A Milestone for Child Rights
In a progressive move, Sri Lanka has shed ambiguity in its child protection laws with an amendment transforming the Children and Young Persons’ Ordinance into the Children’s Ordinance. Crucially, the amendment raises…
Issues
Mistreatment of Tamil Refugees on Chagos Islands Under Illegal British Occupation
Diego Garcia, one of the Chagos Islands which are still controlled by Britain, has become a hell for Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who are trapped on this remote Indian Ocean island. The…
Memories of Loved Ones | Virtual Memorial
Relatives of those who have been forcibly disappeared are waiting for their missing loved ones to come home. They spend every minute of their lives with faith, and with the memories of…
Reflections on Social Justice and Pluralism
All social science research is done for someone and some purpose. There is no politically neutral social science. The political agenda behind this article is my concern about the fate of the…
A.K. Dissanayake in the Lead for President
The Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) MRP provisional estimates of presidential election voting intent in February 2024 show no real changes compared to January. NPP/JVP leader…
Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women: Lessons from the JVP’s Evolution
Pre-1971 JVP saw a presence of women cadres that could be considered modest. Before the April 1971 uprising there were full time and part time women cadres active within the movement. The…
Modest Gains in Voter Support for NPP/JVP and SJB
The latest estimates from Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) SLOTS MRP model show modest increases in support for NPP/JVP and SJB, with weakening support for the UNP and other parties, continuing trends…
Four Takeaways from the UN Security Council Resolution on Gaza
The recent UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza from which the US, not surprisingly, abstained marks a crossroads in the history of Israel and the future of Palestine.…
Mahara Prison Massacre: Families and Victims Await Justice
In a landmark development in the pursuit of justice for the victims of the Mahara Prison riots, the Attorney General (AG), on behalf of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), informed the Court…
Identity Crisis of the Malaiyaha Thamilar Community
People of Tamil descent raised on plantations have endured a long history of discrimination, exploitation and violence tracing back to the era of colonization. The younger generation, both men and women, expresses…
The Crisis Is Far From Over For Colombo’s Poor
The long lines at fuel stations have disappeared as have the frequent power outages; it’s almost as if the economic crisis is a thing of the past. For Colombo’s working class poor…
Gaza in End Times
Jonathan Glazer, director of The Zone of Interest (Oscar acceptance speech) The Pali Canon has the original tale but it’s the version in the commentaries we know. In both stories, she is…
Democracy in Sri Lanka: Backsliding or Inching Forward?
The world is becoming less democratic and more autocratic (i.e. authoritarian). One of the best sources of information is the annual issued by the V-Dem Institute in Sweden. The Institute continuously measures…
Capitalism and Empowerment of Women
Exploitation of women continues within patriarchal societies and marriages. Forced marriages is one of the more notorious examples; the most extreme version of this, is a form of modern day slavery. In…
The Aragalaya and a Vote of No Confidence on the Speaker
The publishing of ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s memoirs, almost predictably titled The Conspiracy to oust me from the presidency, provide an opportunity to reevaluate those tumultuous events that did led to the…
