V-Day 2nd Anniversary: Peace Under Pressure
Original image by J. Adam Huggins for Every mayoralty in Paris has tablets on which are inscribed the names of those from that locality who died in the many wars which France…
Month: May 2011
Some Reflections on the Trade Union Action by the FUTA
The ongoing trade union action by the Federation of the University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) has drawn the attention of the entire nation. Cutting across the ethnic boundaries which have hitherto divided them…
Tuyilam Illam: Positivist readings and new debating grounds
[Author’s note: Though I was invited around February 2011 to respond to the discussion in on the issue of Tiger ‘cemeteries’ being desecrated, I was so busy that my draft article simply…
Reflecting on the End of the Sri Lankan Civil War: The Need for a New Conversation in the Global Sri Lankan Community
Although military hostilities in Sri Lanka ended two years ago, the dynamics of the conversation in the global Sri Lankan community continues to be influenced by the nations’ past conflicts. Decades of…
umbrella over bird
we didn’t know we stopped: the undoing doing its disappearing the man himself —disappearing gone. what to do? muttering him through corners, hyde park; lincoln immemorial; where we said speakers should…
The Reckoning: Press Freedom in Sri Lanka
Cartoon by Carlos Latuff “The freedom to speak and the freedom to write are essential preconditions for the transition towards democracy and good governance” – We are living in the world, in which committed journalists writes…
Buddhism and its impact on governance
Image from Travel Blog Today, Wesak is the most revered day in the Buddhist calendar. Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka, the celebration is led by a small group of apparently sanctimonious humbugs followed…
Reconciliation without Truth in Sri Lanka?
South Africa had a Truth and Reconciliation commission presided over by Desmond Tutu. Human Rights activists who looked forward to Reconciliation and peace at the end of the civil war in 2009,…
Vesak and Violence Against Women
Original photograph REUTERS/Damir Sagolj I have not hidden my increasing disdain for the way Buddhism is practiced and promoted in Sri Lanka. To say the least, we have not only forgotten what it…
It is time to decide on Sri Lanka’s university system
The trade union action called by the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA), has once again highlighted the crisis in our universities. Unfortunately it is the strikes, the clashes and the protests…
Seminar on defeating terrorism: Sharing Sri Lanka’s experience
Original image from AFP | The Sydney Morning Herald The Sri Lanka defense establishment is organizing a counter-insurgency seminar from the 31st of May to 2nd of June 2011. It has invited over…
How will Delhi listen to Jayalalithaa calling Rajapaksa a ‘war criminal’?
“Declare Rajapakse a war criminal: Jayalalithaa tells Centre” was a banner headline on 13 Friday in the “Indian Express”, following AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa’s march to victory, at the Tamil Nadu assembly elections…
Humans vs. elephants: Sri Lanka’s tragic on-going conflict
The a few days ago noted that in a bid to ease the growing human-elephant conflict in the country, the Wildlife Conservation Department had undertaken moves to restrict the habitat of rogue…
ICTs, science fiction and disasters: A conversation with Nalaka Gunawardene
I last spoke to Nalaka Gunawardene on public television in February 2009. Nalaka’s varied interests and experience is hard to pin down, but the issues he most often writes on are anchored…
From draft to official text: Wikileaks reveals the US response to the end of war in Sri Lanka
The Norwegian newspaper published on 7th May a cable from the Wikileaks tranche of US diplomatic cables (confidential briefings) dealing the US government’s response to the end of war in Sri Lanka. Wikileaks…
