Villagers Fight to Regain Their Land in Panama
Panama is a remote village at the southern end of the eastern province in the Ampara district. The slogan often used in land struggles, land is life, is true for most people…
Year: 2023
Answering for Past Crimes and Ending Present Injustices
A Supreme Court judgement, a new US law, Canadian sanctions and United Nations evidence gathering are making it increasingly hard for Sri Lanka’s past and present rulers to avoid accountability for large…
Peace, Religion and Religions
Religion doesn’t exist in the singular in reality. In the real world it exists only in the plural – over 4,000 religions although some place the number as high as 10,000. With…
The Extinct Art of Diving for Pearls
Braving sharks, venomous snakes and their own human frailty, the pearl fishers of the Gulf of Mannar would plunge deep into the depths of the Indian Ocean to secure their prizes; pristine,…
Sri Lanka and the World: Towards a New Approach
Speaking in Parliament in 1996, Anura Bandaranaike dwelt on the legacy of his father and mother. He spoke of how the world had viewed Sri Lanka in their time and how it…
The Slow but Sure Process of Justice and Accountability
The past few weeks have seen a rapid escalation of justice and accountability mechanisms on the national and international landscape for Sri Lanka’s gross human rights violators; the nooses are tightening around…
South Asia’s Transgression of Dynastic Politics
Ever since the years of de-colonization, South Asian politics has been tainted by dynastic politics or, simply, nepotism. Has it become embedded in the culture of the region or is it simply…
Life (in and) After Death: A Story in Five Parts
Sudden death has been at the centre of my life the past few weeks. Two deaths that required me to navigate the legal systems of four countries. This entailed multiple visits to…
Rajapaksa Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost
January is usually a grim indication of the perilous state of human rights in Sri Lanka. It is reminder of the many cases that have gone unpunished with perpetrators still at large.…
Catch of the Day, Year after Year: Mullaitivu Fishermen Battle On
A murder of crows peck at a katta karawala carcass outside a stretch of fishing wadiyas as the sun sets, leaving a long shadow over the Mullaitivu beach. Every now and again…
Fighting to Free Wasantha Mudalige
Among the reprisals faced by prominent leaders of the people’s uprising last year were arrests, detentions, travel bans and continuing court cases. Many leaders have multiple court cases pending against them despite…
New Year Aragalaya
We have reached January 9th, 2023. We cannot go any farther or longer or deeper. We are at the turning point, on the cusp, early in the New Year, and we…
Selling the Family Silver
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has often been accused of neo-liberal tendencies. The term is used as a pejorative; this statement and many before it justify the label and reveals his ideological compass. It…
2022: What a Momentous Year for Sri Lanka
We all knew 2022 would be a challenging year for Sri Lanka even before its arrival. But no one expected it to be this difficult, hurtful, unpleasant, yet memorable. The country was…
The Year’s Fruits
What did this year bring? It brought the Palais des Nations in Geneva to hear my thoughts on poetry and diplomacy in the early months of the now even more…