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SLPP: One Year of Non Governance
Basil Fernando
As the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is reaching its first year of governance, which some may call non governance, the question that may be in the minds of many is where is it going? That is a question relevant not only for the SLPP but for the people of the entire country. It is easy to answer where the SLPP is not going. It is certainly not going towards democracy, the rule of law or respect for human rights. That is obvious. It is a political decision that the Government has taken to abandon that path.
Read more here.
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Misusing the Pandemic to Silence Sri Lankans
Savitri Hensman
Sri Lankan student activists have been arrested for protesting against militarisation and privatisation in higher education. This is yet another example of misuse of laws supposedly aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19 in order to increase state power and crush dissent. After a protest near Parliament on August 3, five people were arrested a few days later on charges of violating inter-provincial travel restrictions. They included Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) convenor Wasantha Mudalige and president of the Sri Jayewardenepura University Students’ Federation Amila Sandeepa.
Read more here.
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Lost and Confused - An Economic Policy in Shambles
Chandrasena Maliyadde
At the time of gaining independence 74 years ago, Sri Lanka was a prosperous country that was recognised as a model economy with a per capita income of $120, on par with Japan. At that time, the per capita income of South Korea was $86. The per capita incomes of the three countries today are Japan $40,113, South Korea $31,489 and Sri Lanka $3,682. Being a democratic country, Sri Lanka conducts elections every five years. Elections have changed either the political party in power or the head of the country with or without a change of the party. Political ideology and the economic vision of each party as well as each head have been different from one another. As a result, the country was deprived of having continuing constant economic policy. Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s economic policy was different from that of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike’s. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s economic policy differs from Mahinda Rajapaksa’s
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A Transgender Hominin Speaks Out Against the State's Favourite 'Ammé'
Vasi Udurawane
A few months ago, the author had the misfortune of being introduced to a video of a YouTuber and apparently a “psychiatrist” by the name of Ama Dissanayake. Having never heard of her and her work, the author was indeed (morbidly) curious to know what her work was about and how her work was related to the LGBT+ community. To the author’s horror, it was one of the most disgustingly homophobic videos that they had seen in a long time. In the video, Ama spoke about how the Sri Lankan culture and queerness simply did not go hand in hand, that it was sometimes “possible to cure gay men” but “not lesbians”. It was an open advertisement for conversion “therapy”, a cruel malpractice which leaves people unable to feel any sexual desire or taking their own lives.
Read more here.
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COVID-19 Public Health Measures Are Essential Even with Vaccinations
Shashika Bandara
On July 19, 2021, at a World Health Organization (WHO) press conference, COVID-19 Technical Lead Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove’s son asked a question that has been on all our minds “when will COVID-19 end?” Although Dr. Kerkhove knew the question was coming she had to hold back her tears as she answered, “I don’t know.” This is perhaps the emotion that we are all facing - regardless of who we are or what we do. While our level of privilege may change the impact of COVID-19, we all have had to face challenges during this period. As difficult as it maybe, it is important to realise that the pandemic is evolving fueled by vaccine inequity and with novel variants; thus, we should adjust accordingly, taking measures to remain safe and using available vaccines to build immunity.
Read more here.
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Fighting the War on Drugs the Wrong Way
Ambika Satkunathan
At present, it appears it is the Ministry of Defence that is not only driving the “war on drugs” but is also involved in the treatment of persons who are deemed to have a drug dependency, which should be led and crafted by the Ministry of Health. In Sri Lanka, the media enables the government’s war on drugs through the negative portrayal of people who use drugs, and engages in fear-mongering about the growing “drug menace”. People who use drugs or have a drug dependency are demonised and dehumanised and portrayed as a public threat. Since they are seen as undesirable outcasts, the violation of their human rights does not generate a public outcry, and is instead almost deemed necessary to rid the country of the “menace of drugs”.
Read more here.
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Living on the Edge: Children of Cemetery Dwellers
Minoli de Soysa
Their playground is a graveyard; their toys are sticks and stones. They run in the sand and dirt, flying kites and joking, fighting and laughing. They are Tamil children living on the edge of a cemetery in Veyangoda. The desire for a better life away from the grinding poverty and hopelessness of the tea estates brought their ancestors to this Sinhala area in the 1950s. Some people migrated from Colombo while others came from the North and other parts of the country, mainly due to marriage. The first man to arrive built a temporary house in the cemetery with permission from the local council. In 1956, the government built eight lines of semi-permanent houses for those who worked as labourers at the Town Council. In 1964, there were another eight lines houses built by the government. Since then, no renovations have been carried out on the houses.
Read more here.
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