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State Power and Street Theatre in Sri Lanka
In the 1970s and 1980s, Sri Lanka witnessed a marked conflict between the State’s enactment of power in relation to the control of public space, and street theatre’s appropriation of it. The…
In the 1970s and 1980s, Sri Lanka witnessed a marked conflict between the State’s enactment of power in relation to the control of public space, and street theatre’s appropriation of it. The…
Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s maiden speech as the SLPP’s Presidential candidate was a masterpiece in banality. It didn’t contain a single memorable sentence or one inspiring idea. That absence was no accident. The speech…
The devastating attacks on Easter Sunday widened existing rifts between religious communities. There have been reports of attacks on Muslims and Christians, as well as of arbitrary arrests, and in some instances,…
Almost four months after the Easter Sunday bombings, Sri Lanka continues to operate under a State of Emergency. National security has once again become a central topic. The Easter Sunday bombings revealed…
Mythic Inflation is a concept introduced by American mythologist Joseph Campbell to explain the emergence of a new kind of ruler, the secular king who is also the divinely mandated saviour of…
In the run up to the 2014 Aluthgama riot, the rabble-rousing monk Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara coined the term Aba Saranai, a battle-cry of hate totally at variance with the teachings of the…
Photo by President’s Media Division (PMD) “From now on, people and monks will govern this country from the streets” Aturaliye Ratana Thero (Lankadeepa – 28.5.2019) A man in a suit defending the…
President Sirisena is evidently unhappy that a Select Committee of Parliament has been appointed to investigate the circumstances that led to the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks. UPFA MPs have not joined the…
If you live as a foreigner in Sri Lanka, police hassle is likely part of your reality. Indeed, the majority of those who drive their own vehicle have multiple stories of unwarranted…
Photo courtesy CNN. “ . “ Real stories-real racism A Colombo taxi driver informed a customer that he was a Muslim. It sounded like an apology. His two previous hires…
AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena What does ail thee Sri Lanka? Is it, as Bishop Heber once notoriously stated, that it is a land ‘? We could dismiss his views as those of a…
Photo by Gemunu Amarasinghe, via The nexus between Madrasah education and Islamic extremism have been in the global discussions ever since the emergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan. This phenomenon emerged in…
Photo courtesy The message The worship had just reached the the affirmation of God’s intervention in history, when the police arrived. The officer was courteous but firm. The service had to be…
Photo courtesy Getty via The Easter-Sunday attacks have changed a lot of things in Sri Lanka. It proved, if proof was indeed required, the sheer inefficiency of the present government. Some of…
Photo by Asanka Brendon Ratnayake for We hadn’t seen him in years, ever since he left to work abroad. So, on the day of his return, his mother invited the extended family…