Democracy in the Deep State: Sri Lanka & Egypt
Photo via , REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany 3rd July 2013 is a dark day in the history of Egypt and indeed in the democratic world. It was the day the deep state in…
International
‘Alles in Wonderland’ and Indo-Lanka relations
Image courtesy First Lanka The Parody The hilarious political satire titled ‘Alles in Wonderland’ was presented by the Ananda College Drama Circle at a public performance recently. It won first place at…
Waiting for my own Mandela…
Editors note: Through Nelson Mandela International Day, the UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/64/13 of 2009 recognizes Nelson Mandela’s values and his dedication to the service of humanity, in the fields of conflict resolution, race relations, the…
Asylum Seekers: the next wave of ‘invaders’?
Image courtesy Zimbio Teaching Selvam (not his real name) even the rudiments of English pronunciation is not easy. He only completed his primary school and is now in his mid 40s. In…
Sri Lankan diplunacy: Stray dogs, pricks, tigresses and CHOGM 2013
Photo courtesy Transcurrents / by Tony Ashby, AFP Bandula Jayasekara (@bundeljayse) is currently one of Sri Lanka’s highest-ranking diplomats, as Consul General in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia and former Consul…
Prince Salie: A story of sapphires and steamships
Mohammed Usuff Mohammed Salie was born in 1877. He was the grandson of Mohamed Usuff, the Alim of the Kandawatte mosque in Galle, who was responsible for handwriting a Quran he knew…
The media as it is and should be: In conversation with Kunda Dixit
Kunda Dixit (@kundadixit), Publisher and Chief Editor of Nepali Times was in Sri Lanka recently, where we caught up for a brief conversation on the issues related to journalism in South Asia…
‘The Invention Of The Jewish People’
Shlomo Sand, ‘The Invention Of The Jewish People’ Collective identity needs a misty image of an ancient biological common origin (Sand, 280). In Sri Lanka, ‘identity’ contains a very distinctive blend of…
India and Sri Lanka: The Road Not Taken
Photo courtesy “…Sri Lankan foreign policy must be centred on a non-hostile relationship with India…Choice is the essential question; not only the choices open to us, but the choices likely to be…
An Eternal Hope, Mandela!
Photo courtesy People usually pay tribute to great individuals, once they are no more. However, I wrote this poem about Nelson Mandela, in order to pay homage to him, while he…
“Standing Man” and new wave of protests in Turkey
“Get up stand up, stand up for your rights”, a song made famous many years ago by Bob Marley is being brought to life by the “Standing Man” and many others who…
Sri Lanka’s Global Vulnerability & the Devolution Conundrum
Photo courtesy The Hindustan Times/AP A society or state that demonstrates repeated violent convulsions over a fairly prolonged period such as decades does so because of a deep underlying problem. In the…
Illicit Emigrants: Criminals or Victims?
Image courtesy This year’s Bishop Cyril Abeynaike Memorial Oration was a fascinating talk on some aspects of globalization by Dr. Harsha Athurupane. He spoke mostly of the benefits of globalization but also…
Conviction of Efraín Ríos Montt and the need for accountability
Image courtesy On 10 May 2013, former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity and sentenced to 80 years in prison. It was the first…
First Failure in Geneva: Trap, Blunder or Model?
However bad Sri Lanka’s foreign policy is and external relations are, they have yet to hit the nadir that they did under President Jayewardene in the 1980s. The first ever resolution on…