Remember? Remember!
‘Motherland is in danger,’ it is claimed, again. The words are familiar, echoes from the late 1980’s. Sixty-thousand died in the South, it is said, during that time. The dead were men…
Year: 2017
The Dark Side of Norochcholai
The term “sustainable development” has been increasingly used among the global community since the 1992 Rio Summit. To achieve this, environmental conservation, supported at a policy level, is crucial. Yet energy production…
Abortion: A Reply
In an article a few weeks ago, I argued that an embryo is a person with dignity and rights, and that this must change how we see both abortion pregnancy. There were…
The Reality of Suicide in Sri Lanka: Need for Data-driven analysis
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that close to 800,000 people die by suicide each year, with the majority of deaths occurring in low-income and middle-income countries. Many more attempt suicide. Suicide…
Media Freedom: Perspective from Jaffna
Photograph by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai We call him Prem. The editor of the largest selling Jaffna daily, Thevanayagam Premanath, is sitting at a large table with his usual smile. The wall behind him…
Public Service Failure – Sexual Harassment at the DMT
On the day of my exam, I went to my driving school’s office at around 6.30 am. I discovered through conversation with others in the group that only I had not paid…
Countering the Fascists on the Streets: A Lesson from Australia
Photo by Christina Coombe The recent attack by a group of hoodlums led by Buddhist monks on a safe house sheltering Rohingya refugees in Colombo has once again exposed the ugly face…
Let Women Decide: Some Feminist Perspectives on the ‘Abortion Debate’
At this moment in Sri Lanka, ‘the abortion debate’ has sprung up once again; with the cabinet purportedly attempting to pass a bill which would legalize abortions for women under two circumstances[1]…
Deduru Oya and Good Governance At Risk
Environmental issues have become a central concern of policy makers, with many international conventions ratified by the global community. However, if we want to protect the environment on a global scale, individual…
Why I Oppose Federalism for Sri Lanka: Reply to Dr. Devanesan Nesiah
I thank Dr. Devanesan Nesiah for his constructive engagement (Constitutional choices and Tamil Politics-1 Sept 28th 2017) with the ideas I had recently expressed at this crossroads of contemporary Sri Lankan history….
Constitutional choices and Tamil politics – Part 1
In his articles in The Island of Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st September 2017, Dr Dayan Jayatilleka starts by asking the correct question, provides a correct answer and goes on to identify…
Role of electronic media during natural disasters
The media have a significant role to play in times of natural disasters in terms of responsible and ethical coverage. However, electronic media coverage of the floods and landslides in some parts…
Ongoing UNHRC session: What’s in store for Sri Lanka?
The term ‘painfully slow progress’ has become a standard descriptor for Sri Lanka’s overall pace of implementation of UNHRC resolution A/HRC/30/1 in Geneva. It has been two years since Sri Lanka cosponsored…
A womb of one’s own: Life, abortion and motherhood in Sri Lanka
Photograph: Paul Mezzer/FRF/Getty via The Irish Times From well-intentioned comments about our weight and skin colour, to the insidious experience of being followed as we walk on the street, women are wearily…
#DialogDown : Tracking the Network Disruption on Twitter
On the afternoon of September 20th, Dialog suffered disruptions to its service and network coverage for less than an hour. This affected voice, data and SMS services on mobile phones – quite…
