International Human Rights: Dispelling the Myths
Photo courtesy JDS A Talk given at the Colombo Club, August 2014 Thank you for inviting me to speak to you today. I do so with trepidation since speaking to captains of…
Search Results for: Corridors of Power
Head in my hands
Image courtesy Justice in Conflict Five years after the war I often think of how it could have been. A President who, the day after the war ends, speaks to the people…
The Burning Questions
A stroll through the Public Library of Jaffna, and some reflections on knowledge, culture and the open space to question, create and dissent The sun burns the Jaffna peninsula. It devours every…
Mahinda Rajapaksa as a Modern Mahāvāsala and Font of Clemency? The Roots of Populist Authoritarianism in Sri Lanka
On 4th December 2011 the carried a headline: “Mahinda ready to meet General Fonseka’s family over pardon” — with a picture alongside showing President Mahinda Rajapaksa seated in an armchair perusing an…
Tamils done with – Sinhalese to be done with
“Then they came for me” an oft quoted poem by German pastor Niemoller, in stressing the need for timely political action in difficult political contexts does have sense today, in its abstract…
War-footing after the aborted peace talks 15 years ago
Yesterday marked the ending of the fourth round of peace talks endorsed by the late Lakshman Kadirgamar, FM, in the Kumaratunga administration on January 08,1995. On the night of April 19, 1995,…
THE RAJAPAKSE REGIME AND THE FOURTH ESTATE
Authors note: This is the first of two articles. The second is in draft form and is tentatively entitled’. It may appear first in print form, but that remains to be seen….
We will reap what we sow: Sri Lanka’s Presidential contenders
In a one dimensional interview with the , General Sarath Fonseka outlined his grievances before the people and we got an idea why he is running for the highest office in the…
Sri Lanka’s new found friends: Looking for love in all the wrong places
Reading about GOSL’s latest foreign foray is like venturing into an oncologist’s office; you suspect that there is something wrong with your system but you hope that it’s nothing serious. But, deep…
Four things done, Four things undone: The self-immolation of the LTTE Part 2
A Brief Preface Some of my friends were worried that through the previous articles I may have inadvertently ‘’caught the tiger by the (ir) tail’. They have requested me to take care…
