Little to celebrate in Sri Lanka at 75
1 year, 10 months ago

Little to celebrate in Sri Lanka at 75

The Hindu  

Controversy looms over Sri Lanka’s celebration of the 75th anniversary of its Independence, with a question having been raised on whether it is worth wasting Sri Lankan rupees 300 million on this event. The Left critique shared the Sinhala nationalist argument that political independence secured by the local elites was incomplete, arguing that only a socialist republic would ensure full political independence and sovereignty to all Sri Lankans. Academic scepticism, partially inspired by the Left critique, has highlighted the incomplete nature of political independence being linked to the absence of a militant anti-colonial mass movement for independence in Sri Lanka. Sinhalese nationalist reform arguments have included making Sri Lanka a Buddhist republic, state commitment to protecting Buddhism, restoration of the rights of Sinhalese Buddhists and their culture, and making Sinhalese the official language.

Independence Sri Lanka Constitution Political Tamil Public Left Nationalist Sinhalese Sri Lankan Sinhala Public Money Political Independence  tamil  sri  lanka  75  public  nationalist  independence  lankas  sinhalese  celebrate  little  political  left

History of this topic

Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka: In pursuit of an elusive justice for over a decade
1 week, 2 days ago

Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka: In pursuit of an elusive justice for over a decade

New Indian Express  

JAFFNA/ MULLAITIVU/ COLOMBO: There is a sameness to the manner in which families affected by enforced disappearances in northern Sri Lanka narrate their stories: names, dates, documents. The homogeneity arises not just from the similarity of their experiences but also from the countless times they've had to tell their stories over the past decade -- to journalists, human rights activists, …

Challenges before the new Sri Lankan Government
1 week, 2 days ago

Challenges before the new Sri Lankan Government

New Indian Express  

In 2024, Sri Lanka witnessed seismic political shifts. In the second half of this year, voters installed a hitherto untried president and a new government, with the fervent hope that the old order should give way to a better new order. It’s taken the rather conservative Sri Lankan voters 76 years to move away from feudal parties and experiment with …

Interview | Sri Lankan democracy has been altered by citizens themselves: Jayadeva Uyangoda
1 month ago

Interview | Sri Lankan democracy has been altered by citizens themselves: Jayadeva Uyangoda

The Hindu  

Published : Nov 22, 2024 18:57 IST - 21 MINS READ Jayadeva Uyangoda, emeritus professor of political science at the University of Colombo, spoke to Amit Baruah about the groundbreaking November 14 election results and their implications for Sri Lanka’s future. Since independence—actually since 1931 when we got the universal adult franchise—political power through elections has always been the monopolistic …

An overturning of Sri Lanka’s old political order
1 month ago

An overturning of Sri Lanka’s old political order

The Hindu  

The National People’s Power, led by Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has swept the Sri Lankan parliamentary polls with an astounding majority. There is another side to this story: Sri Lanka is Asia’s oldest electoral democracy, with universal suffrage going back to 1931, and its citizenry, in an awesome political swing, have not only given the new government an …

Why Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election today matters for its future
1 month, 1 week ago

Why Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election today matters for its future

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The parliamentary election in Sri …

Sri Lanka: Economic crisis, political change, and reconciliation | Interview with Ahilan Kadirgamar
1 month, 1 week ago

Sri Lanka: Economic crisis, political change, and reconciliation | Interview with Ahilan Kadirgamar

The Hindu  

Published : Nov 14, 2024 14:38 IST - 1 MIN READ On November 14, 2024, Sri Lankans began voting in the snap parliamentary election, the first major test of the ruling National People’s Power party led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Having failed to secure 50 per cent of the vote at the September 21 presidential election, Mr. Dissanayake is …

Interview| I Think More People in the North and the South Will Vote for the NPP: Ahilan Kadirgamar
1 month, 1 week ago

Interview| I Think More People in the North and the South Will Vote for the NPP: Ahilan Kadirgamar

The Hindu  

Published : Nov 13, 2024 20:29 IST - 21 MINS READ Ahilan Kadirgamar, who teaches sociology at the University of Jaffna and has been a long-time human rights activist, has a keen eye on developments in Sri Lanka. Just as there have been major changes in politics in Sri Lanka’s south—who would have imagined that a coalition led by the …

Sri Lanka Parliamentary Elections 2024: Dissanayake Aims to Convert Presidential Win into Legislative Power
1 month, 1 week ago

Sri Lanka Parliamentary Elections 2024: Dissanayake Aims to Convert Presidential Win into Legislative Power

The Hindu  

Published : Nov 12, 2024 16:48 IST - 9 MINS READ Campaigning for the 10th parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka closed at midnight on November 11, with major political formations making fervent last-minute pitches to garner support from the 17 million voters. With many veterans, including former Presidents Ranil Wickremesinghe, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and Mahinda Rajapaksa, shying away from contesting, Sri …

Real winners of Sri Lanka’s election: A people emboldened to force change
2 months, 3 weeks ago

Real winners of Sri Lanka’s election: A people emboldened to force change

Al Jazeera  

Anura Kumara Dissanayake rode a wave of anger to power. Back then, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, the Marxist outfit that the country’s new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, now leads, was reviled in swaths of southern Sri Lanka for having twice attempted violent revolution. The “curse” essentially, was the population having allowed political elites, largely organised into Sri Lanka’s two main …

A new chapter in India-Sri Lanka relations
3 months ago

A new chapter in India-Sri Lanka relations

Hindustan Times  

The Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s victory and ascension to the presidency marks a significant shift in Sri Lanka’s political landscape, with effects on its relations with India. PM Modi’s immediate outreach indicates India’s desire to build on the $4 billion assistance package it provided during Sri Lanka's economic crisis, deepening collaboration in areas like infrastructure, energy, and trade​. Dissanayake’s approach to …

A poverty of hope among Sri Lankan Tamils
6 months, 4 weeks ago

A poverty of hope among Sri Lankan Tamils

The Hindu  

When Antony Jesurathnam Mariapushparani, 62, recalls the horrific final days of Sri Lanka’s civil war in striking detail, it is hard to believe it has been 15 years since its end. I saw the destruction with my own eyes,” she says of the time when tens of thousands of Tamils, including women, children, and infants, were killed in the Sri …

Sri Lanka political parties flag poll aspirations on May Day
7 months, 3 weeks ago

Sri Lanka political parties flag poll aspirations on May Day

The Hindu  

With a presidential election expected later this year,the May Day rallies ofall main political parties in Sri Lanka seemed a prelude to their poll campaigns. Addressing the SJB’s May Day rally in Colombo, Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa, pledged to implement the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution, which promises a measure of power devolution to the provinces. The …

Story of Sri Lanka, in verse | Review of poetry anthology ‘Out of Sri Lanka’
9 months ago

Story of Sri Lanka, in verse | Review of poetry anthology ‘Out of Sri Lanka’

The Hindu  

In their introduction to this anthology, the editors Vidyan Ravinthiran, Seni Seneviratne and Shash Trevett say, “the time is right — the moment is now — for the world to know Sri Lanka better”, and that just about captures the gap this book fills. The act of containing within a single volume, then, all three, also becomes part of the …

Sri Lanka needs a national liberation movement, not mere regime change: Anura Kumara Dissanayake
1 year ago

Sri Lanka needs a national liberation movement, not mere regime change: Anura Kumara Dissanayake

The Hindu  

As Sri Lanka tries to rebuild its battered economy after last year’s devastating crisis, the country’s political scene is gradually heating up, in the run up to two national elections scheduled next year — parliamentary and presidential — that will give citizens their first chance to vote, after they dislodged the Rajapaksas from power in 2022. We have developed an …

An under-discussed facet of colonial history
1 year, 1 month ago

An under-discussed facet of colonial history

The Hindu  

November 09, 2023 12:16 am | Updated 01:55 am IST This year marks the bicentenary of the arrival of Tamil indentured labourers in Sri Lanka, a milestone recently commemorated in Colombo at an event called “Naam 200”, where I delivered an address on this woefully under-discussed facet of our colonial history. It was not without reason that the British historian …

In Ceylon, there was no tryst with democracy: Rajan Hoole
1 year, 10 months ago

In Ceylon, there was no tryst with democracy: Rajan Hoole

The Hindu  

Sri Lanka’s crisis last year was unprecedented on many accounts. But, it was not entirely unrelated to the country’s tumultuous past, marked by discriminatory laws and policy targeting the island nation’s minorities, especially the Malaiyaha Tamils, according to Rajan Hoole, Jaffna-based mathematician, best known for his human rights activism during the civil war years. Published by the Colombo-based Sailfish, it …

Sri Lanka to hold crucial talks on formation of all-party government to combat economic meltdown
2 years, 4 months ago

Sri Lanka to hold crucial talks on formation of all-party government to combat economic meltdown

Firstpost  

Sri Lanka’s newly-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday invited the political parties to form an all-party government to overcome the current economic crisis as the Parliament reconvened after a seven-day adjournment Colombo: The crucial talks on the possibility of forming an all-party government to tackle Sri Lanka’s economic meltdown will take place on Friday evening, officials and political leaders here …

‘Supreme power of people’: Sri Lanka marks 100 days of protests
2 years, 5 months ago

‘Supreme power of people’: Sri Lanka marks 100 days of protests

Al Jazeera  

The mainly youth-led movement over the island’s worst-ever economic crisis completes 100 days, with people saying the struggle is not yet over. Colombo, Sri Lanka – A mainly youth-led mass protest movement over Sri Lanka’s worst-ever economic crisis has completed 100 days. “I am glad that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is gone but we can’t enjoy or celebrate it as long as …

Sri Lanka Turmoil: A History of Discrimination That Culminated in the Current Crisis
2 years, 5 months ago

Sri Lanka Turmoil: A History of Discrimination That Culminated in the Current Crisis

The Quint  

Sri Lanka’s crisis is not just about the economy, but a long history of discrimination against minority groups Sri Lanka is in the grip of an economic, political and humanitarian crisis. Wickremesinghe rejected the UN Expert Panel report that outlined Sri Lankan government atrocities against the Tamils. He stated: “India gave us the intelligence but there has been a lapse …

In Sri Lanka, no quiet after the storm
2 years, 5 months ago

In Sri Lanka, no quiet after the storm

The Hindu  

Even after the fall of his official residence and the Presidential Secretariat into the hands of protesting citizens, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa tried to defy the massive public pressure on him to resign. Abolishing Sri Lanka’s much-hated executive presidential system of government through a comprehensive package of political reforms will have to be a priority in the policy agenda …

A crescendo that felled Lanka’s most powerful
2 years, 5 months ago

A crescendo that felled Lanka’s most powerful

Hindustan Times  

July 9 was a watershed day in Sri Lanka’s political history when tens of thousands of its citizens flooded Colombo, breached three iconic seats of political power, and pushed the president and prime minister to agree to resign from office. July 13, however, brought forth a more volatile mix of emotions – relief at the exit of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who …

Data | Economic hardships aside, erosion of democracy in Sri Lanka a key reason for public anger
2 years, 5 months ago

Data | Economic hardships aside, erosion of democracy in Sri Lanka a key reason for public anger

The Hindu  

In a show of fury against the worsening economic situation, protesters in Sri Lanka stormed the Presidential Secretariat on Saturday and set ablaze the private residence of the Prime Minister. While democratic values were on the ascent in the post-war phase, they declined rapidly since the constitutional crisis in 2018 Charts appear incomplete? Click to remove AMP mode Democratic values …

Explained: What led to the fall of Sri Lanka’s powerful Rajapaksa clan?
2 years, 5 months ago

Explained: What led to the fall of Sri Lanka’s powerful Rajapaksa clan?

Firstpost  

The Rajapaksa brothers, Mahinda and Gotabaya, were hailed as war heroes when they led the fight against the LTTE. But today, they are considered the big villains responsible for Sri Lanka’s economic collapse The anger against the Sri Lankan leadership boiled over, as tens and thousands of protesters took to the streets of Colombo over the weekend, storming into President …

The uprising: on ongoing protests in Sri Lanka
2 years, 5 months ago

The uprising: on ongoing protests in Sri Lanka

The Hindu  

Public wrath is paving the way for momentous changes in Sri Lanka. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose secretariat was overrun by thousands of people and his official residence occupied by boisterous protesters, and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, whose private residence was set ablaze, have both expressed readiness to resign. Mr. Rajapaksa, the main target of the people’s unbridled anger, has conveyed …

Sri Lanka’s ‘picturesque’ protests
2 years, 6 months ago

Sri Lanka’s ‘picturesque’ protests

Al Jazeera  

Every time there is a crisis in the Global South, Western news organisations parachute their correspondents and photographers in to document the developments. This has largely been the case with the international coverage of Sri Lanka’s ongoing protests demanding that the ruling Rajapaksa family leave office. This is nothing unique to Sri Lanka – we often see similar narratives of …

Lessons from Sri Lanka’s crisis - The Hindu
2 years, 7 months ago

Lessons from Sri Lanka’s crisis - The Hindu

The Hindu  

As Sri Lanka’s crisis continues to spiral out of control, the country gets a new Prime Minister: what are the lessons from India’s neighbourhood? As the violence spiralled out of control and PM Mahinda and his family were flown to a naval base for safety, the Indian high commission in Colombo issued two statements distancing itself from the Rajapaksas: one …

Sri Lanka protests | Backstories at Colombo’s Galle Face seafront
2 years, 7 months ago

Sri Lanka protests | Backstories at Colombo’s Galle Face seafront

The Hindu  

Covering Sri Lanka’s ongoing protests at Galle Face, Colombo’s charming seafront, exposes me to a lot about this crucial moment in crisis-hit Sri Lanka — the changing dynamics of the struggle, the varied demands coming out of it, the diverse participants and their shared resolve, and the leadership’s stubbornness that is imperilling the country’s economic and political future. “They were …

Sri Lanka President willing to form interim govt, says Buddhist monk: Report
2 years, 7 months ago

Sri Lanka President willing to form interim govt, says Buddhist monk: Report

Live Mint  

Amid ongoing severe economic crisis in Sri Lanka, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has expressed the will to form an interim government in order to resolve the ongoing crisis. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the island country Sri Lanka slipped into a dire economic crisis due to debt troubles, liquidity problems, and minimum foreign reserves leading to long power outages, and scarcity of …

Loyalists turn on Sri Lanka PM as protest pressure grows
2 years, 8 months ago

Loyalists turn on Sri Lanka PM as protest pressure grows

The Hindu  

Sri Lanka’s beleaguered Prime Minister came under increased pressure to step down on Saturday, as staunch allies broke ranks and backed street protests calling for resignations over a worsening economic crisis. Godahewa, previously a staunch Rajapaksa loyalist, said the president should sack his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa — the head of the family — and allow an all-party …

A chance to hit refresh in Sri Lanka
2 years, 8 months ago

A chance to hit refresh in Sri Lanka

The Hindu  

Having swept to power in a landslide victory in late 2019, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa wasted no time declaring unequivocally that his would be a Sinhalese ethno-nationalist state. But I did not receive the response I anticipated.” Eroding support Less than three years later, Mr. Rajapaksa is as unpopular a head of state as has ever held office in …

Sri Lanka’s Youths Won’t Let Island Nation Maroon in Financial Crisis, Change Course in 7 Days
2 years, 8 months ago

Sri Lanka’s Youths Won’t Let Island Nation Maroon in Financial Crisis, Change Course in 7 Days

News 18  

For Sri Lankans, the scenario is surreal – The top political leadership has collapsed overnight. The young agitators have made the most powerful ruling Rajapaksa family irrelevant, and brought in a group of professionals, comprising the Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Treasury secretary and a three-member economic advisory committee, to fix the crumbling economy of the island nation. …

Economic crisis threatens hold of Sri Lanka’s most powerful family
2 years, 8 months ago

Economic crisis threatens hold of Sri Lanka’s most powerful family

Live Mint  

Sri Lanka’s politics have been dominated for much of the past two decades by a single family. Mr. Rajapaksa, who was once widely revered among Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese Buddhist majority as a war hero, is now battling to stay in power. “People respected him as a god, as a saint, in those days," said Ubayamath Rajasekaram, a 49-year-old homeopath who …

Sri Lanka – An Island Adrift Fights for A New Beginning
2 years, 8 months ago

Sri Lanka – An Island Adrift Fights for A New Beginning

News 18  

An island nation divided is finally united. The radical left-wing Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP fought with their own Sinhalese people in south and central Sri Lanka, adding another 50,000 headcount to the list of victims. Sri Lanka is a unique country, where President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga had appointed her own mother as Prime Minister, brother as Parliament Speaker and …

Patralekha Chatterjee | How to destroy a nation: Intolerance, profligacy…
2 years, 8 months ago

Patralekha Chatterjee | How to destroy a nation: Intolerance, profligacy…

Deccan Chronicle  

Crossing the thresholds of tolerance, whether economic or social, can garner votes in the short term. The media reports note that a few officials flagged fears of India going the Sri Lanka way if some states continue with “populist schemes” which in their view were not economically sustainable. Dr Arvind Mayaram, a former finance secretary, said on Twitter that a …

Watch | Sri Lanka Crisis: Opposition holds protest defying curfew
2 years, 8 months ago

Watch | Sri Lanka Crisis: Opposition holds protest defying curfew

The Hindu  

Sri Lanka’s main opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya on Sunday held a protest at Colombo’s Independence Square, defying a curfew imposed by the government that faces sharp criticism over its response to the country’s worsening economic crisis. Over the past week, citizen’s protests have intensified across Sri Lanka, amid a persisting shortage of food supplies and fuel, soaring prices of …

How ‘activism’ by Church groups and global ‘liberal’ organizations has left Sri Lanka starving
3 years, 3 months ago

How ‘activism’ by Church groups and global ‘liberal’ organizations has left Sri Lanka starving

Op India  

Our neighbour Sri Lanka is in crisis. For one, perhaps Kaushik Basu, a supposedly eminent economist at Cornell, might want to take back this tweet which seems to suggest that India’s economy is somehow doing worse than Sri Lanka. For one, the pandemic has gutted Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, which used to be their big source of foreign exchange. In …

The Rajapaksa Dynasty in Sri Lanka: Democracy in Decline
3 years, 4 months ago

The Rajapaksa Dynasty in Sri Lanka: Democracy in Decline

The Diplomat  

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was swept into power with 6.9 million votes in November 2019 and subsequently saw his party’s control bolstered with a two-thirds majority in Parliament in the general election of August 2020. The confrontationist orientation of Sri Lankan foreign policy, backstopped by the Chinese, has also resulted in a severe resolution on Sri Lanka in the …

What is behind the anti-Muslim measures in Sri Lanka?
3 years, 8 months ago

What is behind the anti-Muslim measures in Sri Lanka?

Al Jazeera  

On March 13, Sarath Weerasekara, Sri Lanka’s minister of public security, announced that the government will ban wearing of the burqa and close more than 1,000 Islamic schools in the country. During their political campaigning after 2015, the Rajapaksas’ new party, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, took on a Sinhala supremacist position, accommodating activist monks and anti-Muslim movement stalwarts. When …

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