proves that the means of holding Jaffna are gone.