Steering Sri Lanka Away from Kakistocracy
By January 2022 Sri Lanka was well on its way to becoming a failed state. Bankrupt, riddled with corruption from top to bottom and at the mercy of evil leaders, the country…
Author: Groundviews
Reports Expose Israel’s Campaign of Total Extermination and Genocide in Gaza
A leading human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, and a humanitarian medical organization, MSF, have exposed Israeli’s campaign of total extermination and the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. In a…
Addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
In an effort to address Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Doctors Without Borders South Asia, in collaboration with the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), has launched ,…
Bringing Perpetrators of Gross Human Rights Violations to Task
The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), an independent NGO working since 2013 to protect and promote justice and accountability in Sri Lanka, has submitted more than 60 sanctions and visa ban…
New Documentary Explores Sri Lanka’s Buddhist Supremacy and Minority Communities
In Nedunkeni, a small town outside Vavuniya, an ancient Hindu monument consecrated to Lord Siva stood on Vedukkunaari hill. The monument was reported stolen and later its destroyed remnants were found in…
Rohingya Refugees in Sri Lanka Seek a Permanent Solution to Their Plight
Hundreds of thousands of terrified Rohingya refugees flooded onto the beaches and paddy fields of southern Bangladesh in August 2017. When the refugees – almost 60 per cent of whom were children…
Kintsugi by Anoma: Repairing, Rebuilding and Healing a Shattered World
When a delicate object like a glass vase, ceramic bowl or porcelain cup breaks, we throw it away thinking that it is beyond repair. But in the Japanese art of kintsugi, cracks…
Policies and Plans for Preserving the Environment
As Sri Lanka gears up for the parliamentary election on November 14, the topics for debate are depressingly familiar – bringing criminal politicians to justice, ascertaining the responsibility for the Easter Sunday…
Naming the Dead and Disappeared as an Act of Memorialisation
Naming the names of the dead is an important act of memorialisation; for those they leave behind, it is their names that contain their essence. Palestinians in Gaza are writing the names…
Presidential Candidates Ignore the Scourge of Enforced Disappearances
None of the three leading presidential candidates have directly addressed the issue of enforced disappearances despite the fact that Sri Lanka has the second highest number of disappeared people reported to the…
Affirmative Action Vital to Increase Women’s Participation in Politics
It is an enduring stain on Sri Lanka’s democracy and gender equality that only 4.8 percent of parliamentarians are women despite their high literacy rate and educational levels. To correct this imbalance,…
Hema Shironi’s Embroidery Depicts Impact of Conflict
Hema Shironi’s solo exhibition at the Saskia Fernando Gallery delves into the complex and often painful histories of colonization, civil war, displacement and migration, all of which are intricately woven into the…
The Need for Humanitarianism is Greater Than Ever
Former High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, said there were no humanitarian solutions to humanitarian problems because what they required were political solutions. When states and governments fail their citizens, endangering their…
Culture of Impunity Enables Grave Human Rights Violations to Continue Unchecked
Despite ongoing pressure from the international community, reforms to advance human rights and reconciliation, especially in institutional and security sectors, have not occurred. On the contrary, there are renewed threats to fundamental…
Social Media Declaration: Paving the Way for Ethical Use of Media
An updated version of the Social Media Declaration (SMD), which was formulated by a group of civil society and media organisations in 2019, was launched in Colombo. The declaration is a significant…