Lankans at Oxford, Cambridge Unions: Controversy in another era View(s):Yielding to pressure from Tamil diaspora groups, the Oxford and Cambridge student unions have withdrawn their invitations to Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna National Organiser Namal Rajapaksa to deliver talks. The controversy echoes a dispute from another era, when Lakshman Kadirgamar — laterSri Lanka’s distinguished foreign minister — served as Oxford Union president. In the censure motion Ceylon was to be coupled and compared with South Africa on the element of racial bias. The Oxford Union has always been noted for its intolerance of pomposity. The Irish Prime Minister was asked, and willingly agreed, to give up his own debate to accommodate the Prime Minister of Ceylon.

Source: Sunday Times March 01, 2026 02:35 UTC