Text of the introductory presentation made by Dr. Thushara Hewage, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Ottawa at the seminar on The Politics of Memory and a Critique of Transitional Justice held on Wednesday 3rd June 2015, at Department of Political Science and Public Policy, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo. The pieces…
Several weeks ago I had the privilege of attending a conference organized by colleagues in the University of Delhi and presided by His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. The conference itself was on how children’s secular education could be transformed in order to bring in values of compassion and caring sorely lacking in…
While it was scheduled to debate the 19th Amendment to the Constitution today (21) and tomorrow (22), the objective of the ugly scenes created by the Rajapaksa scums led by Wimal Weerawansa, Dinesh Gunawardena, Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Kumara Welgama yesterday was to sabotage that effort by sleeping on the floor of the Parliament, otherwise considered…
We, women directly impacted by war and working on issues of truth and justice, believe that the dawn of the new year in Sri Lanka provides an opening to address several urgent issues. The Presidential Election on 8 January 2015 presents an opportunity to the people of Sri Lanka to decide its future, with the two main contenders being President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena. Since the announcement of elections and campaigning in late 2014, we have observed the promises and pledges by all candidates and hoped there would be recognition of the issues faced by women affected by the…
Department of English, University of Peradeniya What is striking about the 2015 elections? It is the upsurge in the call for democracy and the call to put an end to aggression, arbitrary actions. Significantly, it has opened up spaces for the minority community, the minority voter, to once again find a voice within the politics of the state. My writing here concerns largely Tamil politics, political leadership and the north and east Tamil voter, particularly of the north. In this, I wish to state at the outset, I am not addressing the Malaiyaha Tamil voter or those who are ‘traditional’…
'කතිකා' සංවාද මණ්ඩපය 'kathika' sanvada mandapaya 