Updated 2.15pm, 30th November with added analysis of tags “The first is that, in Sri Lanka, it would never be possible for any one to play “Julian Assange” and dare face an open media briefing in Colombo, to justify his or her claims on war crimes and torture. Right or wrong, excessive or not, that […]
When the LTTE showed, consistently and convincingly, that it did not understand the language of ‘peace’, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, correctly, turned to a language that the LTTE understood well; ‘war’. All other options were exhausted, and any option, other than the granting of a separate Tamil Eelam State, was bound to fail because what the […]
Photo courtesy of Ruvin de Silva , 2010 ‘I feel that all of Gaza is sitting on moving sands. Any madness you can imagine can happen in a second in this place, and a lot of dreams may come true too. It’s a strange city with no logic.’ Ahmad, 1993, Al Wehda Street, Gaza On […]
Marx once said that “in all ideology”… “men and their circumstances appear upside down as in a camera obscura”. Professor Charles P. Sarvan thinks that the Sinhalese are fascists or pro-fascist. Writing in a Colombo paper last Sunday (‘The Sinhalese: Blasé!’ Nov 21st, 2010), and earlier in a British publication called Confluence last May, Sarvan […]
Sri Lankan defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa (L) shakes hands with Reuters Editor for South Asia Duncan Pitcairn (R) as the Governor of Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal looks on at a Thomson Reuters forum to discuss Sri Lanka’s post-war economic rebirth in Colombo November 26, 2010. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte Earlier this evening in Colombo, […]
Missing for over 300 days On 25th November, far away from my motherland, I rang Sandya Eknaligoda to ask her, How are you? Yesterday was the 300th day that her loving husband has been missing. And for all Sri Lankans, one of our best cartoonists, writers, journalists, painters and activists has been missing for 300 days. […]
Photos courtesy Vikalpa. Sri Lanka’s Ports and Aviation Ministry earlier this year said it would purchase two seaplanes from Canada to boot the tourism industry in the country. As noted in the media, “…the Ministry plans to use 12 inland lakes and waterways including Beira Lake, Victoria reservoir, Tisa Wewa, Parakrama Samudraya as destinations. In […]
If President Rajapakse should come in for a bit of stick, it is not for the overall record of his just completed first term and the dawn of his second. If anyone deserved it for performance and achievement, it is surely him. An evaluation of a political leader must be historically concrete. What was the […]
[Editors note: Also see A review of the Gaza Monologues for video footage from and a review of the production.] Ruhanie Perera and Jake Oorloff co-created Floating Space in 2007. Gaza Monologues was their latest production, running to packed houses and good reviews recently in Colombo. As noted on the  group’s blog, Floating Space a […]
Photo of kiri bath courtesy le sauce Most performances of Dhananjaya Karunarathne’s brilliant script Last Bus Eke Kathawa (The Story of the Last Bus) are memorable not just because of the acting, but also because the audience becomes, without at first knowing it, part of the theatre. Chewing gum or boiled sweets are distributed to […]
Let all as citizens comprising the civil society of Sri Lanka, join together in unison and with one voice, in response to the earnest appeal made by Renton de Alwis in “Back to Basics” stating “Our President is taking on the next phase of his governance. There is so much more he has to do […]
Name and shame the whores that act in pornographic films online. Their seedy grainy stuck-between-teeth pictures plastered across newspapers will be the deterrent for other whores who have the same idea. Designate parks for young people to canoodle in (but ensure someone watches over the canoodlers for we don’t want them to canoodle with naked […]
Written to mark the forthcoming publication of Challenges for Nation Building: Priorities for Sustainability and Inclusivity, Edited by Gnana Moonesinghe We are no closer to nation building post war than we were during it, and before it. More accurately, we are no closer to the recognition that nation building needs to embrace the possibility, and […]
It was reported in the newspapers a few days ago that nearly a thousand individuals had come forward to make representations to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission during its sessions in Jaffna. The report said that a majority of them are persons seeking the help of the LLRC to find their sons and daughters […]
‘Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent about things that matter’ -Â Dr Martin Luther King I feel compelled to defend the blasphemy committed through the article titled ‘Cardinal Errors’ (Island, 10th November, 2010) against holy Churchmen of the highest ranks who expressed their concerns in the interest of peace and reconciliation. It […]