Awards, Recognitions and Sri Lankan Creative Writing in English
. About Concerns of Judges When speaking of the concerns we have as judges with regard to our experiences in judging the entries for the 2016 Gratiaen Prize, I am speaking on…
Year: 2017
The Macron Method
LONDON – Emmanuel Macron’s election to the French presidency provides the European Union with an opportunity to move past the internal conflicts that have hastened its disintegration. Rather than standing exclusively with…
#FloodSL: Key Accounts to Follow
Sri Lanka is experiencing flooding after what is said to be the most torrential rains since 2003. Despite being beset with heavy flooding in 2016 as well, the country was still unprepared for this…
Sri Lanka Floods 2017: Sharing the Blame
Once again Sri Lanka is in the grip of a natural disaster. Thousands have been displaced and hundreds killed by the floods and landslides. The tragedy is that this time the rains…
Response to Article on “National Reconciliation Policy” by Laksiri Fernando
I enjoyed reading Laksiri Fernando’s article and endorse most of his comments under policy areas 1-7, but not those under policy area 8 for reasons that I will elaborate later on. I…
Speech at the Launch of Testimonies of Silent Pain
It gives me great pleasure to join you – young women and men writers – as you launch your work in the anthology ‘Testimonies of Silent Pain’. I will be speaking in…
Stemming the Tide
Iqram Siyadhu works at a store selling rexine carpeting in Wijerama. A fire broke out on May 22 under suspicious circumstances. “The police came and made an entry about the incident,” Iqram said….
Remembering Sivaram
His biographer speaks of the unimaginable cultural consequences of living continually under the gun. Although this comment was made about Tamil communities living in Sri Lanka more widely, it provides the basis…
Escalating Violence: Renewed assaults on the Muslim community
Post war Sri Lanka saw a wave of attacks targeting the Muslim community by Buddhist extremist groups. The Mahinda Rajapaksa government allowed these extremists free rein, which caused extensive damage, including injuries…
Why Doctors and Students Are Protesting Against Sri Lanka’s Only Private Medical College
In Sri Lanka, doctors and students have been protesting for months, requesting the government to shut down the private South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM), the only private university in Sri Lanka currently…
Blood-and-Faith Populism and Sri Lanka’s Future
Image courtesy This month, the populist wave suffered two critical defeats. In France outsider-candidate Emmanuel Macron beat Marine Le Pen. In Iran, reformist president Hassan Rouhani trounced Ebrahim Raisi, a religious hardliner…
By the Votive Candle
Machan, I wish I could give you another poem but even poetry does not console enough before the loss of a dream. You were just in Sri Lanka and visited the North….
Victory over Remembrance: A day of division
On May 18, 2009, Sri Lanka ended a decade long civil war. The day after, May 19, has traditionally been celebrated as “Victory Day” and marked with military parades. That is, until…
Brexit or Breakup?
STOCKHOLM – Even after abandoning its empire, the United Kingdom hesitated for decades to join Europe. But it eventually did, and in the past half-century it became a proponent of European Union…
Sorting Bad Apples: Is Lustration the Answer to Sri Lanka’s Military Impunity?
Suspects with military links feature in a number of ongoing investigations into crimes and human rights violations committed in Sri Lanka’s post-war period. The Criminal Investigation Department’s report in Lasantha Wickramatunga’s murder…
