Monitoring Mass Grave Excavations
The Colombo Port is an economic hub of Sri Lanka. In this densely populated area, a group of people are digging a pit during the day; it is not a gem pit…
Politics and Governance
A.K. Dissanayake’s and President Wickremesinghe’s Favourability Ratings Up
In Institute for Health Policy (IHP) SLOTS polling in July 2024, the net favourability rating of NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake rose 29 points from June to reach +3, and President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s…
SJB and NPP/JVP Lead in General Election Voting Intention
The latest estimates from Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) SLOTS MRP model shows little changes in voting intention amongst all adults in May 2024. SJB (remains unchanged at 34%) and NPP/JVP (-1%).…
A.K. Dissanayake Leads in Presidential Election Voting Preferences
The Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) MRP provisional estimates of presidential election voting intent in January 2024 show NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake with the support of…
Aswesuma: High Exclusion, Low Transparency?
The Welfare Benefits Board (WBB) called for applications last year for people to be included in the new registry that will bring all the current benefits schemes under one platform names Aswesuma.…
Fighting for Rights in a Repressive State
Piyath Nikeshala, a prominent social media activist, was attacked with machetes in broad daylight by former deputy mayor of Kaduwela Municipal Council, SLPP member Chandika Abeyrathne and his supporters. And then Piyath,…
Press Freedom in Cyber Civilization
Brief Generations of Sri Lankans have experienced many curfews and states of emergency and also experienced the bloody harm suffered by curfew violators. But successive insurgencies spanning all parts of the country…
The Ongoing Battle for Human Rights Protection
A cascade of reports from human rights organisations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have drawn attention to rise of authoritarian and nationalistic regimes around the world that is having an…
The Proposed Anti-Terrorism Act: Why? How?
The proposed Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), as many legal experts have already argued, can be more dangerous than the draconian Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act (PTA). The legal reasons are now well…
Still on the Rotten Bridge
“Homo Sapiens is prone to orgies of stupidity, brutality, and destruction.” Martin Wolf (The crisis of democratic capitalism) So back in the Chalk Circle but this time play ends in Act 2.…
Being Divided to be (Mis)ruled
Language, according to linguists, is what makes us human but the fake identities it creates can urge us to form imaginary barriers between us that have been the bane of humanity. Among…
Mahindagamanaya 3
“We have not abandoned our people, neither will we do so.” Mahinda Rajapaksa (Budget 2023, second reading debate) The seminal event of the 2023 Budget cycle was not Budget 2023. The Budget…
Creating a New Poor: the Fertiliser Ban that Marked the Beginning of the End
Although Sri Lanka takes pride in being an agricultural economy, the agricultural sector only contributes to 7.4% of the national Gross Domestic Production (GDP) out of which only 5.2% comes from farming. Despite…
Facing Starvation: Averting a Catastrophe
Scrolling through newsfeeds I find at least one article that refers to the number of people who are starving every day in Sri Lanka. My friends who are teachers say that children’s…
The Politics of Economic Reform
The recent tax proposals have created quite a ruckus in all quarters of Sri Lanka. While the popular opinion was that economic reforms would be opposed by the poor and the trade…
