Wishes for a peaceful and a happy New Year from the President
I probably was one among millions of people in Sri Lanka privileged to receive a SMS from the President, wishing me “a peaceful and a happy New Year”. (A large majority who…
Politics and Governance
LLRC Recommendations: Can the Rajapaksa Regime Digest?
Photo credit Ada Derana Finally, the full report of the long awaited Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) is in public domain, after it was presented in parliament on Friday (16 December,…
The Prime Minister’s call will exacerbate Horizontal Inequality in Sri Lanka
The statement by the Prime Minister that wheat flour imports should be banned is an irresponsible statement and must be retracted. While it may be his choice to consume only rice, or…
Peace, Military and People: Are non-military engagements of the military valid?
War or internal armed conflict in the North and East was over; Emergency is no more; but still the military is everywhere. The military is now engaged in peacetime police-work, whale watching,…
National Reconciliation, Transitional Justice, Rights and Accountability in Sri Lanka
Good Afternoon; Esteemed and Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen; Dear friends Thank you for inviting me to share with you my thoughts on reconciliation. I will not devote much time here, to…
Human Rights in Sri Lanka: Impunity against Accountability and Justice
Image credit AP, via BBC News “There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth…not going all the way, and not starting.” – Lord Buddha : When I was a…
Osama, Prabhakaran and Me
Photo from The Atlantic I have a bone to pick with these two. In fact maybe an entire rib cage. One of them caused me to question my nationalism and my identity…
Heroes and Heroism: Osama Bin Laden and Prabhakaran
Photo: AP Osama Bin Laden. Dark avenging hero, Arabian knight, Arabic Lawrence of Arabia. Osama versus the USA: David versus Goliath, a hijacked airliner the stone from his slingshot. Not quite. David…
Giving the middle finger: Sri Lanka’s conflicting responses to war crimes allegations
Mr. A Nawan, Deputy Solicitor General of Sri Lanka This symbolic screen grab is from a short video on Channel 4’s website, on the occasion of screening in Geneva a one-hour documentary…
How Sri Lanka Defeated Terrorism, Defence Seminar: Observations from a participant
From the 31st of April to the 2nd of May I attended the Defense Seminar organized by the Sri Lankan Army. I wish to draw on what I saw as some of…
The continuing disinformation campaigns in Sri Lanka: Is mainstream media complicit?
For the second time in a fortnight, subscribers to the newspaper have been entreated to an interesting disinformation campaign that appears to be conducted with those embedded within, and possibly with the…
The killing of Osama Bin Laden
Photo from The Atlantic I consider my self a political moderate. I value world peace, equity and justice. I sympathize with the USA on the calamity of 9/11. I abhor terrorism. However,…
Maghreb: Mythicising Model, Misapplying Mode
Photo courtesy Vikalpa The conversation I had on Lankan trajectories and ‘declinist’ discourses in a Paris cafe on a Sunday with my friend and former colleague, Prof. Nira Wickramasingha, now holding the…
Moving Tamil Dissent Politics Beyond Anti-LTTEism
To be able to engage in dissent politics one needs enormous courage. Not only in terms of the threats and dangers that come your way as a result of your decision to…
Interview with Kanak Mani Dixit
Kanak Mani Dixit is editor of Himal Southasian regional magazine and publisher of the Nepali-language Himal Khabarpatrika newsmagazine. He was actively involved in resisting King Gyanendra’s takeover and was detained many times…