A Venerated Teacher, Author and Scholar
In my tribute to her last week, I noted that Sumitra Peries belonged to a generation which also saw Mahagama Sekara, Gamini Fonseka, Madawala S. Ratnayake, Premasiri Khemadasa, Gunadasa Amarasekara and Siri…
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Protecting and Preserving the Environment Against All Odds
Sri Lanka’s future is interwoven with the fate of its natural habitats. The country must act now to preserve its rich biodiversity. The fate of its forests, wildlife and, by extension, its…
Sri Lanka’s Response to the UK Sanctions
Last year, I studied in some depth perceptions of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) and the National People’s Power (NPP) after the consequential presidential election and again after the even more significant…
Reflections on Professor Gananath Obeyesekere
Professor Gananath Obeyesekere was an excellent teacher, researcher and scholar as well as an excellent communicator mainly in English. Although born and raised in an urbane middle class family and educated in…
Israeli Tourists Spark Tensions in Arugam Bay
Arugam Bay, once an idyllic and peaceful coastal town in the southeast, is facing growing tensions as the number of Israeli tourists, particularly those with military connections, continues to rise. The influx…
Sanctions: A Step in the Right Direction to Combat Impunity
The UK government has announced sanctions on three top former war time military commanders and a former LTTE commander accused of serious human rights violations and abuses such as extra judicial killings,…
UK Sanctions Former Military Commanders and Karuna
The UK government has imposed sanctions, which include UK travel bans and asset freezes, on three former military commanders and a Tamil paramilitary leader accused of serious human rights violations and abuses…
Exploring How Perceptions of Land Have Shaped Sri Lanka
The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s Total Landscaping exhibition features the work of 29 contemporary artists moving beyond traditional depictions of landscapes and instead exploring how perceptions of land in Sri…
A Victory for the Bathalegoda Estate Workers
With British colonial rulers controlling the coastal regions, including the lowlands, they secured the Kandyan kingdom through an agreement unifying Sri Lanka into a single state in March 1815. Until then, the…
The Anatomy of a Debasement
Let’s begin with a story. Once upon a time, the prime minister of an island nation was plagued by an outbreak of labour unrest. He summoned the police chief and ordered him…
The Rocky Road to Reconciliation
The legacy of the civil war still haunts communities across the country. Despite Sri Lanka’s ethnic, religious and cultural diversity, lingering ethnic tensions have deterred investment, hindered development and impeded progress. Without…
Sumitra Peries: Her Real Contribution
Sumitra Peries’s 90th birthday would have been on March 24. When she passed away in January 2023, she had not quite turned 88. By that time she had reached and passed the…
MMDA Reform Is About Women’s and Girls’ Lives Not Political Games
Following the parliamentary debates on the Women’s Ministry budget allocation commencing March 8, fears are being raised within Muslim communities that reform of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) is an…
The Struggle for Grasslands in the East
The National People’s Power (NPP) party outlined its vision for strengthening the local dairy industry in its policy statement, A Prosperous Country, A Beautiful Life. However, four months after the new government…
Constitutional Reform for a Stable Sri Lanka
Constitutional reform has been a consistent demand of the citizens of Sri Lanka, most of whom firmly oppose an all-powerful president who is free of the checks and balances imposed by a…