Stabilising Sri Lanka, Learning from July 1983
Arrests, amidst a wider crackdown on protesters in Sri Lanka, threaten progress in tackling the economic crisis. Although a show of repressive force may be intended in part to promote stability, in…
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A Janus Moment
“A wandering fire at a terrible height – can it be a star shining like that? Osip Mandelstam (Poem 101) A walking path bordered by the sea and a bit of lawn…
Chandraguptha Thenuwara’s New Exhibition: Ecce Homo
The moment we live in is dire. It is a moment that has propelled citizens to fearlessly come forward to fight for sustainable and transformative solutions to systemic socio-political ills that have…
The Aragalaya Under Attack: The Struggle Continues
Without warning, heavily armed military and police in riot gear descended on the Galle Face protest site, chasing away the activists, dismantling tents and attacking media personnel. Several of the protesters were…
The Evolution of Gotagogama and Its Periphery in Colour: One Photographer’s Perspective
The strange poetic irony of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s fall from grace is difficult to miss. So palpable and stinging is his graceless exile and retirement that it is only fitting that he should…
Taking Aragalaya Ideas Seriously
The emergence of Frontline Social Party (FSP) in July as a major voice of the aragalaya (‘People’s uprising/struggle’) movement has led to many negative reactions. Searching questions are being raised and debated…
The Need of the Hour: Economic Planning Not Political Squabbling
Photo courtesy of The Telegraph Sri Lankan citizens have successfully done what was unimaginable two years ago – ousted the Rajapaksa brothers from power well before any scheduled elections. The public found themselves…
Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Retrospect
Colombo was noticeably subdued when news of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation letter reaching the speaker of the parliament came out; perhaps because people were unable to buy them, there were no firecrackers. In…
A Second Chance at Independence
It is three days since the dramatic events of Saturday July 9 when Sri Lankans of all backgrounds poured onto the streets demanding that the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (together with Prime Minister…
If the President Resigns: What Next?
On July 9, an unprecedented number of Sri Lankan protesters marched on the president’s official residence. They demanded one thing: his immediate resignation for his role in causing the most devastating economic…
A Call for a Change in Culture
“They will never change” is a phrase that many Tamils overseas often hear from back home. A simple phrase articulated partly in sadness, partly in gloating. It’s difficult to condemn how various…
Bodily Harm: Abortion and the Rights of Women in Sri Lanka
The title of this article is taken from a collection of short stories by Margaret Atwood who has attained celebrity cult status recently due to her dystopic novel The Handmaid’s Tale, which…
Good Governance, Bad Governance and No Governance
Good governance means a system of governance that ensures economic efficiency guaranteeing economic stability throughout a nation. This economic efficiency can only be brought about by the observance of transparency, accountability and…
Life after this Death?
“All that is solid melts into the air…” Marx and Engels (The Communist Manifesto) The socio-economic edifice that is Sri Lanka’s informal sector is collapsing. According to the 2020 Labour Force Survey,…
Yogarasa Kanagaranjani’s Journey for Justice
“March 25, 2009. I remember that day very well. How can I forget it? That was the day I saw my son for the last time. That was the day I last…
