Life is a Never Ending Queue
Recently one of my friends updated his Facebook status. “Watching breaking news from Temple Trees,” it read, along with a selfie of him and more people watching the news on TV. “They…
Politics and Governance
Legal System Damaged by Illegal Arrests and Detentions
Illegal arrests and illegal detentions do not only harm individuals – they also cause irreparable damage to the legal system as a whole. The recent wave of arrests of those who participated…
To Survive, Even Thrive
My country will survive corruption in parliament, arbitrary arrests ordered by the executive, bodies washing up at Galle Face, at the Beira Lake. My country will survive farmers shooting elephants…
Economic Crisis Badly Impacting Most Vulnerable
Families in Sri Lanka are fast adopting negative coping strategies to deal with the economic crisis. A recently concluded Rapid Needs Assessment by Save the Children revealed that families are resorting to…
Governor, listen
Photograph by Marisa de Silva Father Jeewantha Peiris, Mahanama Thero, Joseph Stalin, from diverse denominations and political persuasions, are Aragalaya heroes, who called the bluff of the emperor, leading to his…
D-Day for the Aragalaya
Mahatma Gandhi said that civil disobedience became a sacred duty when the state became lawless and corrupt. To the diehard protesters left at the diminished GotaGoGama, Gandhi’s words are at the heart…
Father Jeewantha Peiris: A Warrior for Truth and Justice
Rediff Ever since the aragalaya began in April this year, Father Jeewantha Peiris has been a familiar figure in the forefront of the protesters, easily identifiable by his flowing black hair and…
Aragalaya: For Everybody
This is not only about sitting on the verandah with a scotch and a pig in a blanket. This is not only about picking up the beat and dancing the…
Comprehensive Reforms Vital to Maximise Foreign Aid
There is good news on the foreign aid front. Foreign aid from official donors reached an all-time high at $179 billion in 2021 as developed countries increased their assistance to developing countries…
Proposed All Party Government: Some Critical Reflections
President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s proposal for an All Party Government (APG) seems to be in some trouble. Not unexpectedly, President Wickremesinghe’s bland, and sometimes combative, appeals have failed to inspire any particular enthusiasm…
Aragalaya: A State of Mind
Wijewardene We are taught to be modest, circumspect, wrapped under covers, demurring, scuttling away like mice. We are educated to be peons, servile class members, ambitions tempered, molded to fit the…
Aragalaya – A Utopian Fantasy or a Long March to Real Reform?
It seems like a long time ago but the reality is that it’s been just 150 days since the urban middle class and their semi-urban cousins stepped out of their comfort zone…
Stabilising Sri Lanka, Learning from July 1983
Arrests, amidst a wider crackdown on protesters in Sri Lanka, threaten progress in tackling the economic crisis. Although a show of repressive force may be intended in part to promote stability, in…
Widespread Arrests Used to Intimidate the Population
From all parts of the country, there are reports of arrests of people who participated in the protests that erupted against the hardships caused by the economic meltdown. For months people made…
Dying in the Fuel Lines
Photo courtesy of Daily FT When Gota ran away we raised arms and shouted gratitude to God, to fate, to a possible return from the nightmare but his fleeing did not…