Writing to Reconcile: A personal journey
Image from Write to Reconcile Last fall, in Toronto, I went to see a play that was written by one of the writers in this anthology, Sindhuri Nandakumar. The play was called…
Media and Communications
Guided Tour: ‘Corridors of Power’ at the WINGS Festival of Arts
Led by the input of Asanga Welikala and in collaboration with Channa Daswatta, ‘Corridors of Power’ through architectural drawings and models, interrogates key moments in Sri Lanka’s constitutional evolution since 1972. The…
‘Let Her Cry’ is not a male fantasy on women
Photo via Fragments A university professor named Carmen Wickramagamage has written a long article to The Island claiming that Asoka Handagama’s latest film Age Esa Aga (Let Her Cry) is a “Profoundly…
The fruit of an ambitious social experiment – South Asian University Holds its First Convocation
Featured image courtesy South Asian University Archives, 2016 As an idea, project and dream of considerable proportions, South Asian University has been discussed for more than a decade among leading intellectuals of the region, including people like Asish Nandy of India,…
A study on Skype Chat as a tool for Public Discourse
Picture courtesy androidcentral Recently, Skype launched its new public group chat tool, which allowed even those who weren’t registered Skype users to chat with others, and for free. Around the same time,…
Aiyo! lamented Aiya to the Adigar
Picture courtesy Thuppahi Work on the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has been underway since the turn of the century, but will not be finished for another decade or…
The Journey of Content: Instagram Unplugged IRL
We are discussing a photograph. It was taken by the camera of a smartphone. It has been viewed by thousands, engaged with by hundreds, and is now being exhibited at the Saskia…
In conversation with Harsha Purasinghe: Tech entrepreneurship and innovation in Sri Lanka
Both the LinkedIn and Twitter profiles of Harsha Purasinghe note that he is Founder & CEO of Microimage, Microimage Mobile Media and WSO2 Mobile. He is in short a serial technology entrepreneur…
The Fashion Bug case: A turning point for Muslim rights in Sri Lanka
Buddhist monks on the rampage at Fashion Bug as Police just look The judicial case related to the violent attack on Muslim owned Fashion Bug head office and warehouse in Pepiliyana, 10…
Black January: Ceaseless media suppression in Sri Lanka, with total impunity
Image via RNW The month of January is coming to an end and yet again it has been filled with a number of major attacks on media freedom in Sri Lanka. For…
Post-war Sri Lanka’s media landscape: In conversation with Frederica Jansz
Before she was forced to flee Sri Lanka, before the Sunday Leader started to edit submissions by long-standing and senior columnists critical of government and in particular, the ruling family and before…
Innocence of the Muslims
March in Colombo on 24 September 2012 against the film. Photo courtesy Vikalpa Muslims have never shied away from discussing the private and public life of their Prophet Muhammed (PBUH). In fact…
The Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA): What implications for Sri Lanka?
There are a lot of websites in the US that have gone black to protest against the proposed Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). Wikipedia has gone…
Wishes for a peaceful and a happy New Year from the President
I probably was one among millions of people in Sri Lanka privileged to receive a SMS from the President, wishing me “a peaceful and a happy New Year”. (A large majority who…
Australia’s Tamil Eelam Lobby and CHOGM
Photo credit AFP via Haveeru Online Introduction The war on the battle field may be over, but the propaganda war is alive and well. The Australian news media, particularly the Sydney Morning…
