No Peace in Rest
The Sri Lankan State’s erasure of the complex history and experiences of the war manifest in varying ways across the country; military monuments that showcase a single victory narrative, the construction of…
Long Reads
War Crimes in Sri Lanka: Stain or slander?
-Darshan Weerasekera[2] Whether or not the actions of the government and the guardians of the nation during the last stage of the civil war (2006-2009) were a stain on the country’s national…
Fragile Hope, Firm Resolve
A puff of wind shifts the piece of cardboard dangling from the tent. ‘541’ it reads. Over one year later, the tent housing the families of the disappeared in Vavuniya has become…
The Legality and Legitimacy of Presidential Term Limits: A Response to Dr Nihal Jayawickrama
There has recently been a flurry of comment and speculation about whether, due to a technical flaw in the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution (2015), former President Rajapaksa may actually be eligible…
The Agony and Ecstasy of a Pogrom: July 1983
Two Survivors Not all Tamils in Sri Lanka are Tamils. A few who have been born and bred in the South-Western parts of the island have been de-Tamilicised. They know very little…
In the wake of the past, upholding all human rights
Thirty-five years ago, human rights and democracy in Sri Lanka unravelled in a spectacular manner. Yet the background to these blatant abuses included an erosion of economic and social rights, with which…
Hitler and the LTTE: On Polarisation and Fascism
.—Ven. Vendaruwe Upali Thero (Anunayaka of the Asgiriya Chapter), advising Lt. Col. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the former Secretary of Defense. —Vijayakala Maheswaran, M.P, United National Party. The timing of these two ill-thought-out and…
Women’s Representation and Participation in Formal Politics
Despite the drive for gender equality promoted at the Beijing UN World Conference on Women in 1995, the Sri Lankan State appears to have taken little responsibility for narrowing the gender gap…
An Uneven Playing Field
The implementation of a 25% quota for women’s representation in local councils at Sri Lanka’s 2018 Local Government Election was a welcome move, and the result of years of advocacy and activism…
Mental Health and Stigma in Sri Lanka
“I was taken to hospital without my consent. They restrained me when I refused to be medicated, and gave me an injection to sedate me. I had a full-time job, supporting my…
Namal Rajapaksa, bots and trolls: New contours of digital propaganda and online discourse in Sri Lanka
Image courtesy , by Quartz Late 2017, the Twitter account of has generated all manner of violent, venomous pushback and responses to content it has produced, published and promoted. Over the years,…
Conviviality vs Censorship: On Media Freedom in Sri Lanka
Under the Presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa between 2005 and 2015, government brutality and censorship towards the media in Sri Lanka reached new levels. This was to the extent that in the Reporters…
Examining Facets of Corruption in Sri Lanka
Recent events have brought the issue of corruption into the spotlight. When you open a daily newspaper, chances are there will be four or five cases involving corruption within its pages, reported…
Imbalance of Power: Examining the struggle for land in Mullikulam and Keppapulavu
Last July, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said Sri Lanka was planning to demilitarise by 2018. The cautious optimism that followed this news died away when the military contradicted Samaraweera’s speech, with Jaffna…
Voices from Musali: The real story behind the ‘Save Wilpattu’ Campaign
The adhan call resonates. The residents of Marichchukkaddi in Musali stop speaking and bow their heads in prayer. For five minutes, peace prevails. The only sound is that from the green banners…
