Tackling Extra Judicial Killings
The incidents of extra judicial killings are on the rise again with several suspects being killed while allegedly trying to escape or dying while in police custody. The police are identified as…
Peace and Conflict
Arab Counter Plan for Gaza: An Exercise in Futility
Gaza, a thriving cosmopolitan trading town along Via Maris trade route between Egypt and Turkey until 1948, became the Gaza Strip since then and remained the largest refugee camp for two million…
Justice in Flames: Art as Resistance in Sri Lanka’s Crisis
Anomaa Rajakaruna’s documentary on the aragalaya, was filmed in 2022 when Sri Lanka faced an unprecedented economic crisis. Fuel shortages led to long lines at gas stations and electricity cuts extended for…
President Donald Trump’s Gaza Riviera: Madness or Calculated Ploy?
To Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his circle of Zionists, not to mention the Christian evangelists in the US, US President Donald Trump’s announcement to acquire the Gaza Strip – a…
Empireworld: How British Imperialism Shaped the Globe
The Galle Literary Festival took place in the heart of Galle’s fort, inviting diverse voices in poetry and prose to host thought provoking discussions. From philosophy to identity politics, cricket to crime…
Jagath Weerasinghe Explores Sri Lankan Identity and Global Challenges
In his new exhibition at the Saskia Fernando Gallery, contemporary artist Jagath Weerasinghe engages in a thought provoking dialogue about the significance of creating art that resonates with current issues rather than…
President Donald Trump, Oil and Palestine
The second term of President Donald Trump, a convicted felon and a man of contradictions with fascist traits, is proving to be a bonanza to American billionaires and corporate moguls and disaster…
Independence
Independence Day. From whom? The British? A way of thinking, of making order, katcheris and ledgers, taxes and justices of the peace. Every society needs the rule of order, grace…
Rani: The Mother Who Wouldn’t Disappear
After armed men stormed into her house in the middle of the night and dragged her son Richard de Zoysa away, Dr Manorani Saravanamuttu made frantic phone calls pleading with the authorities…
The Translatability of Minority Ethnic Identities in Sri Lanka
Walter Benjamin, the German philosopher, introduced the concept of translatability, framing it not as an exploration of identity but as the translator’s ability to capture the essence of a text. His question,…
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…
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…
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….
Steering Sri Lanka Away from Kakistocracy
By January 2022 Sri Lanka was well on its way to becoming a failed state. Bankrupt, riddled with corruption from top to bottom and at the mercy of evil leaders, the country…