Lakshman Joseph de Saram is an internationally acclaimed Film Composer, classical musician & Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Colombo. We begin our conversation by looking at Lakshman’s childhood – the social milieu he grew up in as well as the circumstances of his household, which were early invitations to the world of […]
Image courtesy Ishara S.KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images, via RightsNow This is among the many important challenges to the “democratically elected” Government of “democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka” (GOSL). There may be various answers but let me offer five reasons why the present Government in the present frame of mind cannot win the support of the international community […]
Image courtesy Sri Lanka Brief The Rajapakse Administration has deployed a key architect of its post war policy towards minorities and war affected communities in Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga, through his position as Chair of the Action plan to implement the LLRC, to be the chief defender of the Government’s case to the international community […]
Pre-Independence, our island was among most peaceful lands in Asia. For some centuries there had been no large scale ethnic riots in our Island apart from the anti-Muslim riots of 1915. Even the 1915 riots lacked the scale and brutality of some of the anti- Tamil, JVP led and state led anti-JVP pogroms that we […]
Image courtesy Centralbanking.com On 17th February, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivad Cabraal participated in an unprecedented Q&A session over Twitter, in the vein of similar interactions with Lalith Weeratunge, the President’s Secretary and the President himself last year. Groundviews archived every single tweet with the official hashtag for the event #askcbsl from the time it was tweeted on […]
Image courtesy Reuters It was 2007, at the height of the war, when one hundred youth (Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala) from every part of the country except the north gathered in Thanamalvila in the south of Sri Lanka for a leadership retreat sponsored by Sarvodaya and the British Council. At the end of the second […]
Image courtesy Thuppahi’s blog At a time where there is much discussion on how the Western powers are dominating the world, in particular the global South including countries such as Sri Lanka, it is important to examine how other forms of domination in the post-colonial era have replaced the domination created by such powers during […]
Image courtesy Sri Lanka: One Island, Two Nations. The following letter was sent to Groundviews by a reader with the following covering note: The letter I send you is from a Collective of Families of Disappeared Persons who engaged in the Sri Lankan government’s disappearences commission. It highlights a number of problems in the commission process. The […]
Image courtesy The Star [Constitutional amendments at Anuradhapura were signified by the erection of a new stupa; or as in the case of King Kasyapa, by moving the capital to another place. The ideological changes they symbolized wrought modifications to the tri-partite consensus of king-sangha-village as this ancient kingdom rolled on for over 1300 years. […]
Photo courtesy Sri Lanka Guardian These days media often speak of conflicts between the center and provincial administration, especially between the Northern Provincial Council’s (NPC’s) Chief Minister (CM) / Members and the Governor of the Province. The CM had been known to me for some time as a gentle neighbor, Judge and the Governor as […]
Photo courtesy Mel Gunasekera’s Facebook account Mel would have been deeply fascinated by the circumstances of her murder. She would have, even more than Nalaka Gunawardene, taken pains to explore why an ordinary man, a father, husband and day wage labourer was driven to kill her. How is that possible? How did this happen? She would […]
So it was a known construction worker cum odd job man who killed senior Lankan journalist Mel Gunasekera. The man, hunted down within the same day Mel was stabbed to death in her suburban home, was apparently familiar with the place and the family’s routine. When she recognised him, burglar had instantly turned killer. Case […]
Some photos from venues in the city that are part of the Colombo Art Biennale 2014, taken on 31st January 2014. Venues included the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute, JDA Perera Gallery, Lionel Wendt & Harold Pieris Galleries, Goethe-Institut and the Post Graduate Institute of Archeology (PGIAR). Sharni Jayawardene’s exhibition at Colombo Art Biennale 2014 (on display […]
Photo courtesy Vikalpa’s coverage of launch In the age of instant communication across social networks and wireless devices, when 140 characters has become an acceptable length of political commentary and critical review, it is unsurprising that ‘Hint Fiction’, a story, poetry or (very short) prose limited to 25 words, has become ‘a thing’. It was […]
I need a cigarette. In another impulsive moment, I had made the irresponsible decision a few months ago to become a social smoker. I do not particularly know what that means but I figure it would be a good way to force myself to have conversations with strangers on this trip. I also romanticize that […]