Photo courtesy of Sunday Times More than a year after he visited Sri Lanka, US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu went on record calling Sri Lanka the greatest comeback story in “the region I work on.” He contrasted the situation two years ago – rife with shortages and riots – ...
Photo courtesy of Verité Research Local elections in Sri Lanka have been conspicuously absent since 2018, marking a significant hiatus in the democratic process. Initially slated for 2022, the elections faced successive postponements, first to 2023 amidst economic turmoil and domestic instability and then faced further delays under the governance of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s administration. Presently, there is no definitive timeline ...
Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera The Wheat Flour Massacre sprayed blood on flour sacks, on February 29. A Leap Day for a Leap Year, 2024. But 112 dead Palestinians are no longer leaping for flour. They are lying on the street shot by tank operators, snipers, infantry. The UN Secretary General deplores the killing, calls again for a ceasefire and ...
Photo courtesy of SCMP The focus of my recent writings has been the state formation of Sri Lanka. The starting point of this work is to see the state as a product of history that is constantly changing. In other words, the state is treated like any other element in society. This contrasts with the conventional idea of treating the ...
Photo courtesy of X The Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) MRP provisional estimates of presidential election voting intent in January 2024 show NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake with the support of 50% of all adults (-1 since previous month) followed by the SJB leader Sajith Premadasa on 36% (+2) and both President Ranil Wickremesinghe and ...
Photo courtesy of The Island A recent statement attributed to Prasanna Ranatunga, the Urban Development and Housing Minister of Sri Lanka, blaming the JVP for the July 1983 riots and posted on the A5 News Facebook page, prompted this article. Whether Mr Ranatunga’s statement was a misguided attempt to mislead the younger generation born post-1980 remains unclear. Many of them might ...
Photos by Noopura Liyanage Our journey began with a seven hour drive from Colombo. As we travelled, the scenery transformed from verdant mountains to emerald plains bordering the Uva province. We reached the solitary stretch between Padiyathalaawa and Bibile, dotted with unfinished houses standing far apart. Here, in the hidden village of Ekiriyankumbura, we investigated the ongoing struggle of the ...
Photo courtesy of LBO The latest estimates from Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) revised SLOTS MRP model show no substantial change in general election voting intentions in January 2024 compared to the previous month. NPP/JVP continues to maintain a lead with 40% of adult voters (-1 since previous month). The SJB leads the rest at 30% (+2), the SLPP at ...
Photo courtesy of Daily Mirror In the bustling heart of Colombo amid the cacophony of urban life, a group of fishermen from Pitipana, Negombo, have taken a bold stand against what they perceive as injustice. Their protest, echoing through the streets and resonating within the halls of the Archdiocese of Colombo, speaks to a deeper narrative of conflict, resource management ...
Photo courtesy of Hiru News In IHP SLOTS polling in January 2024, all major party leaders continued to have negative favourability ratings. The net favourability rating of NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake increased 12 points to -10 while favourability of SJB leader Sajith Premadasa and President Ranil Wickremesinghe decreased by 9 points to -53 and -77 respectively. Favourability estimates for each ...
Photo courtesy of Nikkei Asia Economists tell us that Sri Lanka’s economy has stabilised but what does this mean if so many are struggling? To economists stability means that the imbalances in the economy have been resolved. The symptoms of the imbalances appear as rising prices, shortages of foreign exchange and goods. These have indeed disappeared but what does it ...
Photo courtesy of Tamil Guardian High atop Vedukkunaari Hill in the Vavuniya district, an ancient temple stands at the precipice of a religious and legal storm. Revered by the local Tamil community as the Vedukkunaari Aathi Lingeswarar Temple for over 3,000 years, it now finds itself embroiled in a complex dispute with the Department of Archaeology, which claims the site ...
Photo courtesy World Social Forum The prospect of a full ground invasion in Rafah, Gaza, and the potential of the forcible transfer of more than 1.5 million people looms large like a dark and sinister cloud. Images of children scooping flour up with their hands and hurriedly shoving it in their pockets symbolizes the desperation and the thread of life ...
Photo courtesy of Army “…it is not the elimination of racialism or nationalism that we want in this world today; it is the harmonisation of nationalism and racialism for future progress.” Speech during the debate of The Citizenship Act The news barely made the news. Defence secretary (retired) General Kamal Gunaratne and Army Commander General Vikum Liyanage were ordered by ...
Photo courtesy of Hancock Clarion “We owe our children – the most vulnerable citizens in any society – a life free from violence and fear.” Nelson Mandela In 2023, 1,502 girl children were raped in Sri Lanka and of them 167 became pregnant. These figures were disclosed by Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police and head of the Bureau for ...
Photo by Ama Koralage In 1971, a group of activists set sail from Canada in an old fishing boat to protest against the underground nuclear testing by the US military at Amchitka, an island off Alaska. Although they were eventually stopped, the activists went on to form an organisation called Greenpeace to promote individual, non-violent action to create change. Throughout ...
Photo courtesy of Colombo Times Amid the buzz surrounding the presidential race this year, the visit of the JVP-led National People’s Party (NPP) to India has raised much attention. As Sri Lanka plunged into a historic economic crisis, its political stability deteriorated. People’s hopes in terms of mainstream political parties have plummeted. Against this backdrop, expectations have turned towards alternative ...
Photo courtesy of Bloomberg US President Joe Biden ordered more than 85 targets at seven facilities, four in Syria and three in Iraq, which were suspected to be habitats of Iranian backed militias to be bombed, killing at least 16 civilians in Iraq and 29 military personnel in Syria in response to the killing of three US service members. It ...
Photo courtesy of WSWS At major political failures, specifically when unpredicted crises break through, governments often use confusion as an instrument to make major political and economic changes. Leaders take advantage of chaotic times to subtly introduce economic policies that favor businesses such as privatization and deregulation. It’s like a playbook for leaders to follow when facing tough situations. The ...
Photo courtesy of The India Forum News of the first arrest under the Online Safety Act (OSA) renders more urgent, and underscores points made last week at a public lecture organised by the Bandaranaike Academy for Leadership and Public Policy (BALPP), on a panel chaired by Prof Arjuna Parakrama, and also featured Prof Savithri Goonesekara. Following up my September 2023 ...
