Kumar Sangakkara: The greatest hero of our time
The Cricketing world will pause for a moment, to celebrate the legendary career of Kumar Sangakkara that draws to a close, and then move on; a bit richer for the legacy he…
Author: Harendra Alwis
Sri Lanka’s political moment: Rediscovering our kinship and common history
Photo courtesy EPA/M.A.PUSHPA KUMARA via Sky News As the new administration has begun to unpack promises made during a hasty election campaign, it is clear that they are constrained by their own political…
Sri Lanka’s Political Moment: Part 2
Photo by REUTERS/Stringer, via Al Jazeera A transformation of the political agenda Despite many detailed analysis of Sri Lanka’s present political moment by a myriad experts, two of its significant aspects have so…
Sri Lanka’s political moment
Image via Maithripala Sirisena A change of guard The future of Sri Lanka’s democracy has reached a pivotal point. On the 9th of January, it awoke after decades of paralytic slumber.…
How must we respond to religious extremism and incitement to violence?
Image from Ingulfed Do not despair. It helps to try to understand the situation as it evolves, rather than crystallise your view of it in judgment. If you know your enemies and…
A failed test match and lost identity
Photo courtesy AFP/ISHARA S. KODIKARA At the post match conference after the third test against Pakistan, the captain of Sri Lanka said that his team lost; not because they were too negative…
The perpetual conflict: Part 3
Photo via blackjuly.info The Politics of Identity It seems all too obvious that the regular cycles of violence that have emerged in our recent history since 1915 are distinctly communal in character.…
The perpetual conflict: Part 2
Photo via blackjuly.info Fault-lines Perhaps it is a tragic coincidence of our time; or maybe it was inevitable given the passage of generations, that we are marking the thirty year anniversary of…
The perpetual conflict: Part 1
Photo via blackjuly.info The dark clouds of history When I look back, I do not see the black smoke rising, or the cries of hapless countrymen, women and innocent children – victims…
It’s about Justice, stupid!
Image via DBS Jeyaraj.com My faith is not threatened by the faith of others whose beliefs are different from my own. Neither my race nor my culture is under threat of being…
The Oldest and the Greatest: A reflection on the Bradby Shield and what it stands for
Image courtesy Trinity College website History and tradition are great mentors. History assures us of who we are, and if we are brave enough, it can also teach us where we have…
Heroes of our ages
1. The stuff of heroes Every yarn in the fabric of history is held together by a common thread. From the story of the light bulb to the grand history of nations,…
Sri Lanka’s War Burden: Two years on
Photo credit Eranga Jayawardena/AP, Encyclopædia Britannica Online During the last couple of months, the former UN spokesperson in Sri Lanka – Mr Gordon Weiss has been promoting his book titled “The Cage”…
Living in a very small world: and dying to have a piece of it
Part 4 I was the last person in our group to come out of the railway station after divulging the intricacies of my visit to the somnolent policeman and the Civil Defence…
Crossing over to the other side of a unitary state
Part 3 The refurbished metal “Queen of Jaffna” gracefully strode up to the platform in Medawachchiya by 10.30 am – the time I usually start to begin to consider the prospect of…