From Pilgrim to Terrorist
One morning in April 2008, Rameshkumar picked up a hire in his tuk tuk in Digana and was driving to the destination when he was suddenly accosted by a group in a…
Politics and Governance
Saving Forests with Corporate and Public Responsibility
We know this and we know that despite all of their expressed concerns and intentions that the policymakers have little thought of doing much to reverse this trend. Rather than bemoan this…
Sri Lanka’s Reform-Regress-Run to the IMF Crisis Cycle
Daniel Alphonsus Countries never learn from others’ mistakes, they only learn from their own. Sri Lanka is an exception: we don’t even learn from our folly. Apparently neither does the IMF. Sri…
The Hardships of the Forgotten Plantation Sector
The plantation sector is vividly different from other sectors and is yet to be shown empathy and true care. Female workers leave home for work by 7 am and come home by…
Military to Face a Day of Reckoning Over the Disappeared
In a landmark case last month, the Vavuniya High Court ordered the army to produce three LTTE members who had surrendered to the military in May 2019 and have been missing ever…
The (Geo)politics of a Bailout
China has backed Sri Lanka’s debt plan. To be more specific, as Bloomberg reported, it has “given assurances that it will support Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring.” This is a significant breakthrough and…
Teardrop on Fire: Exposing Gender Based Violence
For her documentary film Teardrop On Fire, Jessica Palden interviewed many people who have directly experienced domestic abuse and intimate partner violence in Sri Lanka. The footage for the film was generated…
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…
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…
