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Groundviews

Author: Shenali Pilapitiya

Year
Month
75 Years of Independence, Colombo, Politics and Governance

75 Years of Free and Unfree

Independence arrived in South Asia steeped in blood, trauma and resistance. A fierce independence struggle permeated Indian consciousness; a massive civil disobedience campaign birthed the world’s largest democracy. But the partition of…

Shenali Pilapitiya Shenali Pilapitiya on 02/06/202302/09/2023
Colombo, Human Rights, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance

On the Question of Occupation, Violence and the People’s Struggle

A few months ago, the area surrounding the Presidential Secretariat was home to an unprecedented resistance. The occupation at Gotagogama marked 124 days of nonviolent struggle and vibrant community.  The struggle area…

Shenali Pilapitiya Shenali Pilapitiya on 10/03/202210/15/2022
Colombo, Gender, Healthcare, Human Rights, Politics and Governance

Finding the Crime in Reproductive Choice

International Women’s Month was heralded by the familiar sound of male decision making in Sri Lanka’s parliament. The agenda for International Women’s Day was the legalization of abortion in the instance of…

Shenali Pilapitiya Shenali Pilapitiya on 03/24/202203/24/2022
Elections, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War, Religion and faith

The Ethnic Outbid: Capturing the Voter Since Independence

Sri Lanka burns — and we slap on the national bandaid.  There is genuine disillusionment in the political establishment, and these feelings are valid. From COVID-19, to the 20th Amendment, to an…

Shenali Pilapitiya Shenali Pilapitiya on 02/04/202202/04/2022
Colombo, Development, Peace and Conflict, Poverty

Urban Beautification, Military Design

“As an abstract political force, poverty is very useful; it scares and disciplines the working classes, keeps wages down…” Parenti, 1999 Visible urban poverty disrupts the gilded cityscape. It shatters the sanctity…

Shenali Pilapitiya Shenali Pilapitiya on 01/10/202201/10/2022
Colombo, Development, International Relations, Politics and Governance

73 Years On – The “Neocolonial” Haze

If colonization is the exercise of hegemony, administrative control and the fundamental subjugation of one group of peoples to another, then the question for post-independent Sri Lanka should be whether or not…

Shenali Pilapitiya Shenali Pilapitiya on 02/04/202102/04/2021
Colombo, Human Rights, justice, Politics and Governance

Abolition Is Not A Whimsical Dream: Envisioning a Life Beyond the Carceral State

Abolition is not a delusional cry for social chaos. It goes beyond the momentary, deconstructive approach of eliminating the police. Abolition calls for the active reimagining and recreation of a society in…

Shenali Pilapitiya Shenali Pilapitiya on 01/18/202101/18/2021
International, Pandemic, Politics and Governance

Takeaways and Parallel Lines: 2020 US Presidential Election and Sri Lanka

A deeply polarised nation, a capitalist theme park, an embedded infrastructure of racism and segregation, and one of the poorest social welfare systems in one of the richest countries in the world…

Shenali Pilapitiya Shenali Pilapitiya on 11/15/2020
Colombo, Gender, Healthcare, Politics and Governance

Extracting Labor, Constructing Power: The Right to Abortion

resurj Sri Lanka enshrines a right to universal healthcare but critically neglects women in this universal promise. Acknowledging that abortion is politicized through its economic and colonial history is crucial for recognizing…

Shenali Pilapitiya Shenali Pilapitiya on 10/31/202010/31/2020
Colombo, Culture, International, Politics and Governance

Faces of Resistance: The Omnipresent Force of Bob Marley in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, the face of Bob Marley is a recurring visual motif- from tuk tuks, to street art, to reggae bars on the beach, and adorning various paraphernalia.  But how did…

Shenali Pilapitiya Shenali Pilapitiya on 06/30/202006/30/2020
Colombo, International, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance

Actually, Anti-Blackness Has Everything To Do With Us

It is easy to feel disconnected from incidents of police brutality in the USA, and ongoing race-wars across the world that continue to marginalize and disenfranchise Black communities, when we fail to…

Shenali Pilapitiya Shenali Pilapitiya on 06/09/2020

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