Gotabaya Rajapaksa: A Two Year Timeline
To coincide with the end of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s second year in office, the Centre for Policy Alternatives produced a video timeline detailing some of the defining moments of the President’s past…
Latest
The Growing Dangers of Online Sexual Exploitation of Children
It was a horrifying and sickening case. A 15 year old child was groomed online and sexually abused by dozens of men including a local government politician, a Buddhist monk, a Navy…
Protecting Every Child in Sri Lanka
On November 20 every year, the world celebrates World Children’s Day; it is the same day on which the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) was established, leading the…
The Case for Acquittal – Justice or Impunity?
Since mid 2020, there has been a key feature emerging from the justice system in Sri Lanka – a trend that people with political affiliation have been either acquitted by courts, cleared…
Study Shows Civil War Caused Long Lasting Trauma in Birds
Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war left a lasting impression on humans and animals. For me, being part of this study gave me the opportunity to be the first person in my family…
A Gendered Analysis of Budget 2022
Every year in November the mainstream media is dedicated to economists for the analysis of the budget for the year. Because many of these analyses, which use a variety of technical terms,…
Budget 2022: What’s in Store?
The Minister of Finance and Treasury officials have been busy putting the final touches to the 2022 budget. Numerous organizations, associations, chambers, critics and cheer leaders are even busier organizing pre-budget and…
Going Organic in a Planned, Sustainable Way
The new fertilizer policy introduced by the government has attracted heavy criticism from all sections of society; it has also received attention from the intellectual community. There is a good response from…
Scotland, Diaspora Campaigning and Human Rights
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s visit to Scotland for an international environmental summit put the regime’s grim human rights track record in the spotlight. Failure to care for the environment has already been noted.…
Shaping a Single Narrative, Courtesy the Clergy and Task Forces
The recent appointment of a task force mandated with law reform headed by a controversial Buddhist monk has raised concerns from multiple fronts. Yet, considering recent trends in Sri Lanka, this should…
Sri Lanka at COP26: Hypocrisy and Doublespeak
While President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his ministers make glib statements on their commitment to preserving and protecting the environment and Sri Lanka’s rich biodiversity, the conditions on the ground are at odds…
Pursuing Justice and Accountability for the Navy 11
There is an air of weariness around the small protest at Hulftsdorp outside of the Supreme Court. They silently unfold the banners as they have done countless times before, lining up in…
The Role of the Public in Fighting Racial Nationalism and Religious Extremism
It is not strange to Sri Lanka that race, religion and culture are continuously exploited by politicians to maintain their voter base and to secure their seat in governance. It is a…
The Organic Fiasco: A Farmer’s View
These are my views about the ban on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which now appears to have been overturned in a haphazard manner. The ban is being applied to different sections of…
Challenging Impunity For Crimes Against Journalists
November 2 is the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in 2020 at least 22 journalists were murdered in retaliation for…
