Five years on, where we are now: Reconciliation, the Rule of Law and governance
Photo by AP, via VOA News It is five years now after the defeat of the LTTE. As the Government then claimed it marked the end of terrorism and the beginning of…
Photo by AP, via VOA News It is five years now after the defeat of the LTTE. As the Government then claimed it marked the end of terrorism and the beginning of…
Photo by EPA/M.A.PUSHPA KUMARA courtesy LA Times What follows is a brief rejoinder to my friend, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, whose use of the philosophy of Alain Badiou, in his recently published article “Plato’s Cave…
Photo courtesy MSF Like many countries, Sri Lanka is a nation struggling with a lot of problems. The prevailing negative trends on the island are well-documented and irrefutable. People talk about national…
Review of Welikala, Asanga, ed. 2 vols. Colombo: Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2012. 1-1038. ### “We seek your mandate to permit the members of Parliament you elect to function simultaneously as a…
“The general population doesn’t know what is happening and it doesn’t even know that it doesn’t know” – Noam Chomsky Introduction In the article published in May 2010, I concluded: The emphasis…
Photo by EPA/M.A.PUSHPA KUMARA courtesy LA Times ” Antonio Gramsci, Prison Notebook 8 (1930-1932), 84. Russian Minister of Defence Sergey Shoygu (PiR Centre Press, April 28th 2014, Moscow) -Nic Pizzolatto, I I write…
In the corner of my room, there’s a large air-tight plastic bag I open once a year, and occasionally glance at with mixed emotions. It contains, carefully folded, all the newspapers I could…
Photo by Alexander Nikiforov Pro-Opposition strategists and ideologues placing their bets on abolishing the Executive Presidency while the Presidential election is less than a year away, is quite as sensible as placing…
Photograph courtesy PACT S.J.V. Chelvanayakam Memorial Oration, 26 April 2014 I am thankful to the S.J.V. Chelvanayakam Commemoration Committee for inviting me to deliver this memorial oration on the occasion of the…
Photo courtesy I’ve heard of home invasions but this is the first time I’ve watched a Ministry invasion. The country watched while the BBS swarmed into Rishad Bathiudeen’s Ministry in search of…
Photo courtesy Xinhua Anxiety dominates the post-Geneva political climate in Sri Lanka, the result of a heady mixture of different reasons, which sees the ruling regime pursuing short-sighted solutions in order to…
Photo courtesy Colombo Gazette The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), a recent and chilling phenomena of Sri Lanka’s post war political landscape is locked in a battle with Minister Rishard Bathiudeen, leader of…
Photo by AP, courtesy The other day, killing time in the airport lounge, I picked up the Sunday Observer. Not something I do on a regular basis, never having been able to…
Image courtesy Nidahasa The country woke up a few days ago to news that a group of opposition UNP MPs on a fact finding visit to the new airport and port in…
Photo courtesy The marauding Buddhist monks, who appear to be tied to a long political leash, have run out of control. They need to be stopped. But it is equally necessary to…