Sumanthiran’s Choice
I have two Tamil friends. Their names are SriLankan Tamil and Tamil Sri Lankan. “Aren’t they the same?” you ask. No, the order in which the identifiers appear is significant, and is…
Year: 2013
Radical UNP and its New Constitutional Proposals: A Radical Farce?
Photo courtesy When regimes are dictatorial and dangerous, alternative forces which promise a better society and future do tend to be taken seriously by the people. This, quite simply, is because the…
Sri Lanka at a critical crossroad: JHU and the 13th Amendment
Udaya Gammanpila, Senior Member of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), courtesy FT.lk The country stands at a crossroad. A parliamentary victory for the JHU bill will complete the negative process which commenced…
Illicit Emigrants: Criminals or Victims?
Image courtesy This year’s Bishop Cyril Abeynaike Memorial Oration was a fascinating talk on some aspects of globalization by Dr. Harsha Athurupane. He spoke mostly of the benefits of globalization but also…
Spot Fixing Sri Lanka Style: Revisiting the Enumeration of Vital Events
Image courtesy Thuppahi blog In November 2011, Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, said that discovering how many civilians “died or went missing during the last few months of the conflict” would…
Sri Lanka’s Numbers Game
Image courtesy Hill Post On May 16 a seminar was held at the Marga Institute to launch a publication by the Independent Diaspora Analysis Group – Sri Lanka (IDAG-S) – The Numbers…
Thoughts on Sri Lanka’s Future on Another Vesak Day
Photo courtesy Dawn.com/AFP The Vesak Poya day has come and gone several times since May 2009 when the prolonged war with the LTTE ended. And we Sri Lankans are yet trapped in…
Interview with MIXED RICE: Standing up for a diverse Sri Lanka
The people behind MIXED RICE are a collection of Sri Lankans from various backgrounds who are scattered across the globe from Sri Lanka to Australia, Japan, the US and UK. There are…
My Esteem for the Buddha: An open letter at Wesak to my Buddhist Sisters and Brothers
Photo courtesy Reuters My good friend, the Ven. Bellanwila Wimalarathana wrote a letter to Christians on his understanding of Christ at Christmas last year. This has prompted me to reciprocate with this…
Vesak Reflections
Image courtesy This Vesak Day I was reflecting on the centuries of Buddhist tradition and the cultural response, recorded in the magnificent constructions and spiritual art that withstood centuries of exposure to…
Land acquisition by the Sri Lankan Army in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu Districts
Only one question. Why? Ask it. Repeatedly. Download the acquisition notices as a PDF here.
Ganesan Nimalaruban: A murder and responses of Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice
Photo courtesy Ganesan Nimalaruban’s murder in July last year wasn’t an issue for or comprehensively covered in the mainstream media in Sri Lanka. . Responses to the stories on both sites included a former…
Shakespeare – Is he “Wellington’s Lieutenant?”
Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty via Among the many twists and turns of history, few can be more contrived than that which led to the establishment of Shakespeare’s tongue as a second or link…
Review of The Sri Lankan Republic at 40: Reflections on Constitutional History, Theory and Practice edited by Asanga Welikala
Coming as it did at the end of 2012, The Sri Lankan Republic at 40: Reflections on Constitutional History, Theory and Practice, is much more than two edited volumes or an extensive anthology….
Use Vesak decorations to reflect upon Dhamma
Lord Buddha gave different meditation objects to different people. For some, just focusing on rubbing two pieces of material against each other worked, and for some others focusing on the breath worked….
