Free Expression, Hunger and Racism in context of COVID19
Image by Nicolas Ortega via On 9th April, hundreds of people in Doluwa, in the Kandy district, came to the road demanding food and relief in the context of the three-week-long indefinite…
Search Results for: freedom of expression
#FreeShahidulAlam: On protests and press freedom
Shahidul Alam is no stranger to Sri Lanka. In January 2005, the renowned photojournalist and activist documented damage wrought by the tsunami. His blog titled ‘Boxing Day blues’ shows a letter sent…
Keeping Time On World Press Freedom Day
Sri Lanka ranks 131 on the Reporters Without Borders 2018 World Press Freedom Index, an improvement of 10 points in the space of a year. The reason for this may be the…
The Struggle for Freedom in India
In early January, as part of his much hyped ‘Make in India’ agenda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the ‘Start-Up India’ initiative. This ode to venture capitalism is but a complement to…
Freedom and bondage: Lankans, then and now
Introduction There is a need to question the adequacy and suitability of current conceptions of both ‘human rights’ and ‘secularism’ to meet the challenges of unbridled majoritarianism, which seems perfectly at home…
Sinhalese and their fear of freedom
Anagarika Dharmapala, A.E. Goonesinha and C.W.W. Kannangara, three of the radical champions of the early 20th century who were ‘managed’ by the conservative leaders who eventually negotiated ‘freedom’ from the British. With…
Freedom of assembly in post-war Sri Lanka
The war in Sri Lanka ended on 18th May 2009. During three decades of war, civil liberties were severely curtailed, often in an arbitrary manner, without possibilities of challenging them or seeking…
The Reckoning: Press Freedom in Sri Lanka
Cartoon by Carlos Latuff “The freedom to speak and the freedom to write are essential preconditions for the transition towards democracy and good governance” – We are living in the world, in which committed journalists writes…
Securing Media Freedom in National Security States
“Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.” Benjamin Franklin. “Necessity is blind until it becomes conscious. Freedom is the consciousness of necessity.” Marx As Sri Lanka transforms from a welfare…
Freedom to create, censorship and the future of Sri Lankan cinema: an anecdote
NB: The following is a brief (and therefore rather incomplete) note on the censorship and state-control imposed on present-day Sri Lankan cinema, where filmmakers are forced to be conscious of the prevalent…
On Lasantha Wickremetunge, media freedom and human rights in Sri Lanka: Interview with Dilrukshi Handunnetti
“Governments usually don’t take notice of silent majorities” says well known investigative and environmental journalism Dilrukshi Handunnetti in this video interview with . To commemorate Human Rights Day 2009 (falling on 10…
Press freedom in the cyber age
When I first heard of indispensable machine, I left the island on voluntary exile. Some seven years later, the information technology landscape of Sri Lanka has seen dramatic transformations, in keeping with…
Doing the Right Thing: Freedom for Vanni IDPs
[Editors note: An edited copy of this article appears in the of 27th September 2009. This is the full version.] It was a relief to hear that the government was at last…
War and Press Freedom
The Media at a time of war During the Second World War the German people tuned into the BBC for war news rather than their own radio managed by Goebbels who broadcast…
Protecting the spectrum for media freedom
Nalaka Gunawardene is a science writer and media watcher. He writes a blog on media and society. This article is adapted and expanded from the author’s panel remarks made during the OUR…