Photo courtesy of Forbes Jimmy Carter has died, after one hundred years, after healing river blindness, ensuring fair elections, negotiating the release of prisoners, calling out tyranny, assuring that to love your neighbor is the fundamental task of government, this preacher and teacher who taught Sunday School, who gave the sermon, who gathered the chairs, who built houses, hundreds in various ...
By January 2022 Sri Lanka was well on its way to becoming a failed state. Bankrupt, riddled with corruption from top to bottom and at the mercy of evil leaders, the country was on the edge of an abyss. It fitted the definition of a kakistocracy perfectly – a state governed by its least suitable or competent citizens and characterized ...
Photo courtesy of World Vision The tsunami that struck Sri Lanka 20 years ago on December 26, 2004 was the most destructive natural disaster in living memory. It claimed over 39,000 lives and destroyed thousands of houses and livelihoods. In recent years, Sri Lanka has witnessed a surge in natural disasters, prompting an urgent need to strengthen and enhance Disaster, ...
Photo courtesy of anews Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in Palestine, during a time of colonization and political and economic oppression by Roman imperialism. Those who dared to call for freedom and justice were brutally crushed. Some were thrown to the lions or crucified in public. This was to instill fear and prevent further uprisings. Jesus’s mother, Mary, was a ...
Photo courtesy of The Island Christianity gained popularity in Sri Lanka following the arrival of European invaders and became a widely practiced religion over time. The Nestorian crosses discovered during archaeological excavations in Anuradhapura, which was a prominent commercial city in the past, serve as evidence of the arrival of Christian traders. However, Christianity was not widespread in the country ...
Photo courtesy of newswire The NPP government came to power with an ambitious aim of changing the existing system that was broken and did not serve the interests of many, especially the under privileged sections of the population. It came to power not only for changing the system that served the interests of a self-made privileged class but also the political ...
Photo courtesy of nbcnews You ask me to sign a card to the outgoing president and his teacher spouse. Happy to do so while biting my tongue and repeating the mantra that this is a time for peace and good will, to forgive foolish, incomprehensible acts of support for perpetrators of mass murder. Yes, I need to sign my disagreement ...
Photo courtesy of Times of Israel “Every time we do something you tell me America will do this and will do that … I want to tell you something very clear. Don’t worry about American pressure on Israel. We the Jewish people control America, and Americans know it.” Ariel Sharon Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now an international outlaw ...
Born in Kataluwa, Galle District, Comrade Prins Gunasekera was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Habaraduwa electorate in March 1960 and re-elected under the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) ticket in 1970. However, due to conflicts with the leaders of the ruling coalition government over the Criminal Justice Commission Act and the trials to be conducted under it, ...
Photo courtesy of NBC News “Israel today is dynamiting the edifice of the global norms built after 1945.” Pankaj Mishra (The Shoah after Gaza – London Review of Books – 21.3.2014) In the second decade of the 21st Century, genocide is being televised. 72 Virgins – Uncensored was a Telegraph channel run by the Israeli Defence Forces’ Influencing Department (Orwellian ...
Photo courtesy of AA Racism has been a persistent challenge in human societies. Apart from the historical movements and the fight for justice and rights for marginalised groups, shrouded in open declarations of peace and unity, lies personal vendetta – proof of the racist undertones that govern the international system. The United Nations UN has always been a revered institution ...
Photo courtesy of NBC News “The need for survival slings a gun on the shoulders of those who search for bread,” writes a Bishop of the Church of Ceylon. In this reflection on his being a witness to slinging the gun, Bishop Duleep de Chickera lyrically propels the reader of his book Beyond Checkpoints into Sri Lanka’s world of societal ...
Photo courtesy of Reddit A leading human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, and a humanitarian medical organization, MSF, have exposed Israeli’s campaign of total extermination and the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. In a media release on its report, HRW said that Israeli authorities have deliberately inflicted conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part ...
Photo courtesy of Anjani Athukorala At 4.30 am on Wednesday I grabbed my backpack. It was filled with important documents, a chocolate bar large enough to share with a crowd, water, peanuts, a protein bar, a book to read and my sewing project. Does it sound like I was going on a nice trip? In reality, I was on my ...
Photo courtesy of IndiaSpend In an effort to address Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Doctors Without Borders South Asia, in collaboration with the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), has launched Breaking the Silence: Journey of SGBV Survivors, an initiative that seeks to amplify the voices of survivors, shed light on their stories of resilience and ...
Photo courtesy of Asianews According to the Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) SLOTS polling conducted in November, 25% of Sri Lankan adults believed the country was heading in the right direction while 16% expressed uncertainty about its trajectory. However the majority, 59%, still thinks the country is heading in the wrong direction. There was a temporary boost in optimism in ...
Photo courtesy of sister-hood In the wake of the presidential and general elections, the National People’s Power (NPP) government will have to navigate the disinformation and scare tactics that were deployed during the campaign period about reform of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). The new government has a genuine opportunity to lead an inclusive, evidence based and responsible ...
Photo courtesy of Agamya Effective communication plays a vital role in governance. If communication is clear and effective, it contributes to promoting transparency and building trust between those holding power and the people who are being served. It helps citizens to better understand the policies and decisions of governments, thus fostering a sense of accountability. For any government to function ...
Photo courtesy of Kumanan The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), an independent NGO working since 2013 to protect and promote justice and accountability in Sri Lanka, has submitted more than 60 sanctions and visa ban requests against public and security officials to date as well as a series of universal jurisdiction cases. These have been sent to the governments ...
Photo courtesy of France 24 Compared to the excesses of the good governance regime and the Gotabaya Rajapaksa raj that followed it, the omissions of this government seem trivial and innocent. The NPP is now two months in office and whether we like it or not, the excitement of those early days is fading away. One can almost see the end ...
