The Niqab ban and the politics of distraction
As of last Monday, Sri Lanka is taking a seat at the table next to a list of 13 other countries from across the world who have passed legislation banning the niqab…
As of last Monday, Sri Lanka is taking a seat at the table next to a list of 13 other countries from across the world who have passed legislation banning the niqab…
Photo by Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP via Al Jazeera Whilst the security operations continue, it is time for the committee set up by the president and indeed the rest of us, to consider the…
Sri Lanka experienced its worst terrorist attack since the end of the war on 21 April 2019. The country is still reeling from the scale and lethality of the multiple explosions, and…
April 21, 2019 A series of coordinated bomb explosions killed hundreds in Sri Lanka as they congregated for Easter Sunday mass. As at 8.20 am on April 22, 2019, 290 were reported…
In a few weeks, Sri Lanka marks a decade since the end of its brutal war, but its long legacy of abuses remains unaddressed. Decades of inaction, denial and silencing have contributed…
When over the weekend, senior journalist Amantha Perera sent a link to a post on Facebook asking if it was one that was popular, the answer took me into a brief study…
Do you love New Zealand, asked the extremely inebriated young white man and his companion as they suddenly blocked my path at the Octagon, a few weeks after I arrived in Dunedin.…
I want to thank the organizers for having invited us here today to pay tribute to this great man. I want to particularly thank Shibly Aziz’s wife Fathima. In life she was…
This essay examines failures of governance in Sri Lanka. Although discussed within the context of State Owned Enterprises (SOE), they affect many other aspects of public life. The weaknesses in the governance…
Sitting on Editor Selvaraja Rajasegar’s desk is a thick envelope containing details of elephant deaths on the railway track. The information took him over a month to receive, because he made the…
Featured image courtesy The Star “If they harm me, it is the country they harm.” The beautification of Gotabaya Rajapaksa is on full throttle. The names of his front organisations are indicative…
As we reflect on Sri Lanka’s 71st Independence Day, many things that have political currency come to mind. Free education and healthcare, a reduced cost of living, and anti-corruption are usually among…
On the the wall of Sandya Eknaligoda’s home is a black and white cartoon of a snake devouring the egg it has hatched from. The cartoon is familiar – it is the…
BRUSSELS – The populist revolts in the United States and the United Kingdom have each reached a critical juncture. At the start of his third year in office, US President Donald Trump…
Four years ago, a majority of Lankans elected Maithripala Sirisena as the country’s executive president. A year from now, the country will be asked to elect its next executive president. Can the…