It is very disappointing that the name of our capital city is projected outside Sri Lanka as a western name bonded to colonialism.  

In stark contrast to the majority who call the capital by its true Sinhala name Kolomba, internationally it is called Colombo hinting of an Italian connection. It is pathetic to note that we ourselves in Sri Lanka call it Colombo whenever we switch to English, be it in speech or writing.

Nobody outside Sri Lanka knows the Sinhala origin of the capital's name and they assume that it is related to the country's colonial past.

I have met many a person outside Sri Lanka who thought that we were under the Italians because our capital is named Colombo. Colombo is a popular Italian name and there are towns and airports in Italy and elsewhere bearing the name Colombo. There is the popular Colombo detective series we all like.

It is also not helpful at all that a country that is notorious for violence and drug trafficking, Colombia rhymes with Colombo. When violence is mentioned in the international media it may take more than a while for somebody to clarify whether it is in Colombia or Colombo.

Many other countries have had the problem of colonial names. Our close neighbour, India replaced western names like Madras, Bombay, Calcutta with Tamil Nadu, Mumbai and Kolkata respectively.  It is high time our leaders took immediate measures to get rid of this last vestige of colonialism.

We Sri Lankans should be grateful to Mrs. Bandaranaike for getting rid of the name Ceylon.

I request President Rajapakse and the other national leaders to rename Colombo as soon as possible.

N. Jayasuriya
UK.