Interview with Ravi Karunanayake
Ravi Karunanayake is a well known figure in politics, and in 1994 was the youngest member to be appointed from the National List to Parliament. Among other offices, he is the Chairman…
Year: 2010
Meeting a VIP London, Summer, 2008
He asked me how it was that I could be Sinhalese was it 50%? if my mother was Sinhalese and in that case whether I was 50% burgher or whether I had…
Whither enemies of the state: The political debate in Sri Lanka today
– Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, 4.14 The current Sri Lankan political discourse, thin gruel though it is, contains three morsels of content:Â democracy, the electoral system and national sovereignty. Some question whether…
Akon and Buddhism in Sri Lanka
The Government on Tuesday (March 23rd) announced its decision to deny an entry visa to singer Akon who was scheduled to perform next month in Colombo with co-singers, J-Sean and Kelly. The…
The media ‘Konvicted’
The Akon rumpus, with all its nutty and freaky sides, did have one thing good about it. It raised the question, “what is media freedom ?” Except for “”Sirasa”” and its group…
Jumma: The last bastion of the boys
The other day I was chatting to my dad and told him that sometime in the future I would like to give a Jumma sermon. He shook his head sadly and told…
Renunciation
We turned out of bed saddened and furious when we heard Taliban detonated the Bamiyan Buddhas: What savagery, to destroy testaments aged over centuries, to a now effaced history; but today let…
Aroused by Akon’s Sexy Bitch: the Rise of Sinhala-Buddhist Fundamentalism?
Could it be that the sight of the Buddha statue was a complete turn-off to those who were utterly aroused by the dancing girls, the ‘sexy chicks’, seen in the music video…
Politics of Sinhala Nationalism: Underpinning of the UPFA Victory and Undermining of the Sri Lankan Nationhood
“Politically speaking, tribal nationalism always insists that its own people is surrounded by a world of enemies, one against all, that a fundamental difference exists between this people and all others. It…
Bell Pottinger and Sri Lanka: Millions spent for what?
Though freely available on the web since January this year, this information to the best of our knowledge has not been prominently featured or robustly questioned in mainstream media to date. Bell…
Ranil’s road, Mahinda’s map
Does the UNP and Opposition leader Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe suffer from a compulsion towards electoral suicide or is it a condition of political sado-masochism? Only someone who is politically suicidal or sadistic…
Still waiting for justice in Sri Lanka
Several Commissions of Inquiry into Disappearances of Persons (COIs) had been appointed by successive governments since 1990. Of these, the writer had been the Secretary to what is known as the Central…
The Revenge of a Tamil Man
Some months ago, I arrived in Colombo on a trip to London from the Far East with Sri Lankan Airline. When the transit is more than eight hours, they put you in…
A Reply to Tissa Devendra on Rebuilding Sri Lanka
The venomous response of Devendra in the Island of 16th March does not merit a reply but I need to set the record straight. As I said in my original entry, “The…
Revisiting former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva’s views on the ICCPR
The arrest of General Sarath Fonseka marked the beginning of an unfortunate episode in Sri Lanka’s contemporary political history (or should it be ‘political ’). However much flawed the individual may be…