විය යුත්තේ කුමක්ද?
Opposition to the ceasefire is growing: the JVP wants the LTTE destroyed militarily, and the PA, including Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, joined a protest against Ranil Wickremesinghe’s ‘treacherous pact’. Recalling the JVP’s violent response to the Indo-Lanka Accord, the editorial argues that the memorandum’s flaws should be debated, not used to return to war, that neither side will give up readiness to fight overnight, and that the country needs a policy of untangling the knot.
හදිසි මැතිවරණයක
As the ceasefire agreement with the LTTE nears its first anniversary, the seizure of a boat carrying anti-aircraft weapons shows the LTTE is ready for war, unsettled by talk of a snap dissolution and the President’s pact with the JVP. The editorial warns that an election under cohabitation would be a violent contest, and lists eight points the parties should agree, including electoral reform, restoring the independent commissions, a neutral caretaker government and a five-year national government.
A Snap Election
In a climate where peace hangs by a thread, the looming threat of a snap election promises not a democratic transition, but a destructive contest of death. Caught in a bitter, bilateral deadlock, the Executive President and the Prime Minister are poised to drag the nation into a mad struggle for supremacy. With the LTTE watching warily from the wings, an election waged in the “law of the jungle” risks plunging the exhausted country back into anarchy. To prevent this impending peril, civil society must forcefully demand a civilized consensus—a unified, all-party commitment to structural reform, independent electoral oversight, and a non-military resolution—before the ballot box is completely broken by the barrel of a gun.
නිශ්ශබ්දතාව අවසන් විය යුතුය
Ivan argues that Sri Lanka lacks a meaningful social dialogue: outwardly educated and modern, it remains feudal in its politics, economy and attitudes. Contrasting Europe’s liberal philosophical debate and Gandhi’s democratic dialogue in India with the narrow, divisive discourses of Anagarika Dharmapala and the Left, he blames the silence of the educated class, fear of being branded traitors and party loyalties, and calls on intellectuals to break their silence.
ෆෙඩරල් අපභ්රංසය
Prompted by the LTTE’s statement that it would drop the demand for a separate state in return for internal self-rule under a federal system, Ivan argues that constitutional debate should not be confined to ethnic grievances, since discontent with the political system is widespread. He then sets out the basic features of federalism with examples from the United States, India, Switzerland, Australia, Canada and Belgium, covering amendment procedures, second chambers, division of powers and dispute resolution, and rebuts popular myths such as a federal unit’s supposed right to secede.
Silence Must End
This article addresses Sri Lanka’s intellectual stagnation, arguing that high literacy rates mask a deeply backward social consciousness starved of meaningful public debate. Contrasting Sri Lanka’s superficial modernism with Europe’s Enlightenment and India’s inclusive movement under Mahatma Gandhi, the author criticizes Sri Lanka’s past reform attempts for fragmenting society along racial, religious, and class lines. The text delivers a sharp warning to the educated class, asserting that their persistent silence and fear of controversy create a dangerous vacuum—one historically filled by violent extremists like Wijeweera and Prabhakaran—and calls on intellectuals to fulfill their civic duty by sparking dynamic social discussion across all areas of national life.
රාජ්යය ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදි කිරීම
The LTTE’s move from a separate state to a federal system of internal self-rule offers an easier basis for a settlement. Ivan argues that minorities pushed aside by the majority seek to break away, and that the state must be democratised so the majority cannot override their rights, citing Nehru’s creation of Tamil Nadu. He links the insurrections of Prabhakaran and Rohana Wijeweera to caste domination as well as ethnic and class grievances, and calls for a new constitution through broad national dialogue.
ප්රභාකරන් හොඳ නම් ජනාධිපතිනිය පමණක් නරක ඇයි?
Ranil Wickremesinghe has reached agreement with Prabhakaran but not with Chandrika Kumaratunga, who leads the main opposition. Ivan argues that any settlement with the LTTE needs at least the main opposition’s support, and faults the government for wavering between confrontation and coexistence, leaving PA rebels stranded after the 19th Amendment failed. Citing de Klerk and Mandela, he says Wickremesinghe and Prabhakaran must each win respect across communities and from the People’s Alliance.
Democratization of the Country
This article explores the deeper socio-political fractures in Sri Lanka, arguing that the nation’s violent conflicts have been driven as much by caste oppression as by ethnic divisions. The author points out that both Prabhakaran in the North and Wijeweera in the South led armed rebellions that fundamentally challenged the entrenched dominance of the Vellala and Govigama castes. Highlighting historical examples of political exclusion based on caste—such as C.P. de Silva being denied party leadership—the article contends that Sri Lanka’s rigid political framework fails to accommodate marginalized voices. Ultimately, the author calls for a new, flexible constitution that guarantees true democratic participation and protects all minority groups from the tyranny of the majority.
සාමය ජයගැනීම සරල නැත
The editorial rejects criticism of the LTTE’s participation in the Oslo aid conference, arguing that both parties jointly seeking reconstruction aid is positive. It notes Anton Balasingham’s measured reply to the US Deputy Secretary of State, the LTTE’s shift from a separate state to internal self-rule and Prabhakaran’s conciliatory Heroes’ Day speech. On LTTE police stations and courts, it argues regional policing is part of devolution and that successive governments’ failure to provide Tamil-language police and courts is partly to blame.