If the President Resigns: What Next?
On July 9, an unprecedented number of Sri Lankan protesters marched on the president’s official residence. They demanded one thing: his immediate resignation for his role in causing the most devastating economic…
Author: Gehan Gunatilleke
Criminalising Disinformation: Neither the Time nor the Place
A public conversation on criminalising disinformation has re-emerged in Sri Lanka. The government recently announced that it was considering new proposals for a law to curb false and misleading statements. This conversation…
HRC46: Not for Reform But for Respite
Why do Sri Lankan human rights advocates repeatedly place their trust in an imperfect and highly politicised inter-state human rights mechanism year after year? For many of us working in the domain…
Countering Harmful Speech: Why Trust the State?
Words can, and often do, harm others. A society is usually justified in restricting speech that causes harm. The nature and extent of such restrictions depends on the type of harm involved.…
Seven Months On the Bar is Silent About Hejaaz
Seven months have passed since the arrest and detention of human rights lawyer, Hejaaz Hizbullah. When he was taken into custody on 14 April, his friends and family, and some within his…
20A is a Political Blunder
Déjà vu? Once upon a time, a mighty government with a two-thirds majority in parliament engaged in political opportunism, and radically changed the constitution of Sri Lanka. It ignored more than a…
Explaining Sri Lanka’s New Emergency Regulations on ‘Publication’
Sri Lanka’s president issued a new set of Emergency Regulations on 22 April 2019. This note explains the contents of Emergency Regulation 15, which concerns the ‘control of publications’, and certain other…
A Pardon, and a Penalty: A Prelude to a Populist?
As we reflect on Sri Lanka’s 71st Independence Day, many things that have political currency come to mind. Free education and healthcare, a reduced cost of living, and anti-corruption are usually among…
Survivalist and Irrepressible: The Two Faces of the Sri Lankan Media
Introduction The past decade produced two critical moments of transition in Sri Lanka. On 19 May 2009, a 30-year war came to a brutal end with the defeat of the Liberation Tigers…
Pusswedilla is a Trojan Horse
We have grown to either love or hate the Pusswedilla franchise. Most relish it as high (even low) entertainment with the added thrill of political parody. Some dismiss it as poor satire.…
The Lost City
Image courtesy News First ‘We were anonymous, and even then I had the sense that cities were yielding; that they moved over and made room.’ ― Sheridan Hay, They are often warned…
The Politics of Paraya
Image courtesy Mind Adventures Theatre Company We may applaud Mind Adventures’ Paraya for many things. We may celebrate it for its visual mastery, its bold dialogue and the intensity and physicality in…
A Review of ‘The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution: Substance and Process’
Photo courtesy Vikalpa September 8, 2010 marked a watershed event in the constitutional history of Sri Lanka. The enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution on this ill-fated day brought to…