Record-breaking rice cakes, but at what cost?
Photo of courtesy le sauce Most performances of Dhananjaya Karunarathne’s brilliant scrip (The Story of the Last Bus) are memorable not just because of the acting, but also because the audience becomes,…
Author: Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa
Nation building post war
Written to mark the forthcoming publication of , Edited by Gnana Moonesinghe We are no closer to nation building post war than we were during it, and before it. More accurately, we…
Interview with Vajira, Sri Lanka’s Prima Ballerina Assoluta
Vajira is now 78. In just over half an hour and recorded at the Chitrasena and Vajira Dance School, Vajira looks back at her life and recalls how she began to dance,…
Thoughts on ‘Dancing for the Gods’ by the Chitrasena and Vajira Dance Foundation
-Â Chitrasena I recently asked the illustrious Bijayini Satpathy, Director of the Odissi Gurukul at Nrityagram how she negotiated the contest between tradition and modernity in her interpretation of Odissi dance – the…
Human rights: Hackneyed or heightened in post-war Sri Lanka?
My conversation with Lakshan Dias, Programme Manager, Centre for Human Rights and Development, was pegged to the issue of human rights in post-war Sri Lanka. Lakshan was in the news recently when…
In conversation with Dr. Harsha de Silva, MP
Interview III – Dr. Harsha de Silva from Young Asia Television on Vimeo. I recently spoke with Dr. Harsha de Silva, now a National List MP from the United National Party (UNP).…
Jaffna and the East today: Harsh ground realities, opportunities and challenges after war
Shanthi Sachithananthan, the Chairperson of Viluthu, has been featured several times on in the past, including an interview two months ago looking at significant developments in Sri Lanka after the demise of…
In conversation with Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu is the Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives. I begin this interview with a pointed question, asking Dr. Saravanamuttu to flag anything the government has done well…
Interview with Ameena Hussein
Ameena Hussein is one of Sri Lanka’s best known English authors. She is also one half of the Perera Hussein Publishing House, that since 2003 has published some of the best new…
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term: Opportunities and challenges for constitutional reform
I interviewed recently Rohan Edrisinha, who lectures at the Law Faculty, University of Colombo. Along with a number of other issues related to prospects of meaningful constitutional reform in Sri Lanka during…
Abolition or reform of Executive Presidency in Sri Lanka?
A pre-presidential election conversation I had with well-known lawyer and activist Javed Yusuf touched upon a number of issues vital to Sri Lanka over the course of 2010 and well-beyond. Javed Yusuf…
Visualising key speeches and submissions of Sarath Fonseka
Now officially a Presidential aspirant, erstwhile Army Commander Sarath Fonseka has, since late October 2009 made a number of verbal and written submissions regarding his candidacy and political life after retirement. In…
A review of The Travelling Circus
The late review is at an advantage, in that it is informed by the published critiques of others and subsequent responses online and in print. In this respect, watching Tracy Holsinger’s on…
Dayan Jayatilleka on post-war politics and enduring obstacles to peace in Sri Lanka
I spoke with Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka recently on his take on post-war politics, his interpretation of the Southern Provincial Council elections, the issue of war crimes and the extension of GSP+, the…
Post-war politics
Victors, if the pre-election shenanigans in the South are any barometer, violently differ on how to share the spoils of war. Unsurprisingly, the war and LTTE are still alive in the pre-election…