Deadly Desires of Demagogic Twins
US president-elect Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the demagogic twins, seem to be on parallel paths with deadly desires to expand the borders of their respective countries. While Trump wants…
Issues
Reimagining Education in Sri Lanka – Part 1
Sri Lanka stands at a critical juncture in its development journey. The new government’s policy framework, “A Thriving Nation, A Beautiful Life,” correctly identifies education as fundamental to national revival and economic…
Embracing Nature’s Transformative Powers in Fallow
Fallow is a word often associated with inaction or unproductivity. In Layla Gonaduwa’s latest exhibition at Curado Art Gallery, the term fallow undergoes a nuanced reevaluation shedding light on its purpose as…
A Critical History of Women’s Health in Modern Sri Lanka
In her latest work Darshi Thoradeniya, a senior lecturer at the University of Colombo, gives an insightful exploration of the history of women’s health in Sri Lanka, shedding light on lesser known…
Mullivaikkal War Survivors Assist Rohingya Asylum Seekers
Mullivaikkal is a remote coastal village in the Mullaitivu and its ethnic composition is predominantly Tamil. It is significant as it is where Sri Lanka’s 30 year civil war came to a…
Enabling Atrocity by Design: Meta’s Dangerous New Direction
Meta’s decision to completely dismantle its fact checking programme with immediate effect will result in the accelerated abuse of the company’s technologies. This abuse will invariably lead to the loss of life,…
It’s the Party, Stupid: Sri Lanka’s Political Turnaround – Part 2
Sri Lanka has a tradition of strong and independent civil society organisations and of professional (and organisational) autonomy within many branches of the state apparatus. By the turn of the century, it…
It’s the Party, Stupid: Sri Lanka’s Political Turnaround – Part 1
It is not quite a miracle. But it is certainly a very impressive turnaround. From around 1970 until 2021, Sri Lanka seemed to be on an irreversible track toward steadily worsening governance:…
Driving Elephants – Is it Mitigation or Extinction?
The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) has, through pressure from the government, commenced large scale elephant drives once more. They are trying to drive approximately 150 elephants from an area of high…
The Ghosts of Constitution Hill
I sense I’m standing on hallowed ground. A place searing with warnings, some heeded, many forgotten. Here the weight of history lays heavy on me, the solemn, searching, haunted visitor. I’ve never…
The Murders of Troublesome Priests
January 6 this year is the 40 anniversary of the killing of Fr. Mary Bastian, a Catholic priest from the diocese of Mannar. It will be yet another anniversary to be celebrated without…
Beyond Electoral Victory: The President’s Political Tasks Ahead
Sri Lanka enters year 2025 with a new leader and a new political regime. The landslide victory the National Peoples Power (NPP) obtained in the general elections demonstrated the extent of mass…
At End of Extraordinary Year, Hopes and Uncertainties on Rights
In mid-November last year the National People’s Power (NPP) centre left coalition won a landslide victory in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election after its leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was voted president in September….
Do Not Resuscitate
It is illegal to take one’s own life in Sri Lanka. And in addition to the legal blocks, the cultural stigma against suicide is extended to the idea of death with dignity…
Jimmy Carter
Forbes Jimmy Carter has died, after one hundred years, after healing river blindness, ensuring fair elections, negotiating the release of prisoners, calling out tyranny, assuring that to love your neighbor…
