Fighting the War on Drugs the Wrong Way
This article is a summary of my report Broken System: Drug Control, Detention and Treatment of People who Use Drugs in Sri Lanka published by Harm Reduction International, which discusses both the…
Politics and Governance
Being Young in Times of COVID-19
Young people from the ages of 16 to 35 around the world have been particularly hard hit by the effects of COVID-19. Discussions and forums targeting the wellbeing and development of youth…
Misusing the Pandemic to Silence Sri Lankans
Sri Lankan student activists have been arrested for protesting against militarisation and privatisation in higher education. This is yet another example of misuse of laws supposedly aimed at stopping the spread of…
Lost and Confused – An Economic Policy in Shambles
At the time of gaining independence 74 years ago, Sri Lanka was a prosperous country that was recognised as a model economy with a per capita income of $120, on par with…
SLPP: One Year of Non Governance
As the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is reaching its first year of governance, which some may call non governance, the question that may be in the minds of many is where…
Fifteen Years On No Justice for Massacre of Muttur Aid Workers
In one of the most heinous crimes committed against humanitarian personnel, 17 Sri Lankan workers of Action contre la Faim (ACF), a French aid organisation, were murdered in their office in Muttur…
COVID-19 Public Health Measures Are Essential Even with Vaccinations
On July 19, 2021, at a World Health Organization (WHO) press conference, COVID-19 Technical Lead Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove’s son asked a question that has been on all our minds “when will…
With Militarization and Marketization KNDU Bill Sounds Death Knell for Higher Education
“The character of an educational system depends upon the character of the society for which it is designed. In a totalitarian system the education system is designed to establish among all sections…
Reading Poetry at the Attorney General’s Department
A prisoner goes to the jail’s library to borrow a book. The librarian says, “I am sorry, we don’t have this book, but we have its author.” It’s a Turkish joke, much…
Rotten Creeds, Failed Gods
“A leader is found! Yet cautiously to myself I ask, a leader to where? Despair overthrown often turns us in mad directions.” Katharine Kressmann Taylor (Address unknown) In Brother Grimm’s Little Briar…
Vistas of Dictatorship and Discontent: How It Is All Going Horribly Wrong
Despite the extravagant promises, policies and plans contained in its campaign document Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the SLPP government have failed miserably to deliver on practically all…
Trying to Silence a Fearless Voice: The Case of Tharindu Jayawardhana
Tharindu Jayawardhana is one of Sri Lanka’s most outstanding and promising young journalists. His writings and MediaLK, the news website he founded in 2019, are noted for highlighting some of the most critical…
A Cruel Government Supports Torture by Opposing Preventive Law
An amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure allowing the Magistrates to visit places of detention has been turned into a political issue by a section of the government and by some…
Killing Free Education with the Kotelawala National Defence University Bill
The debate over the Kotelawala National Defence University (KNDU) Bill has become a scorching issue in the past few weeks. It has been heated not only due to the resistance from civil…
False Promises: The Myth of Security and the Prevention of Terrorism Act
For decades human rights activists have highlighted the draconian nature of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which promises safety and security, yet in practice makes each citizen vulnerable to being arbitrarily…