SLHC director killed in accident
September 21, 2014
A Director attached to the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHC) died after her vehicle collided head on with a private bus in Beligala area in Balangoda, this afternoon.
Police Spokesperson SSP Ajith Rohana said that the accident has taken place while a group attached to the SLHC was returning to Colombo after a field visit for Uva Province Council election.
Another two individuals who sustained injures have been rushed to the Balangoda Base hospital.
“The driver of the private bus was arrested following the accident, and he will be produced the Magistrate, today,” SSP Rohana added.
Winners And Losers At Uva
By Dhammika Herath -September 21, 2014
Dr. Dhammika Herath
It has become traditional and customary to examine post election winners and losers in the contemporary political landscape. More importantly, election post-mortems have become a kind of tradition of political pundits where they express their intellectual superiority and elegance. All sides try to make sense of people’s motives while trying to portray a picture of victory even if they are at the losing end. This might be an attempt at soothing the ego in order to prevent depression, a kind of psychological defence or a morale boosting exercise for the devote followers who are trying to come to terms with the loss and the grief. That’s the sport of politics and we are witnessing yet another end of a battle, with all sides sustaining considerable injuries. Some have emerged victorious while others grieve. Here a simpleton trying to make sense of the results of the just concluded Uva elections.
Here is the order of the day as I see it -
People’s Liberation Front came first easily; they were outnumbered in terms of resources, manpower and was at the receiving end of the brutal violence where their political offices were burned to the ground, candidates as well as activists were beaten and shot at, all the while police and law enforcement watched the match and umpire was hitherto in another realm.They have always performed poorly at Uva, which is traditionally not one of their strongholds due to the large number of Tamils and rural uneducated poor who neither had the capacity nor could identify with JVP ideology. However this time around, there is a significant change in the tide possibly due to charismatic leaders and their steadfastness against the mighty Rajapakse election machine which was brutal and well oiled with all the government resources, judiciary and law enforcement at their disposal. Hats off to JVP for their commendable performances. Read More
