“The character of an educational system depends upon the character of the society for which it is designed. In a totalitarian system the education system is designed to establish among all sections…
The recent incidents of sexual and economic exploitation of children have sparked many protests and a public outcry targeting the failure of the State to ensure justice to children and their families….
A prisoner goes to the jail’s library to borrow a book. The librarian says, “I am sorry, we don’t have this book, but we have its author.” It’s a Turkish joke, much…
“A leader is found! Yet cautiously to myself I ask, a leader to where? Despair overthrown often turns us in mad directions.” Katharine Kressmann Taylor (Address unknown) In Brother Grimm’s Little Briar…
Sri Lanka has lost a fearless and compassionate human rights defender in Manouri Muttetuwegama, who devoted her life to ease the suffering of those in pain. Born into a political family as…
July 1983 was one of the grimmest months in Sri Lankan history as state-organised anti-minority “riots” paved the way for decades of violence and human rights abuses across the country. The effect…
Most of us spent more time looking out of the windows of our homes this last year than in any other year. So it is perhaps no surprise that one of the…
Despite the extravagant promises, policies and plans contained in its campaign document Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the SLPP government have failed miserably to deliver on practically all…
Tharindu Jayawardhana is one of Sri Lanka’s most outstanding and promising young journalists. His writings and MediaLK, the news website he founded in 2019, are noted for highlighting some of the most critical…
An amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure allowing the Magistrates to visit places of detention has been turned into a political issue by a section of the government and by some…
The debate over the Kotelawala National Defence University (KNDU) Bill has become a scorching issue in the past few weeks. It has been heated not only due to the resistance from civil…
For the winner of the 2020 Gratiaen prize, Carmel Miranda, her book Crossmatch is a fast paced page turner set in a world intimately known to her. Although it is a crime…
For decades human rights activists have highlighted the draconian nature of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which promises safety and security, yet in practice makes each citizen vulnerable to being arbitrarily…
Sri Lanka has seen various large scale environmental disasters over its history from British colonial rulers scraping out the the central hills for tea to the fast paced Mahavali River diversion project…
The decision to ban chemical fertilizer is one of the crucial policy changes taken by the current government since coming to power. It received mix reactions from the public. The government’s argument…
