Speech I wrote for the opening of the Open Edit art project in Jaffna, on 15th March 2013. Since I was away from Sri Lanka, this was delivered by renowned Sri Lankan architect Channa Daswatta. ### I am sorry I cannot be with you in person today. Even as I write these words down, I […]
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Anti-Muslim hate online in post-war Sri Lanka
I was recently contacted by a journalist from one of the leading Sunday newspapers in Sri Lanka on the growing anti-Muslim hate campaigns in Sri Lanka. The journalist asked two questions (reproduced verbatim), Anti-Muslim/Anti-Buddhist sentiments are being spread around effectively by social media, how do you analyse this? How can social media be used to […]
Who is he? What is he doing?
What do we know? Before his recent threats, we know him best through his brazen, daylight attack against the News Director at Rupavahini in 2009. We know that, quite tellingly, instead of investigating his gratuitous violence, the Police instead called in over twenty journalists for questioning on the incident. Through Wikileaks, we know that according […]
Now what?
NGOs play a vital role in Sri Lanka today. Without those engaged in human rights advocacy – that the Government loves to hate – there would be no one to blame for the debacles of foreign policy, international relations and non-implementation of even the LLRC’s output. An article I penned online last week explored how […]
Parliament 2.0
Earlier this week, Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) organised a workshop on improving the access to and accountability of Parliament, based on a South Asian study of legislatures. Systemic flaws in our own Parliament were anchored to two broad areas – access to internal workings and proceedings, and inadequate, often untimely, Parliamentary output. I was […]
Review of ‘Right of Way: A journey of resettlement’
I was delighted when asked to review Right of Way: A journey of resettlement by Sharni Jayawardena and published by the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA). Sharni’s skill in photography is enviable, and was the co-creator of Walkabout: Slave Island, supported by Groundviews. At the time of review, the publication was not in the public […]
Dishonest dissent
“… far too often we are pleased with, defend and opt for mediocre, mundane and haphazard activism and advocacy, which in turn supports the governments that seek to censor and harm us. If we aren’t better than them in strategy, expression and content, it is they who gain and we who lose.” It’s the defence […]
Coming colours
“What is evident around us is a mood of urgency and even impatience. This is especially so, because a large and influential part of our societies consists of young people, inspired by new ideas and looking forward with enthusiasm to a promising future for themselves. They cannot be kept waiting for long. Patience is not […]
Hacking mayoral campaign promises
In Open-source policy formulation for Sri Lanka’s capital, an article published on the Lanka Business Online website recently, the Head of the Policy Planning Group, Milinda for Mayor Campaign and renowned policy analyst Prof. Rohan Samarajiva looks at how mainstream politics can be made more participatory. The promise is of a direct democracy model with […]
Milinda Moragoda: The gap between promise and reality
Milinda Moragoda’s on-going mayoral campaign is interesting on many counts. Particularly appealing to me is that it is extremely web media savvy. The campaign’s central website, http://www.ourcmb.com, is leagues ahead of what any candidate, at any election in Sri Lanka has produced. Aimed to elicit public feedback on a 12 point, 100 day plan for […]
