So Out Of Touch
The recent incident after the final of the Women’s World Cup Football event highlighted some issues that are not likely to be glossed over or erased. The behaviour of Luis Rubiales, President…
Human Rights
Pyromaniacs on the March
“Patriotism,” wrote Ambrose Bierce in is “The combustible rubbish ready to the torch of anyone ambitious to illuminate his name.” Patriotism is not the last refuge of the scoundrel, as Samuel Johnson…
Debt Restructuring, Austerity and the IMF: a Panacea or an Exacerbation? Part 4
The implication of debt on human rights is of significant concern. Many countries in the world are either already in a debt crisis or approaching it. This is not a new phenomenon.…
A Strategy to Address Child Abandonment
Child abandonment, a distressing issue with far reaching consequences, has reached alarming proportions in Sri Lanka. Within this year, ECPAT Sri Lanka’s media monitoring team has recorded 10 incidents of child abandonment…
Tracing Roots and Winning Rights: the March of the Malaiyaha Tamil Community
Two hundred years ago, the first groups of women and men were brought from southern India by the British colonial rulers to Sri Lanka to work in the hill country plantations. They…
An Alternate View of the People’s Struggle Through the Camera Lens
A short documentary film, The People’s Voice Is Louder, featuring the works of four lens-based practitioners from different parts of the country captures the energy, passion and desperation of the people’s uprising…
Debt Restructuring, Austerity and the IMF: a Panacea or an Exacerbation? Part 1
Post-independent Sri Lanka has suffered from recurrent economic crises; the more notable ones being in August 1953, in the late 1970s and most pertinently the current crisis that essentially bankrupted the country.…
Sri Lanka’s Commission Addiction
The last few weeks have seen increased media coverage in a relation to a government proposal to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for Sri Lanka. At face value, this seems…
For Stability Rule of Law Needs to be Followed
Tharindu Uduwaragedera, a young journalist of good repute, was attending a meeting for the purpose of reporting when he was forcibly dragged out of a three wheeler, grabbed by his hair and…
Mullahs and Muslim MPs Masculinize MMDA
“… since the Prophet was a human being who, unlike God, is subject to mundane historical processes, his legacy cannot exist outside the context of human mediation and human authorial process. The…
Art as Catalyst: Commemorating Tragedy and Advocating Change
Art is a powerful medium of expression that is incorporated by activists and advocates across multiple cultures and spaces to commemorate and establish a sense of permanent memorialization of history. In Sri…
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…
What Happened in 83 Wasn’t a Riot: It was Murder
In 1983, a series of bloody riots swept Sri Lanka, marking the start of the country’s 26 year brutal civil war. Intermittent unrest had been occurring since the late 1950s and state…
Forty years On: Denial, Remembrance, Resistance and Hope
The horrific events of July 1983, when a wave of state organised arson and murder against Tamils left many dead, displaced or traumatised, shocked people in Sri Lanka and internationally. Many people…
Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy on How Black July Impacted her life and Work
Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy, a prominent lawyer, diplomat and human rights advocate, is widely recognised for her significant contributions to the field of international human rights and women’s rights. She served as the…
