The Silva Elections
Photo courtesy The Daily Beast The news from the Uva side is not good. The vote base of Our Majesty’s government is doing a Jack and Jill – tumbling down the hillside.…
Year: 2014
Liking violence: A study of hate speech on Facebook in Sri Lanka
Photo courtesy Sri Lanka Brief The Centre for Policy Alternatives, the institutional anchor of , released today a report co-authored by Shilpa Samaratunge and I on hate speech online, looking at Facebook…
The Uva results and implications for the Presidential Poll
Photo courtesy The Republic Square The UPFA barely hung on in Uva. Grimly winning a narrow victory, that saw a significant dent in voter support for the ruling Rajapakse Administration. The UPFA…
In conversation with Ruhanie Perera: Politics, Space and Theatre in Sri Lanka
Ruhanie Perera is a founding member of the Floating Space theatre company, based in Sri Lanka. has both featured and reviewed compelling productions by Floating Space and directed by Ruhanie. We begin by…
Terror, Performance and Anxieties of Our Times: Reading Rustom Bharucha and Reliving Terror
( by Rustom Bharucha (2014). Tulika Books, New Delhi; ISBN 978-93-82381-37-2; pp. xvi; 250. INR 695.00 Approaching terror When I started reading Rustom Bharucha’s latest book, Terror and Performance, it immediately became…
Urban Warfare and the Sounds of Silence
Photo courtesy Maatram I was sitting at my desk in Colombo 08 yesterday and all of a sudden, a somewhat loud but also muffled ‘boom’ broke the usual afternoon sounds of traffic on…
INFOGRAPHIC: Views From Uva
With the Uva Provincial Council elections taking place tomorrow, Social Indicator, the survey research unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives has analysed data from field work conducted in May and June…
And they all fall down
This afternoon, the remaining residents of 34 watta in Wanathamulla had surprise visitors. Brigadier Samarasinghe who is the Project Director of the UDA’s Urban Regeneration Programme, accompanied by several other UDA officials,…
INFOGRAPHIC: Military Presence in the North of Sri Lanka
Five years since the end of the war, a significant military presence still remains in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. This despite repeated assurances by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL)…
Child Soldiers, a Stolen Innocence
“When I’m gone, release me. Let me go. I have so many things to see and do.” – Excerpt from ‘Butterfly’ Even today too little is been said about them. Yet, they…
Review of Neville Jayaweera’s Jaffna: Exorcising the Past and Holding the Vision
Photo courtesy Thomas Berg Part I When I was asked by Marshell Fernando whether I would review the above, I readily agreed. Neville was several years senior to me in the Ceylon…
INFOGRAPHIC: Religious Violence in Post-War Sri Lanka
Religious tensions have been exacerbated in post-war Sri Lanka, contrary to claims by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) that attacks against places of religious worship are isolated incidents. In Mach 2013,…
Engaging with Civil Society
Photo courtesy Recently, the media reported that the Defence Secretary held a meeting in the Defence Ministry with a number of NGOs who had worked with the GOSL and the Commonwealth Foundation…
Post-War Development in Nepal and Sri Lanka: A Comparison
Image courtesy Wikipedia Introduction Both in Nepal and Sri Lanka the transition from war to durable peace has been painful and is ongoing and not devoid of pitfalls as has been the…
INFOGRAPHIC: Presidential Commission on Missing Persons
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing Persons (the Commission), was established over a year ago on 15th August 2013 by Gazette 1823/42. The sole purpose of the…