Does anyone else feel this, or is it just me?
I swear SOMETHING broke in society after 2020—and nobody really talks about it.
Not masks. Not lockdowns. Not COVID.
I mean the FEELING of life.
Everything reopened. We went back to work. Restaurants filled up. Events came back.
But life still feels… different.
Years disappear faster. People feel more disconnected. Everything feels more expensive, more stressful, more rushed.
And somehow everyone is exhausted all the time.
I can’t even explain exactly what we lost.
I just know life before 2020 felt more ALIVE.
Tell me I’m not the only one who feels this.
Seriously! What is wrong with this guy? Would appreciate a psychiatrist weighing in, if possible.
What are they doing with our taxes?
@anuradisanayake always boasts saying they’ve collected billions in taxes!
Why isn’t the drainage maintained?
I do see new drainage being installed, but the existing drainage needs to be maintained too.
Canals need to be dredged and cleaned. I’ve been watching halfhearted attempts to clean up, but it’s so slow that before they’ve gone too far, it’s clogged up behind them once again.
Is there no leadership at all???
I have served as a Municipal Councillor since 2018. I have seen how the then government worked in the past and how it is operating today by NPP.
There may be less corruption now, and that must be acknowledged. But it is also fair to ask: why are the local councils still failing to deliver?
Yesterday, Colombo was flooded unprecedentedly
Who is responsible—the CMC, the RDA, the UDA?
It is easy to point fingers at individual institutions.
But the bigger question is this: where is the political leadership that should be coordinating, monitoring tasks and taking responsibility?
What I see in the present administration is a serious lack of accountability.
When something goes wrong, the very next moment the blame is pushed onto government officials, with political leaders saying that implementation is the officials’ job. Officials do have duties. But political leaders cannot escape their own responsibility to set priorities, supervise performance and make sure public services work. One must question as to what the present day political administration in these councils are doing? What the local councilors are doing?
Good governance cannot mean simply expecting the system to take over, in a country that systems do not always function as they should. Systems have to be built, strengthened and monitored. Until that happens, political leaders must do the hard work of leading and administering.
This failure is visible across the country.
Drive from Ratmalana to Moratuwa and look at the state of our roadsides: grass on the centre islands is over three feet high in many places, while rubbish is left uncleared. These are basic responsibilities. When even the basics are neglected, people are entitled to ask whether those in charge can administer effectively.
People pay taxes expecting public services in return. If the government collects taxes, it has a duty to deliver. You cannot run a country on speeches, or rely on repressive laws while failing to address people’s everyday problems.
The basic responsibilities of a council is to keep the city clean, clear and maintain the drains, and look after the roads. Yet across the country, we see rubbish left uncleared, drainage neglected and roads in a shocking state of disrepair.
At the end of the NPP’s tenure, what will people be left with? If this continues, we may see the systems that were already in place broken down, with no effective new systems built to replace them—and a country left in a worse condition than before. That possibility is becoming harder to ignore when even the most basic public services are failing.
The NPP must be honest with the public: it has failed at many levels. Admitting that is not weakness. It is the first step towards taking responsibility and putting things right.
Governing means more than making promises. It means leading, supervising and delivering results.
When the city floods, when streets are dirty, drains are neglected and roads fall apart, people deserve answers from their leaders—not another round of blame-shifting.
AruniW retweeted
Sri Lanka with it’s plethora of environmental issues…and its small size
Need to stop entertaining conversations regarding data centers…
AruniW retweeted
We should not be giving the police more powers without first reforming this totally fucked up institution.
I am not saying this out of nothing. I have witnessed it over and over, and I have documented it on Twitter. Just look up my timeline.
I have also had a very personal experience of it, which put me in remand for two months in 2006 because a corrupt cop changed a charge sheet because I refused to pay him.
So I know from personal experience how this institution behaves, and we should not be giving it more powers without first reforming it.
No to new oppressive laws... Keep your damn promises #NPP
#SriLanka
#SystemChangeLK
#AccountabilityProjectLK
AruniW retweeted
It’s way easier than that, Dan. Men can end abortion without making it illegal simply by choosing to ejaculate responsibly so they don’t cause any unwanted pregnancies. It’s as easy as condoms and vasectomies. Bonus: condoms also protect from STIs.
Ok, so this is a crazy story @British_Airways I hope I never have to fly on one of your flights!
.@British_Airways ABSOLUTELY disgusted. Boarded my flight from MIA to LHR and my seat for my 8 hour flight is urine-soaked. you could smell it before you even got to my seat and the staff said there is nothing they can do, not even any extra blankets, only a tiny hand sanitiser
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He’s not just any person. If you think that, then he’s not worthy of the high respect he gets for the saffron robe he wears. Even mothers put their hands together and show respect to their sons who are ordained and wear the saffron robe. That’s not just an ordinary person.
So now Buddhist monks stay in 5* hotels when they’re unwell? I’m sure the most humble of human beings, The Buddha, would be proud!
What is happening to Buddhism in Sri Lanka???? It’s been shoved down our throats whether we like it or not, and the very people supposed to uphold it cannot go 2 seconds without breaking every rule of the Dhamma.
The Ven. Balangoda Kassapa has admitted he was given a room at the Kingsbury Hotel and later Hilton Residencies by “devotees” when he fell sick during the protest in Colombo recently.
He also defended meeting strong Rajapaksa supporter Sarath Weerasekara at the hotel.
Incidentally this very monk took to the streets against the Rajapaksas during the 2022 ‘Gota Go Home’ mass protests.
Did you know?
In 1942, a ship carrying hundreds of Polish children and women—survivors of Soviet labor camps (gulags) who had escaped via Iran—was refused entry by British colonial authorities at various Indian ports.
Maharaja Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, the ruler of the princely state of Nawanagar (present-day Jamnagar, Gujarat), intervened, defying colonial reluctance, and welcomed them to his territory. He established a special refugee camp and school for them at Balachadi near Jamnagar, sheltering around 640 to 740+ children (with over 1,000 total refugees across accounts) from 1942 until 1946.
Upon their arrival, he famously told them: "Do not consider yourselves orphans. You are now Nawanagaris, and I am Bapu (father) of all Nawanagaris, so I am your father as well."
The Balachadi camp became affectionately known as "Little Poland." When the children arrived, they were skeletal, traumatized, and suffering from malnutrition and skin diseases. The Maharaja ensured they received intensive medical care and customized meals to regain their strength.
Rather than placing them in a typical austere refugee facility, the Maharaja built a self-sustaining sanctuary designed to let them rediscover their childhood:
Infrastructure: The camp included barracks, independent kitchens, a laundry, a playground, and its own hospital.
Preserving Polish Culture: The Maharaja insisted that the children maintain their cultural identity. They were taught in their native language by Polish teachers who had traveled with them. A dedicated library was stocked with Polish books, and a Catholic church was built on-site.
Customs and Celebrations: The children observed traditional Polish holidays, put on theatrical plays, and sang Polish hymns. They even organized a local Polish Scout troop.
Active Recreation: The Maharaja frequently visited the camp, arranging swimming lessons, soccer matches, and community movie screenings.
The daily routine was structured under the leadership of a Polish military chaplain, balancing morning exercises, roll calls, and education with plenty of time for sports and rest.
When World War II ended in 1945, the repatriation process began. Because Poland fell under Soviet communist influence after the war, many of the refugees feared returning home. The Maharaja legally "adopted" the children under his state to prevent their forced deportation back to Soviet-controlled territory, protecting them until international arrangements could be made.
By 1946, the camp officially closed. The children were progressively resettled across the globe, primarily in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and the United States, while a small number eventually returned to Poland.
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Who is moved by this?? 😂😂
"When you entered politics in 2010, I warned you to be prepared to go to prison and face hardships. Whatever anyone says, place your trust only in the judiciary."
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has written an emotional letter to his son, MP Namal Rajapaksa, who remains in remand custody.
Mahinda revealed that he and his wife Shiranthi are currently hospitalised at Nawaloka Hospital, where Namal was born.
He also urged his son never to seek revenge against political opponents, saying children should not be punished for their parents' actions.
"Not taking revenge is the way and tradition of the Rajapaksas," he wrote.
Namal Rajapaksa has been further remanded until November 6 in connection with the Krrish case.
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AruniW retweeted
When the Process Becomes the Punishment
“The courts will ultimately determine guilt” is a familiar assurance offered by those who defend draconian laws. But what happens to the innocent before that determination?
Before a trial even begins, a person may spend months or years in detention or remand, with little meaningful opportunity for bail. Livelihoods disappear, reputations collapse and families suffer—all before any offence is proved.
Courts are indispensable. But eventual judicial intervention cannot justify inadequate safeguards against arrest and prolonged detention.
Can we assume that every officer entrusted with extraordinary powers will exercise sound judgment, impartiality and integrity? Many serve honourably. Nevertheless, laws must protect citizens against error, prejudice and abuse.
Our own experience offers painful lessons.
In the Vavunathivu murders and the Lanka Hospitals grenade incident, the initial suspects were reportedly held on the strength of alleged confessions. Yet subsequent investigations pointed elsewhere, raising grave questions about those supposed admissions.
After the Easter Sunday attacks, investigations linked the Vavunathivu killings to the extremist network responsible for those attacks. A Tamil suspect detained for nearly six months was released. Developments following the Borella church grenade incident similarly called the original police account of the hospital incident into question.
If the initial suspects had supposedly confessed, how did subsequent investigations lead to others? What were those alleged confessions worth?
Remember, too, the woman arrested in the Mahiyanganaya area over a dress motif alleged to resemble the Dharma Chakra. The Supreme Court subsequently found that her fundamental rights had been violated. But could that judgment erase her humiliation and suffering?
By the time proceedings are instituted, notices served, objections filed, arguments heard and written submissions tendered, an innocent person may already have endured punishment in everything but name.
These are human lives. Release cannot restore lost years or undo every injury inflicted on a family.
Such experiences strengthened my determination, as Justice Minister, to work with then Foreign Minister Professor G. L. Peiris on the 2022 PTA amendments. We introduced a new judicial avenue for bail to address prolonged detention without the commencement of trial.
The amendments did not resolve every objection to the PTA. They offered relief to people who could not wait indefinitely for comprehensive reform. Pursuing wider reform and alleviating immediate suffering were compatible objectives.
The SJB, NPP and TNA voted against those amendments. The opposition dismissed them as cosmetic and demanded abolition.
How quickly the language changes when power changes hands.
Those who demanded abolition must explain any willingness now to defend similarly oppressive powers. Personal liberty cannot change in value according to who occupies the government benches.
Sri Lanka needs effective laws against terrorism and organised crime, supported by credible evidence, accountable enforcement and timely judicial scrutiny. Protecting public safety and protecting innocent citizens are both responsibilities of the State.
Safeguards must operate from the moment the State exercises coercive power.
Justice must arrive in time to protect the innocent. Otherwise, long before the verdict, the process itself has become the punishment.
