This is the first in a series of video interviews forecasting what 2017 will have in store across different sectors, including women’s rights, economics, and arts and culture. Janeen Fernando from Verité Research speaks…
Soon it will be two years since the election of President Sirisena. His victory was consolidated in the general election held in August 2015. There was a lot of euphoria when this…
President Maithripala Sirisena says that the Muslim IDPs have encroached and destroyed land belonging to the Wilpattu National Park (June 2015). President Sirisena says Muslims have not cleared one inch of Wilpattu…
Two years into a Maithripala Sirisena presidency, Sri Lankan polity and society are still grappling with dealing with the past, all the while buffeted by new and equally worrying issues. This is…
This is the third in a series of video interviews conducted by sister publication highlighting the difficulties faced by women under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Article 16 of the constitution states that existing…
The United States and Sri Lanka both call themselves democratic societies. Like most of the rest of the world, we have had the U.S.A. held up to us as a model of…
6.15 pm. Oozing dark orange and purplish hues into the far horizon, the sun had begun to recede behind the hills of Kandy, like a tired giant. It’s this time I look…
Media ethics became the focal point of discussion at a ‘post-mortem’ on a recent incident involving the Navy Commander assaulting journalist Roshan Gunasekera as he covered the Navy action to open the…
This is the second in a series of video interviews conducted by sister publication highlighting the difficulties faced by women under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Article 16 of the constitution states…
On January 8, 2015, President Maithripala Sirisena took office, making ambitious promises of good governance, transparency and openness. It was hoped his surprise victory would change the way Sri Lanka tackled rights…
There is currently a call for the reform of personal laws such as the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Article 16 of the constitution states that existing written and unwritten laws,…
Despite volumes of research and recommendations for reform, Sri Lanka’s Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act of 1951 (MMDA) and the Quazi court system remain untouched and continue to oppress Muslim women. Muslim…
In his article under the above title in the Island of Saturday 3rd December, my old friend P.S.Mahawatta pays me two inaccurate compliments. Firstly, he says, using the present tense, that I…
I’m here to speak to you today on a topic that, for me, has deep personal significance. It was quite a difficult decision for me to speak to you all today. In…
In the 1950s, Cuban revolutionaries launched their July 26 Movement () to get rid of foreign domination and economic injustice. In 1952, Fulgencio Batista launched a coup d’etat, which made the Cuban…
