2022: A Year Like No Other
2022 was one of the most momentous years in Sri Lanka’s recent history. An unprecedented people’s movement drove out an elected president and prime minister and forced the resignation of the entire…
2022 was one of the most momentous years in Sri Lanka’s recent history. An unprecedented people’s movement drove out an elected president and prime minister and forced the resignation of the entire…
In some ways, in 2022, life for Sri Lankans has followed a similar pattern to previous years. A few have prospered greatly or wielded power ruthlessly, many have faced misery, protests by…
Gnanamuttu Kusumawathi, known as Kusuma akka, passed away five years ago. We remember her rebellious spirit and strength with admiration and gratitude. Kusuma akka was a leader in the Panama Pattuwa (Pattuwa…
On December 17, 2022, fishermen in northern Sri Lanka alerted the navy about a boat in distress adrift in the sea. On December 18, the navy rescued a group of 104 people…
On this Boxing Day, eighteenth anniversary of the Tsunami I write about the year in which the Aragalaya swept up and dispatched the ruler of the ruling family. He fled first to…
Microfinance is an essential aspect of the economy where low income people often lack access to structured, formal financial services. Improved access to financial services among the low income population assists in…
When I look back at 2022, what strikes me more than anything else is how agonisingly slowly it passed. The early days of COVID-19 had been slow enough. But 2022 broke that…
The process of ethnic assimilation, common in the pre-British era, largely ceased under colonial rule when communal identities were fostered and emphasized. It can arguably be said modern Sinhala nationalism emerged in…
Tashiya de Mel On the northern coast of Sri Lanka in the Mannar District is a place of extraordinary importance to conservation and to the economic wellbeing of the human populations who…
Following the runaway success of his first play, Counting and Cracking, writer and director S. Shakthidharan has produced a new play called Jungle and the Sea, which has received enthusiastic reviews since…
Suffering through its worst economic crisis since independence, Sri Lanka’s population has been facing hyperinflation for months, forcing many families to reduce their food and nutrition intake in order to cope. Many…
Before Gotabaya Rajapaksa, there was S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. Before organic only, there was Sinhala only. And the related transformation of Vidyodaya and Vidyalankara from monastic colleges to secular universities. Like Sinhala only, this…
I think it’s time we changed the conversation in our society from what a woman’s role in society should be – from dutiful mother and wife – to whoever it is she…
Sri Lanka plunged into a dystopian economic reality in 2022. Even in the present global downturn few countries match it in the stunning speed and severity of its collapse. The economy has…
Following three decades of bloody and protracted civil war between government forces and the LTTE, the group was dismantled in May 2009. As reported by the U.N. panel formed by Secretary General…