A Janus Moment
“A wandering fire at a terrible height – can it be a star shining like that? Osip Mandelstam (Poem 101) A walking path bordered by the sea and a bit of lawn…
Districts
The Aragalaya Replies
Why keep knocking at the front door of that house? Let go. Go away. Go to sleep and wake up refreshed. Build your own door. Build your own house. Nobody…
Chandraguptha Thenuwara’s New Exhibition: Ecce Homo
The moment we live in is dire. It is a moment that has propelled citizens to fearlessly come forward to fight for sustainable and transformative solutions to systemic socio-political ills that have…
Golden or Black July? – the Month of Destiny
Brief It is in this month that Sri Lanka chose its people’s revolution, on July 9. The people’s revolution in its spirit carried by hope (and anger) was quickly followed by disillusionment;…
Out of the Shadows: Violence Against Women who Love Women
Human Rights Watch Earlier this month, a news report revealed that a 22 year old woman had filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission against the Welisara-Mahabage police. She alleged that…
The Aragalaya Under Attack: The Struggle Continues
Without warning, heavily armed military and police in riot gear descended on the Galle Face protest site, chasing away the activists, dismantling tents and attacking media personnel. Several of the protesters were…
Accidental President Ranil Wickremesinghe Can Deliver A Golden Legacy
Is Ranil Wickremesinghe an Accidental President? His many detractors will believe this is the case. They can point to a politician who was ignored by the electorate; to a party leader whose…
The Evolution of Gotagogama and Its Periphery in Colour: One Photographer’s Perspective
The strange poetic irony of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s fall from grace is difficult to miss. So palpable and stinging is his graceless exile and retirement that it is only fitting that he should…
Prayer for The Struggle
We are closing our eyes and we are opening them. We are walking about the house looking at photographs. We are calling old friends on the phone. Back at home 225 members…
We Need Political Stability
It is a time of desperation, it is a time of hope, it is the end time of selfish deal politics, it is the time for people centered politics, it is the…
Taking Aragalaya Ideas Seriously
The emergence of Frontline Social Party (FSP) in July as a major voice of the aragalaya (‘People’s uprising/struggle’) movement has led to many negative reactions. Searching questions are being raised and debated…
Bridging Infrastructure Gaps
Sri Lanka is going through a crisis of a magnitude that has never been witnessed in its economic history. The country is in disarray as people wait in lines to purchase essentials….
Sri Lanka’s Uprising Forces Out a President but Leaves System in Crisis
Sri Lanka has been through a tumultuous ten days. What exactly has happened? In a stunning display of “people power”, massive crowds overcame large deployments of police and soldiers and other obstacles…
The Need of the Hour: Economic Planning Not Political Squabbling
Photo courtesy of The Telegraph Sri Lankan citizens have successfully done what was unimaginable two years ago – ousted the Rajapaksa brothers from power well before any scheduled elections. The public found themselves…
The Candid Candidate
Yes, fantastic is right, wondrous. amazing the news. But there is some trepidation as well in my mind and heart. Parliament may blow this chance. I pray they do not. If…