Budget 2025 – A Perspective
The 2025 budget, presented by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, aims to drive economic recovery and fiscal consolidation following a severe financial crisis. The budget targets a deficit of 6.7% of GDP, slightly…
Politics and Governance
Fighting for the Rights of the LGBTIQ Community
Thanks to archaic Victorian-era laws that are still present in Sri Lanka, the country’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer/Questioning (LGBTIQ) community has been marginalised and discriminated against for over a…
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…
Sudden Death with Elephants
Six elephants, two adults, four babies, were slaughtered by a train traveling at high speed through a wildlife corridor between two natural reserves. A tragedy. No humans injured but engine…
Holding the Government Accountable for its Election Promises
During their campaigns for the presidential and parliamentary elections, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his National People’s Power (NPP) party made several promises to voters on a wide range of issues including…
Many Gaps in Government’s Commitment to Protect Women’s Rights
I was feeling extremely lucky to be part of the Sri Lankan NGO delegation representing Women’s Action Network (WAN) at the 9th periodic review of the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination…
Sri Lanka’s Obligations Towards Rohingya Asylum Seekers
Since the escalation of the conflict by a military takeover in February 2021, more than 1.3 million refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar are hosted in other countries around the world. The…
The Fight for Land Rights
Land is an important component of any Sri Lankan household. A considerable proportion of the rural population continues to be dependent on arable land as a source of livelihood and income; in…
The Re-gathering
“ In 2009, Mahinda Rajapaksa conquered Sri Lanka. In 2010, he set out to conquer the world with an address to the Oxford Union. Although the visit was a private one, a…
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…
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…
Reimagining Education in Sri Lanka – Part 3
Every weekday morning in cities and towns across the globe, a familiar ritual unfolds. Millions of young people file into classrooms, sit in neat rows and organize their days into precisely timed…
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…
Sri Lanka’s Online Safety Act: A Year in Review and Framework for Reform
A year ago, Sri Lanka hurriedly passed legislation that fundamentally undermined human rights in ways unprecedented in the country’s history. The Online Safety Act (OSA), rammed through parliament without meaningful consultation, represents…
