The President Versus the Hegemonic West
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has a way with interviewers, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. Be it a local or a foreigner, his distaste or contempt for them comes out. His…
Author: Uditha Devapriya
Against Elections or Against Economics?
In his latest column, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka criticises two economists for what he interprets to be a call for postponing presidential elections next year. Both economists, Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy and Nimal Sanderatne,…
Sri Lanka’s Channel 4 Problem
Perhaps I have been a little provocative in my choice of title. It’s not Sri Lanka that has a Channel 4 problem, it’s the Sri Lankan government. But in this corner of…
How to Remember and not to Remember July 1983
There is a quote attributed to Morgan Freeman, which basically states that the only way to stop racism is to stop talking about it. I am not sure where, when or why…
#ArchivesMatter and So Do Archivists
One of the few government officials who knows what she’s doing, Dr Nadeera Rupesinghe, remains a cut above the rest. Deeply committed to her work, she epitomises in every way the enormity…
The Absent Minded Opposition
At a time when everyone is taking a stand on everything, abstentions only show that you don’t want to take a stand on anything. The SJB, the country’s main opposition, chose to…
Peddling the Government’s Narratives
As of now, Ranil Wickremesinghe has three points in his favour. First, there is the IMF deal, which his government is more or less using as a shield against criticism of the…
President Wickremesinghe Has His Moment
Latina For President Ranil Wickremesinghe, March has been an exceptionally good month. First China gave its assurance for his government’s debt restructuring plans. Then his school, Royal College, won its annual cricket…
The (Geo)politics of a Bailout
China has backed Sri Lanka’s debt plan. To be more specific, as Bloomberg reported, it has “given assurances that it will support Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring.” This is a significant breakthrough and…
The President’s Month of Reckoning
The last week of February has turned out to be the busiest for President Ranil Wickremesinghe. On Tuesday he defended the government’s immensely unpopular tax policy at a tax forum organised by…
Gaadi: An Exercise in Near Perfection
Prasanna Vithanage’s Gaadi takes place in the last year of the Kandyan Kingdom. It begins with an encounter between Ehelepola Adigar and John D’Oyly and moves on to scenes of the two…
The Nation at 75
Sri Lanka celebrates its 75th independence day today. The event has provoked much debate and discussion. Coming on top of the worst financial crisis in the country’s post-independence history, it coincides with…
Putting the Petition in Perspective
The petition from 182 economists and development experts calling for the cancellation of Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt has provoked rather interesting discussions in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. W. A. Wijewardena calls these…
Sumitra: Last Emissary of a Bygone Era
My Lunches with Orson is the title of a collection of interviews that Henry Jaglom, a US avant-garde filmmaker, did with Orson Welles over a period of two years (1983-1985). It is…
Sri Lanka and the World: Towards a New Approach
Speaking in Parliament in 1996, Anura Bandaranaike dwelt on the legacy of his father and mother. He spoke of how the world had viewed Sri Lanka in their time and how it…