Sri Lanka, June 26 -- Like the shopkeepers of London, the Duke of Gloucester said while laying the Foundation Stone for a Convocation Hall at the University of Peradeniya: "More Open than Usual." Way back on 12 August 1948, the then Minister of Transport and Works Sir John Kotalawela invited the Duke to lay the foundation stone at the Convocation Hall of the University of Peradeniya. Today the Foundation stone stands there like the ruins of Polonnaruwa.

When a University is open, it stays open, said the then Chancellor of University Lord Soulbury. But today the foundation stone and the other ancillaries stays like neglected ruins.

But there seems to be a "Hoodoo" as to why such a massive Institution such as Peradeniya cannot construct...