Old Wine in New Bottles? The 2023 BRI Reset and Africa
President Xi’s l Jinping’s landmark speech at the 3rd Belt and Road (BRI) Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on October 18 grabbed the headlines in suggesting a vision for a reset…
Politics and Governance
Downgraded to Repressed: Assessing Sri Lanka’s Ever Shrinking Civic Space
The CIVICUS Monitor, an organization that tracks the status of civic space around the world, has downgraded Sri Lanka’s civic space in 2023 to repressed from obstructed due to authorities attacking protesters,…
Why Sri Lanka Has Descended into Chaos and the Way Forward Part 3
With British colonisation, the freedom that the royalty and the radala nobility had to rein over the subjects was lost. They were displaced and replaced by the colonial rulers who expressed allegiance…
Children are the First Victims of Every Conflict
Children have always been the most vulnerable and innocent casualties of any conflict. Past conflicts have had a devastating impact on children’s lives and ongoing conflicts continue to perpetuate their suffering. The…
Understanding Kissinger
For 30 years if not more, Henry Kissinger, who died this week aged 100, shaped the course of US foreign policy and in one sense defined global politics. A Nobel Prize Laureate…
Shadows on Justice: Unraveling the Crisis of Custodial Deaths
The Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) took a decisive step towards justice by submitting a special petition to the UN, European Union and the Swiss Embassy in Sri Lanka.…
Most People Believe Political Forces Were Involved in Easter Attacks
More than half the Sri Lankan population – 53% – believes local political forces were involved in the Easter Sunday attacks carried out in 2019, according to a survey commissioned in October…
Fighting HIV Through Responsible Sexual Practices and Comprehensive Education
The HIV epidemic remains a significant global health challenge, affecting millions of people around the world. While advancements in medical treatments have improved the quality of life for those living with HIV,…
The Mylanthanai Massacre: A Continuing Cycle of Impunity
Nallasera Nallamma was cooking lunch when the soldiers stormed into her remote village of Mylanthanai, one hour northwest of Batticaloa town, on August 9, 1992. They rounded up the villagers, separating the…
Kill the Families
When I set off for Columbia University to become a foreign correspondent, to cover wars and peacemaking, famine, floods, murders, kidnappings, larceny on a global scale, I never imagined that…
Remembering the Dead
As a Catholic, I start November with All Souls Day remembering our departed loved ones; as a Tamil, November ends with remembering the Tamil militants who sacrificed their lives for a Tamil…
Three Poems for Palestine
APOCALYPSE The thunder of horses’ hooves No longer evokes terror This comes from the skies Life limps amidst the craters, The suffocating smoke, Brimstone would be a welcome manna from heaven…
“Absence of Evidence is Not Evidence of Absence”
The title of the article comes from a comment made by Donald Rumsfeld when he was US Defence Secretary for President George Bush and when they learnt that the UN Monitoring, Verification…
Sri Lanka’s Journey on Universal Children’s Day
Universal Children’s Day is an important global event that focuses on the rights and welfare of children worldwide. It is celebrated on the 20th of November in commemoration of two significant milestones…
Still, the Mirage
The Supreme Court judgement about the Rajapaksa culpability for Sri Lanka’s economic ruin couldn’t have come at a better time. The sense of hope generated by the ending of chronic shortages and…
