Boys Will Be Boys
Boys will be boys, And that girl who was groped in the back of the bus, Will go back home, See phantom handprints on her clothes, And wince every time someone comes…
Issues
The Sri Lankan Kella
I am the woman of my country The product of ‘culture’, of history of a nation The result of procreation The manufactured playground of patriarchy The battlefield of nationalism I am…
Sri Lankan Regime to Face UN Scrutiny
As Sri Lankans continue to protest against postponement of local elections, harsh austerity measures and other injustices, the regime faces added pressure as UN bodies gather in Geneva. The situation in Sri…
Short Sighted Policies Destroying Sri Lanka’s Wildlife
In February 2023, the prestigious Forbes magazine proclaimed Sri Lanka as having the Top Wildlife Safaris Outside of Africa for the year 2023. “The nation has one of the planet’s densest populations…
A Promising Poet Silenced by the PTA
Ahnaf Jazeem is a 27 year old Muslim poet from the remote village of Chilawathurai in the Mannar District. Ahnaf was arrested on May 16, 2020 by the Counter Terrorism Investigation Division…
Celebrating Female Artists
Twelve women artists are celebrating International Women’s Day this year with a group exhibition entitled With My Back to the World at the Saskia Fernando Gallery curated by Mariyam Begum and Ashini…
Commemorating Sri Lanka’s 2022 Protest Movement
“Come, join us in jail!” read the invitation to artist Sujith Rathnayake’s exhibition-cum-provocation, Crisis & Struggle. Indeed, a visitor to the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery in Colombo was quickly confronted by a…
Alarming Increase in Online Child Sexual Abuse Materials
Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM), also known as child pornography, is a growing global problem. While the use of information and communication technology is significant in the modern world, threats to children…
Taxing Times
Sri Lanka’s poorest of the poor, their lives devastated by economic collapse, may face a killer blow soon: a crippling of the public health system. That GMOA is planning to paralyse the…
The President’s Month of Reckoning
The last week of February has turned out to be the busiest for President Ranil Wickremesinghe. On Tuesday he defended the government’s immensely unpopular tax policy at a tax forum organised by…
Making the IMF Work for Sri Lankans
The government of Sri Lanka is negotiating a large conditional loan from the IMF. A formal agreement is likely to be signed within weeks once all the main creditors provide the IMF…
Survey Reveals Dramatic Shift in Voting Patterns
The latest Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) carried out by the Institute for Health Policy (IHP) by the polling in January 2023 shows the NPP/JVP and SJB running neck and neck…
Decriminalisation of Same-Sex Conduct: Another Empty Promise or a Reality?
The basis and the procedure of the criminal law in Sri Lanka was derived from English law. After Sri Lanka was colonised by the British, British laws were gradually applied throughout the…
Teaching English for Promoting Social Cohesion
Had we had just one language in the world, human history would have been written without many of the ugly stains caused by racial and ethnic conflicts. Of course, one may point…
Justice for the Disappeared: Will the Next Generation Take on the Fight?
Veteran human rights campaigner Reverend Marimuthu Shakthivel’s voice is tinged with frustration when he says, “There will come a day where we will see the end of our struggle for the rights…
