Features

Secret arrangements with General Kobbekaduwa and relations with President Premadasa

Published

3 months ago

2025/11/23

Thilina Walpola

General Kobbekaduwa

President Premadasa told me “you can always find the time to do what you want to do”

Even with every effort made, there was always the threat of a breakdown (of food distribution during JVP terror of 1988-89). Once things break down they always take some time to restore. In the meantime, panic could set in, leading to a run on whatever stocks that were available. The next step is a collapse of law and order. What would happen after that was too frightening to contemplate. In these difficult circumstances, I started a secret dialogue with General Denzil Kobbekaduwa.

He was functioning in the Joint Operations Command (JOC) in Colombo. I had met him previously on some occasions, and he was a good friend of some close relations of my wife. Denzil knew of my connections. What I discussed with him was the possibility of using the Y8 and Y 12 aircraft on a virtual round the clock flour lift from the Prima Mill in Trincomalee in case of further deterioration of the security situation and a break down in road and rail transport.

Already, it was extremely difficult to persuade lorry drivers to transport flour from Trincomalee. All the flour had to come from this one point. As far as flour went, all our eggs were now in one basket, and the JVP was taking aim at this basket. It became evident during our discussions, that given capacities, flying time, and turn around time of the aircraft, it was not possible to make a major impact. But if the worst happened, Colombo could be catered for on the basis of a strict ration, and Colombo was the seat of government.

It was vitally necessary to secure the food supply in Colombo. A city, particularly the capital city had to be fed. Those living in the countryside had other options. Denzil and I worked out certain contingency plans. When we spoke to each other, even on the secure line, we spoke in parables, which only he and I could have understood. I got hold of Mr. Rodrigo, my Deputy Food Controller (Supplies) and a couple of other trusted officers and worked out a rationing scheme.

We kept with us always a reasonable buffer stock of security paper in order to print Food Stamps, and this could have been used in an emergency in order to print ration coupons for flour. I did not however, divulge even to these officers the contingency plans that I had discussed with General Kobbekaduwa. Not even the Minister knew. There was good reason for this. Information was leaking out from Ministries and Departments. The JVP had sympathizers all over. A leak of these plans either as an act of sabotage or through indiscretion could have led to catastrophic consequences, in case the situation worsened.

As a result only two people knew of the plan, General Kobbekaduwa and myself. At this stage no one else needed to know. Happily, we managed to prevent a total break down of food supplies and the Presidential election was held, not without difficulty on December 19, 1988. The Prime Minister, Mr. R. Premadasa of the United National Party just got over the 50 percent hurdle, obtaining 50.8%. His principal opponent Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike obtained 44.9%. The election itself was marred by violence and charges of fraud.

The early Premadasa administration leading up to general elections

With the advent of President Premadasa, there weren’t any major changes in the personnel or the machinery of government. It appeared that he did not want to make any major changes until the General Election was held. He still had to cope with the JVP insurrection and other security connected matters. He along with Ministers Gamani Jayasuriya and Lalith Athulathmudali, in particular, were unhappy at the Jayewardene-Rajiv Gandhi accord that was signed in Colombo during the latter part of 1988. This agreement, leading to the induction of Indian troops to the North and East of Sri Lanka, and the confining to barracks of Sri Lankan troops met with serious opposition from considerable sections of the country and led to the further aggravation of the JVP insurgency. The state of feeling was manifested most dramatically and almost tragically, when a sailor in the honour guard to Prime

Minister Rajiv Gandhi who was on a hurried visit to Colombo, swung at him with his rifle, whilst he was inspecting the guard of honour, fortunately resulting in only a glancing blow to the shoulder. Had it landed on the Prime Minister’s head, the consequences Would have been unimaginable. The JVP was now able to appear in the role of nationalists fighting against a foreign incursion.

Resignation of Minister Gamani Jayasuriya

Minister Gamani Jayasuriya took it the hardest. One Saturday morning after the signing of the Indo-Lanka Agreement, he telephoned and got me down to his Nimalka Gardens residence. He said he was going to resign and wanted me to draft the letter of resignation to be sent to President Jayewardene.

I tried to dissuade him from resigning. Ministers of his calibre were hard to come by, and his departure would have been a grave loss to the country. As a Minister, he acted with responsibility and propriety.

He was not prepared to look at every problem from a narrow party angle. He often brought in a national perspective, even though this was not popular among his own MPs. I suggested that lie remain within the government and fight for what he thought was right. He would not agree. He told me that the Cabinet was not consulted on the signing of the accord. They were merely informed at the very last moment. Mr. Jayasuriya said that everything was done in secrecy, and in fact what occurred, was contrary to the trends of discussions held in Cabinet previously. He was not prepared to serve in such a Cabinet.

He also felt that under these circumstances, he could not even serve as an M.P. He wished to resign both from the Cabinet as well as his Parliamentary seat. Mr. Jayasuriya was both upset and disillusioned. He had firmly made up his mind. There was nothing left to be done except draft his letter of resignation. He approved my draft which was free of any recrimination and which included thanks to the President for his friendship as well as the trust placed in him. The letter in simple language made it clear that Mr. Jayasuriya’s action was not in any way personal, but based on principles he could not relinquish.

Given the background and the difficult situation in the country, President Premadasa left well alone and concentrated on the General Elections. In the meantime, he was formally inaugurated as President on Monday January 2, 1989 at the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy. Secretaries were present along with other invited guests and a large crowd. On Jan. 3 Minister Rajakaruna (who succeeded Mr. Jayasuriya) resigned as Minister of Food and Mr. Lalith Athulathmudali was appointed as interim Minister until the elections.

There were no changes made by the new Minister. He reviewed the situation and approved the existing direction of work. The General Election was fixed for February 15. On the 14th, I was invited to sit in at a meeting the President had scheduled with the American Ambassador to discuss food aid, particularly wheat for the Prima Mill. After the meeting, as I got up to go, he said “Sit down, I want to talk to you.”

When I sat, for the next 25 minutes, he discussed with me the issue of subjects and functions to be allocated to Ministries. He was interested in a greater rationalization. He indicated for instance that he was thinking of forming a bigger Ministry by combining Food and Co-operatives with Agriculture, Livestock Development and Milk Production, the last two areas currently being with Minister Thondaman. He wished to have my views. I referred to the pros and cons, one of the cons being the issue of managing a very large Ministry. He listened carefully, but did not comment, and a short while later I took my leave of him.

Mr. Premadasa’s relations with me

At this juncture, I must relate Mr. Premadasa’s relations with me up to this point. We had not met on more than a couple of occasions, and that too by accident. But he used to occasionally telephone me about something or other, and as is customary with me I did what I could, if I could and gave detailed reasons if I couldn’t. He must have appreciated some quality in me, because whilst he was in opposition he sent me a couple of his books written in Sinhala with a personal hand-written notation on the first page bearing the words “To dear Dharmasiri, from R. Premadasa.”

I still have these books with me. At the same time I was also somewhat mystified because I had not really done anything of any magnitude to elicit such a response. Then, when he was Prime Minister under the JR Jayewardene government, I had another interesting experience. I had to attend a wedding of the daughter of a colleague of mine in service at what was then called the Ramada Renaissance Hotel, now named Trans-Asia. I walked in a bit late since I had to drop in at another wedding earlier.

When I entered the hall it looked full, and I was slowly walking intent on finding a seat when I heard my name being called. It was Secretary to the President Mr. Menikdiwela. He was seated with a group of Ministers and Parliamentarians, and was beckoning to me and showing a vacant seat there. Normally as a matter of long practice, as well as temperament, I avoid sitting with politicians. I don’t feel comfortable sitting with them. I am naturally more comfortable, sitting with public servants, and I always look to sit among them at such a gathering.

But on this occasion, I could not ignore Mr. Menikdiwela’s kind gesture, and sat in the vacant seat, with the intention of spotting another seat as soon as possible, and taking my leave from there. Within about five minutes of my being there, there was a bit of a hubbub, and we saw Prime Minister Premadasa coming in. He was making straight for where we were. There was no vacant seat, and with relief, I offered him my chair and was about to go, when he said “No, no, stay, we not only want Ministers, we want Secretaries also.”

One of the Parliamentarians offered him his seat, and now I found myself seated next to the Prime Minister. After an exchange of pleasantries round the table, he began to converse with me. He asked my views on various matters such as the work of my own Ministry; the working of the Secretaries Committee; the issue of Co-ordination between Ministries; the matter of avoidable waste; the question of clarity of policies and so on.

“I want your frank opinion,” he said. I gave it. He fully endorsed some of my critical comments, saying “quite right.” On some others he had a different point of view, seeing it from his perspective. I replied that often, where you stand, depends very much on where you sit. It was altogether a frank and open discussion. I for my part, inquired whether he still could find the time to write. He said “Yes.” I asked him, whether he needed some inspiration to begin writing, or whether he could just sit down whenever he had time, and begin writing. He said that he could write anytime he wished.

I then asked him the question, “But when do you find the time?” To this he said something important. “Dharmasiri,” he said “If you really want to do some thing, you will always find the time. Saying there’s no time is just an excuse.” I thought this a valid point. But I still wondered whether he could really turn himself on and write whenever he wished to. I thought writing required a regular and settled period, during a quiet time such as the early hours of the morning or late night. I really thought that Mr. Premadasa was exaggerating his abilities. I discovered later that I had reached this conclusion through ignorance.

Later, when I assumed duties in the Ministry of Education, I saw for myself some educationists writing articles and even chapters of books whilst waiting to be called in for a meeting. Dr. Ananda Guruge of the Civil Service, later a distinguished educationist, international civil servant and prolific writer, told me in a conversation that sometimes, he had written whole chapters of books at airports when waiting to board planes or when planes were delayed.

But above all, I have now experienced the truth of this myself. I have been able to write several paragraphs or pages of this book at all sorts of times, morning, day and night, whenever a little free time permitted. I found that without any waste of time, I could proceed immediately from the point I left off last. It is for the reader to judge as to whether this had led to unevenness or other defects. The point however is, that there was no other way to write this book.

This book was written whilst I was still handling many different responsibilities in different sectors, which also took away the better part of even two or three Saturdays every month, as well as the odd Sunday or public holiday. My retirement has therefore turned out to be only a departure from some activities and responsibilities. Indeed, my problem since retirement has not been what to do, but how to avoid doing those many things being offered, without giving offence or hurting feelings.

(Excerpted from In Pursuit of Governance, autobiography of MDD Peiris)

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Features

More state support needed for marginalised communities

Published

2 days ago

2026/02/13

Thilina Walpola

A landslide in the Central Province

Message from Malaiyaha Tamil community to govt:

Insights from SSA Cyclone Ditwah Survey

When climate disasters strike, they don’t affect everyone equally. Marginalised communities typically face worse outcomes, and Cyclone Ditwah is no exception. Especially in a context where normalcy is far from “normal”, the idea of returning to normalcy or restoring a life of normalcy makes very little sense.

The island-wide survey (https://ssalanka.org/reports/) conducted by the Social Scientists’ Association (SSA), between early to mid-January on Cyclone Ditwah shows stark regional disparities in how satisfied or dissatisfied people were with the government’s response. While national satisfaction levels were relatively high in most provinces, the Central Province tells a different story.

Only 35.2% of Central Province residents reported that they were satisfied with early warning and evacuation measures, compared to 52.2% nationally. The gap continues across every measure: just 52.9% were satisfied with immediate rescue and emergency response, compared with the national figure of 74.6%. Satisfaction with relief distribution in the Central Province is 51.9% while the national figure stands at 73.1%. The figures for restoration of water, electricity, and roads are at a low 45.9% in the central province compared to the 70.9% in national figures. Similarly, the satisfaction level for recovery and rebuilding support is 48.7% in the Central Province, while the national figure is 67.0%.

A deeper analysis of the SSA data on public perceptions reveals something important: these lower satisfaction rates came primarily from the Malaiyaha Tamil population. Their experience differed not just from other provinces, but also from other ethnic groups living in the Central Province itself.

The Malaiyaha Tamil community’s vulnerability didn’t start with the cyclone. Their vulnerability is a historically and structurally pre-determined process of exclusion and marginalisation. Brought to Sri Lanka during British rule to work for the empire’s plantation economies, they have faced long-term economic exploitation and have repeatedly been denied access to state support and social welfare systems. Most estate residents still live in ‘line rooms’ and have no rights to the land they cultivate and live on. The community continues to be governed by an outdated estate management system that acts as a barrier to accessing public and municipal services such as road repair, water, electricity and other basic infrastructures available to other citizens.

As far as access to improved water sources is concerned, the Sri Lanka Demographic Health Survey (2016) shows that 57% of estate sector households don’t have access to improved water sources, while more than 90% of households in urban and rural areas do. With regard to the level of poverty, as the Department of Census and Statistics (2019) data reveals, the estate sector where most Malaiyaha Tamils live had a poverty headcount index of 33.8%; more than double the national rate of 14.3%. These statistics highlight key indicators of the systemic discrimination faced by the Malaiyaha Tamil community.

Some crucial observations from the SSA data collectors who enumerated responses from estate residents in the survey reveal the specific challenges faced by the Malaiyaha Tamils, particularly in their efforts to seek state support for compensation and reconstruction.

First, the Central Province experienced not just flooding but also the highest number of landslides in the island. As a result, some residents in the region lost entire homes, access roadways, and other basic infrastructures. The loss of lives, livelihoods and land was at a higher intensity compared to the provinces not located in the hills. Most importantly, the Malaiyaha Tamil community’s pre-existing grievances made them even more vulnerable and the government’s job of reparation and restitution more complex.

Early warnings hadn’t reached many areas. Some data collectors said they themselves never heard any warnings in estate areas, while others mentioned that early warnings were issued but didn’t reach some segments of the community. According to the resident data collectors, the police announcements reached only as far as the sections where they were able to drive their vehicles to, and there were many estate roads that were not motorable. When warnings did filter through to remote locations, they often came by word of mouth and information was distorted along the way. Once the disaster hit, things got worse: roads were blocked, electricity went out, mobile networks failed and people were cut off completely.

Emergency response was slow. Blocked roads meant people could not get to hospitals when they needed urgent care, including pregnant mothers. The difficult terrain and poor road conditions meant rescue teams took much longer to reach affected areas than in other regions.

Relief supplies didn’t reach everyone. The Grama Niladhari divisions in these areas are huge and hard to navigate, making it difficult for Grama Niladharis to reach all places as urgently as needed. Relief workers distributed supplies where vehicles could go, which meant accessible areas got help while remote communities were left out.

Some people didn’t even try to go to safety centres or evacuation shelters set up in local schools because the facilities there were already so poor. The perceptions of people who did go to safety centres, as shown in the provincial data, reveal that satisfaction was low compared to other affected regions of the country. Less than half were satisfied with space and facilities (42.1%) or security and protection (45.0%). Satisfaction was even lower for assistance with lost or damaged documentation (17.9%) and information and support for compensation applications (28.2%). Only 22.5% were satisfied with medical care and health services below most other affected regions.

Restoring services proved nearly impossible in some areas. Road access was the biggest problem. The condition of the roads was already poor even before the cyclone, and some still haven’t been cleared. Recovery is especially difficult because there’s no decent baseline infrastructure to restore, hence you can’t bring roads and other public facilities back to a “good” condition when they were never good, even before the disaster.

Water systems faced their own complications. Many households get water from natural sources or small community projects, and not the centralised state system. These sources are often in the middle of the disaster zone and therefore got contaminated during the floods and landslides.

Long-term recovery remains stalled. Without basic infrastructure, areas that are still hard to reach keep struggling to get the support they need for rebuilding.

Taken together, what do these testaments mean? Disaster response can’t be the same for everyone. The Malaiyaha Tamil community has been double marginalised because they were already living with structural inequalities such as poor infrastructure, geographic isolation, and inadequate services which have been exacerbated by Cyclone Ditwah. An effective and fair disaster response needs to account for these underlying vulnerabilities. It requires interventions tailored to the historical, economic, and infrastructural realities that marginalized communities face every day. On top of that, it highlights the importance of dealing with climate disasters, given the fact that vulnerable communities could face more devastating impacts compared to others.

(Shashik Silva is a researcher with the Social Scientists’ Association of Sri Lanka)

by Shashik Silva ✍️

Features

Crucial test for religious and ethnic harmony in Bangladesh

Published

3 days ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

A political protest that led to governmental change in Bangladesh mid last year. (photograph: imago)

Will the Bangladesh parliamentary election bring into being a government that will ensure ethnic and religious harmony in the country? This is the poser on the lips of peace-loving sections in Bangladesh and a principal concern of those outside who mean the country well.

The apprehensions are mainly on the part of religious and ethnic minorities. The parliamentary poll of February 12th is expected to bring into existence a government headed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist oriented Jamaat-e-Islami party and this is where the rub is. If these parties win, will it be a case of Bangladesh sliding in the direction of a theocracy or a state where majoritarian chauvinism thrives?

Chief of the Jamaat, Shafiqur Rahman, who was interviewed by sections of the international media recently said that there is no need for minority groups in Bangladesh to have the above fears. He assured, essentially, that the state that will come into being will be equable and inclusive. May it be so, is likely to be the wish of those who cherish a tension-free Bangladesh.

The party that could have posed a challenge to the above parties, the Awami League Party of former Prime Minister Hasina Wased, is out of the running on account of a suspension that was imposed on it by the authorities and the mentioned majoritarian-oriented parties are expected to have it easy at the polls.

A positive that has emerged against the backdrop of the poll is that most ordinary people in Bangladesh, be they Muslim or Hindu, are for communal and religious harmony and it is hoped that this sentiment will strongly prevail, going ahead. Interestingly, most of them were of the view, when interviewed, that it was the politicians who sowed the seeds of discord in the country and this viewpoint is widely shared by publics all over the region in respect of the politicians of their countries.

Some sections of the Jamaat party were of the view that matters with regard to the orientation of governance are best left to the incoming parliament to decide on but such opinions will be cold comfort for minority groups. If the parliamentary majority comes to consist of hard line Islamists, for instance, there is nothing to prevent the country from going in for theocratic governance. Consequently, minority group fears over their safety and protection cannot be prevented from spreading.

Therefore, we come back to the question of just and fair governance and whether Bangladesh’s future rulers could ensure these essential conditions of democratic rule. The latter, it is hoped, will be sufficiently perceptive to ascertain that a Bangladesh rife with religious and ethnic tensions, and therefore unstable, would not be in the interests of Bangladesh and those of the region’s countries.

Unfortunately, politicians region-wide fall for the lure of ethnic, religious and linguistic chauvinism. This happens even in the case of politicians who claim to be democratic in orientation. This fate even befell Bangladesh’s Awami League Party, which claims to be democratic and socialist in general outlook.

We have it on the authority of Taslima Nasrin in her ground-breaking novel, ‘Lajja’, that the Awami Party was not of any substantial help to Bangladesh’s Hindus, for example, when violence was unleashed on them by sections of the majority community. In fact some elements in the Awami Party were found to be siding with the Hindus’ murderous persecutors. Such are the temptations of hard line majoritarianism.

In Sri Lanka’s past numerous have been the occasions when even self-professed Leftists and their parties have conveniently fallen in line with Southern nationalist groups with self-interest in mind. The present NPP government in Sri Lanka has been waxing lyrical about fostering national reconciliation and harmony but it is yet to prove its worthiness on this score in practice. The NPP government remains untested material.

As a first step towards national reconciliation it is hoped that Sri Lanka’s present rulers would learn the Tamil language and address the people of the North and East of the country in Tamil and not Sinhala, which most Tamil-speaking people do not understand. We earnestly await official language reforms which afford to Tamil the dignity it deserves.

An acid test awaits Bangladesh as well on the nation-building front. Not only must all forms of chauvinism be shunned by the incoming rulers but a secular, truly democratic Bangladesh awaits being licked into shape. All identity barriers among people need to be abolished and it is this process that is referred to as nation-building.

On the foreign policy frontier, a task of foremost importance for Bangladesh is the need to build bridges of amity with India. If pragmatism is to rule the roost in foreign policy formulation, Bangladesh would place priority to the overcoming of this challenge. The repatriation to Bangladesh of ex-Prime Minister Hasina could emerge as a steep hurdle to bilateral accord but sagacious diplomacy must be used by Bangladesh to get over the problem.

A reply to N.A. de S. Amaratunga

A response has been penned by N.A. de S. Amaratunga (please see p5 of ‘The Island’ of February 6th) to a previous column by me on ‘ India shaping-up as a Swing State’, published in this newspaper on January 29th , but I remain firmly convinced that India remains a foremost democracy and a Swing State in the making.

If the countries of South Asia are to effectively manage ‘murderous terrorism’, particularly of the separatist kind, then they would do well to adopt to the best of their ability a system of government that provides for power decentralization from the centre to the provinces or periphery, as the case may be. This system has stood India in good stead and ought to prove effective in all other states that have fears of disintegration.

Moreover, power decentralization ensures that all communities within a country enjoy some self-governing rights within an overall unitary governance framework. Such power-sharing is a hallmark of democratic governance.

Features

Celebrating Valentine’s Day …

Published

3 days ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love, romance, and affection, and this is how some of our well-known personalities plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day – 14th February:

Merlina Fernando (Singer)

Yes, it’s a special day for lovers all over the world and it’s even more special to me because 14th February is the birthday of my husband Suresh, who’s the lead guitarist of my band Mission.

We have planned to celebrate Valentine’s Day and his Birthday together and it will be a wonderful night as always.

We will be having our fans and close friends, on that night, with their loved ones at Highso – City Max hotel Dubai, from 9.00 pm onwards.

Lorensz Francke (Elvis Tribute Artiste)

On Valentine’s Day I will be performing a live concert at a Wealthy Senior Home for Men and Women, and their families will be attending, as well.

I will be performing live with romantic, iconic love songs and my song list would include ‘Can’t Help falling in Love’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘Burning Love’, ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’, ‘The Wonder of You’ and ‘’It’s Now or Never’ to name a few.

To make Valentine’s Day extra special I will give the Home folks red satin scarfs.

Emma Shanaya (Singer)

I plan on spending the day of love with my girls, especially my best friend. I don’t have a romantic Valentine this year but I am thrilled to spend it with the girl that loves me through and through. I’ll be in Colombo and look forward to go to a cute cafe and spend some quality time with my childhood best friend Zulha.

JAYASRI

Emma-and-Maneeka

This Valentine’s Day the band JAYASRI we will be really busy; in the morning we will be landing in Sri Lanka, after our Oman Tour; then in the afternoon we are invited as Chief Guests at our Maris Stella College Sports Meet, Negombo, and late night we will be with LineOne band live in Karandeniya Open Air Down South. Everywhere we will be sharing LOVE with the mass crowds.

Kay Jay (Singer)

I will stay at home and cook a lovely meal for lunch, watch some movies, together with Sanjaya, and, maybe we go out for dinner and have a lovely time. Come to think of it, every day is Valentine’s Day for me with Sanjaya Alles.

Maneka Liyanage (Beauty Tips)

On this special day, I celebrate love by spending meaningful time with the people I cherish. I prepare food with love and share meals together, because food made with love brings hearts closer. I enjoy my leisure time with them — talking, laughing, sharing stories, understanding each other, and creating beautiful memories. My wish for this Valentine’s Day is a world without fighting — a world where we love one another like our own beloved, where we do not hurt others, even through a single word or action. Let us choose kindness, patience, and understanding in everything we do.

Janaka Palapathwala (Singer)

Janaka

Valentine’s Day should not be the only day we speak about love.

From the moment we are born into this world, we seek love, first through the very drop of our mother’s milk, then through the boundless care of our Mother and Father, and the embrace of family.

Love is everywhere. All living beings, even plants, respond in affection when they are loved.

As we grow, we learn to love, and to be loved. One day, that love inspires us to build a new family of our own.

Love has no beginning and no end. It flows through every stage of life, timeless, endless, and eternal.

Natasha Rathnayake (Singer)

We don’t have any special plans for Valentine’s Day. When you’ve been in love with the same person for over 25 years, you realise that love isn’t a performance reserved for one calendar date. My husband and I have never been big on public displays, or grand gestures, on 14th February. Our love is expressed quietly and consistently, in ordinary, uncelebrated moments.

With time, you learn that love isn’t about proving anything to the world or buying into a commercialised idea of romance—flowers that wilt, sweets that spike blood sugar, and gifts that impress briefly but add little real value. In today’s society, marketing often pushes the idea that love is proven by how much money you spend, and that buying things is treated as a sign of commitment.

Real love doesn’t need reminders or price tags. It lives in showing up every day, choosing each other on unromantic days, and nurturing the relationship intentionally and without an audience.

This isn’t a judgment on those who enjoy celebrating Valentine’s Day. It’s simply a personal choice.

Melloney Dassanayake (Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2024)

I truly believe it’s beautiful to have a day specially dedicated to love. But, for me, Valentine’s Day goes far beyond romantic love alone. It celebrates every form of love we hold close to our hearts: the love for family, friends, and that one special person who makes life brighter. While 14th February gives us a moment to pause and celebrate, I always remind myself that love should never be limited to just one day. Every single day should feel like Valentine’s Day – constant reminder to the people we love that they are never alone, that they are valued, and that they matter.

I’m incredibly blessed because, for me, every day feels like Valentine’s Day. My special person makes sure of that through the smallest gestures, the quiet moments, and the simple reminders that love lives in the details. He shows me that it’s the little things that count, and that love doesn’t need grand stages to feel extraordinary. This Valentine’s Day, perfection would be something intimate and meaningful: a cozy picnic in our home garden, surrounded by nature, laughter, and warmth, followed by an abstract drawing session where we let our creativity flow freely. To me, that’s what love is – simple, soulful, expressive, and deeply personal. When love is real, every ordinary moment becomes magical.

Noshin De Silva (Actress)

Valentine’s Day is one of my favourite holidays! I love the décor, the hearts everywhere, the pinks and reds, heart-shaped chocolates, and roses all around. But honestly, I believe every day can be Valentine’s Day.

It doesn’t have to be just about romantic love. It’s a chance to celebrate love in all its forms with friends, family, or even by taking a little time for yourself.

Whether you’re spending the day with someone special or enjoying your own company, it’s a reminder to appreciate meaningful connections, show kindness, and lead with love every day.

And yes, I’m fully on theme this year with heart nail art and heart mehendi design!

Wishing everyone a very happy Valentine’s Day, but, remember, love yourself first, and don’t forget to treat yourself.

Sending my love to all of you.