A Missing Path Towards Unity and Reconciliation
May is a month of deep reflection and complex emotions in Sri Lanka. It marks two significant and contrasting commemorations: Mullivaikal Remembrance Day on May and Sri Lanka’s Victory Day on May…
Peace and Conflict
Sixteen Years On, it’s Time for Reflection, Not Only Celebration
Since the end of the 26 year armed conflict in May 2009, whether it should be celebrated as a victory or allowed to be mourned by the war victims has been a…
Stickergate: A Bell that Tolls for All
Zoë Rogers is 21, English, a dog-lover. In August 2024, she, together with five others, crashed a modified prison van into Elbit Systems, an Israeli weapons manufacturing facility in Bristol. The six…
A Daunting List of Human Rights Problems to Address
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his NPP government have inherited a daunting list of human rights problems to address. In his election manifesto, President Dissanayake pledged to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism…
Breaking the Silence on Batalanda: A Call to Action
For more than two decades, the Batalanda Commission report has languished in the archives of our nation’s history, ignored and forgotten by those who should have cared most [1]. But recent events,…
Witnessing Two Genocides Happening Now
As part of the Kolamba Kamatha Festival, Stages Theatre Group presented , two powerful plays of remembering, witnessing and refusing to look away. In , playwright Ruwanthi De Chickera distills the complexity…
Dreaming of Candies and Guns: Objects of Resistance
In , Anupa Perera’s exhibition at the Paradise Road Saskia Fernando Gallery (PRSFG), still life serves as a powerful lens to examine turbulent intersections of politics, conflict and environmental degradation. Perera fuses…
Sri Lanka’s Response to the UK Sanctions
Last year, I studied in some depth perceptions of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) and the National People’s Power (NPP) after the consequential presidential election and again after the even more significant…
Israeli Tourists Spark Tensions in Arugam Bay
Arugam Bay, once an idyllic and peaceful coastal town in the southeast, is facing growing tensions as the number of Israeli tourists, particularly those with military connections, continues to rise. The influx…
Sanctions: A Step in the Right Direction to Combat Impunity
The UK government has announced sanctions on three top former war time military commanders and a former LTTE commander accused of serious human rights violations and abuses such as extra judicial killings,…
UK Sanctions Former Military Commanders and Karuna
The UK government has imposed sanctions, which include UK travel bans and asset freezes, on three former military commanders and a Tamil paramilitary leader accused of serious human rights violations and abuses…
The Rocky Road to Reconciliation
The legacy of the civil war still haunts communities across the country. Despite Sri Lanka’s ethnic, religious and cultural diversity, lingering ethnic tensions have deterred investment, hindered development and impeded progress. Without…
The Life and Work of a Master Artist and Teacher
A. Mark was an eminent artist and teacher who played a significant role in the artistic and cultural heritage of the Tamil community. He was born in 1933 in Gurunagar, Jaffna and…
Tackling Extra Judicial Killings
The incidents of extra judicial killings are on the rise again with several suspects being killed while allegedly trying to escape or dying while in police custody. The police are identified as…
Arab Counter Plan for Gaza: An Exercise in Futility
Gaza, a thriving cosmopolitan trading town along Via Maris trade route between Egypt and Turkey until 1948, became the Gaza Strip since then and remained the largest refugee camp for two million…
