The Fight for Land Rights
Land is an important component of any Sri Lankan household. A considerable proportion of the rural population continues to be dependent on arable land as a source of livelihood and income; in…
Trincomalee
Women’s Attire Stokes Religious Tension in Eastern Sri Lanka
In times of calamity women are affected disproportionately, and Sri Lanka’s ethnic and religious conflicts are no exception to the rule. In the post-war context, Tamil women were left to look for…
Identities deemed Irrelevant: Land Issues in the Kuchchaveli Divisional Area
Censuses of the Trincomalee District taken through the various years will point out a slight numerical majority and minority in its various communities. Yet it is worth noting that no one ethnicity…
Fear in the East: What Lies Beneath
They joke of being followed by intelligence officers and questioned on who visited them and what they spoke about but underneath lies a real fear of being intimidated, harassed and threatened when…
12 Years Later, the War Affected in the East Struggle On Without Land and Housing
Thennamaravadi is an isolated rural village some 65 kilometres north of Trincomalee on the Pulmoddai Road. The inhabitants rely mostly on farming and fishing to make a livelihood. They have some livestock…
October – A Bleak Month for Freedom of Expression
Today is the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists October was a bleak month for freedom of expression with four cases of assault against five provincial journalists. All five…
“His name is Kamaleswaran”
Justice Denied to Survivors of the Kumarapuram Massacre Featured image courtesy Shehan Peruma “Shoot me but, please don’t kill my children,” pleaded Kanthappoody Kamaladevi with her arms outstretched over her head, just…
Paradise Lost: The hidden costs of tourism development in Sri Lanka
August 27 is World Tourism Day. This year, the theme is “promoting universal accessibility.” decided to focus on sustainable tourism – and specifically, on how tourism development has impacted local communities. Tourism is…
Muttur Siege: Reflecting 10 years on
Ten years is a significant milestone: a decade; a generation. A lot can happen in ten years and a lot has. Ten years ago, the smartphone was still a concept that was being…
Is the Air Pollution Analysis for the Sampur Coal Plant Credible?
Where does the Wind take pollutants from Sampur? As per modern myth, school texts, national atlases, and indigenous forecasters, the wind blows from the North-East over Sri Lanka at the turn of…
Overstepping boundaries: Nazeer or Navy?
Image courtesy Ceylon News Eastern Province Chief Minister Nazeer Ahamed’s recent row with a Navy Officer has now become infamous. In response, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) evidently jumped the gun, ordering…
Seeing the “Eastern Outburst” on the Sinhala canvas: In defence of Eastern Province Chief Minister
The Navy high Command has taken one step too far, too quick. The Daily Mirror (DM) on 27 May (2016), carried in one of its columns a statement made by the Navy…
Political violence and (this time) the Chief Minister!
Chief Minister Nazeer Ahamed’s outburst is not acceptable by any standards. As the senior most political office holder in the province, he has a much bigger responsibility to ensure that law, order…
The fabrications of Yahapalanaya: 65,000 metal houses for the North & East
Photograph courtesy Reuters In late December 2015, the Ministry of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs opened bids from various contractors to build 65,000 houses in the Northern and Eastern…
Civil Society in the East appeal to UNWGEID for Demilitarisation
Featured image courtesy RightsNow Members of civil society, including families of those disappeared in Batticaloa, Ampara and Trincomalee have come together to issue a statement to the UN Working Group on Enforced and…
