Taxing Times
Sri Lanka’s poorest of the poor, their lives devastated by economic collapse, may face a killer blow soon: a crippling of the public health system. That GMOA is planning to paralyse the…
Sri Lanka’s poorest of the poor, their lives devastated by economic collapse, may face a killer blow soon: a crippling of the public health system. That GMOA is planning to paralyse the…
Veteran human rights campaigner Reverend Marimuthu Shakthivel’s voice is tinged with frustration when he says, “There will come a day where we will see the end of our struggle for the rights…
The 13th Amendment, created 35 years ago, has once again become a flashpoint after President Ranil Wickremesinghe declared its implementation. Anti-devolution forces have begun gnashing their teeth; those who went into hiding…
The scorching heat beats down on the field. A herd of cows shelter under the trees that are scattered across the field. I went in search of Mr. Selvarathinam. His wife told…
In his new collection of artwork, Suntharam Anojan depicts a visual account of the impact of the 30 year war that altered the topographies of Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka. Through the…
The media have been replete with the pronouncements that the president of Sri Lanka was going to resolve the ethnic issue by taking some rapid action measures. However, scepticism was inevitable when…
Sri Lanka celebrates its 75th independence day today. The event has provoked much debate and discussion. Coming on top of the worst financial crisis in the country’s post-independence history, it coincides with…
Sri Lanka’s national anthem presents a vision of the country as a motherland to many, life giving and filled with nature’s abundance and beauty, a place of truth seeking and wisdom. It…
The first Independence day celebration I could remember as a kid was 1984. I still remember it simply because the celebrations took place in my hometown, Kalutara. It was an extravagant half…
We cared for Indira Gandhi. She understood Lankan Tamil plight and the need for redress, return of lands, control over local affairs. And how could a liberation movement win without…
A Supreme Court judgement, a new US law, Canadian sanctions and United Nations evidence gathering are making it increasingly hard for Sri Lanka’s past and present rulers to avoid accountability for large…
Religion doesn’t exist in the singular in reality. In the real world it exists only in the plural – over 4,000 religions although some place the number as high as 10,000. With…
The past few weeks have seen a rapid escalation of justice and accountability mechanisms on the national and international landscape for Sri Lanka’s gross human rights violators; the nooses are tightening around…
January is usually a grim indication of the perilous state of human rights in Sri Lanka. It is reminder of the many cases that have gone unpunished with perpetrators still at large.…
A murder of crows peck at a katta karawala carcass outside a stretch of fishing wadiyas as the sun sets, leaving a long shadow over the Mullaitivu beach. Every now and again…