Image: Sri Lankan traditional dancers perform during an event to mark the anniversary of country’s independence from British colonial rule in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena) The 72nd Independence Day celebrations took place this year at the Independence Square under the auspices of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Those interested in national […]
Sinhala Buddhist natioanalism
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Sri Lanka 2020: The only glimmer of hope is in people power – Shreen Abdul Saroor
A tumultuous year has ended, and an uncertain future lies ahead. Democratic space is already closing around us, and it is critical for civil society to be clear-eyed about where we have been and the challenges that lie ahead. Nothing much happened after rescuing the country from a constitutional coup. The PM forgot why the […]
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The Return – Tisaranee Gunasekara
“The tragic paradox of the electoral route to authoritarianism is that democracy’s assassins use the very institutions of democracy – gradually, subtly, and even legally – to kill it.” -Stephen Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (How Democracies Die) “As if our democracy was nothing but a short-lived dream,” says Brazilian filmmaker Petra Costa in The Edge of […]
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Sri Lanka President Pardons Hardline Buddhist Monk Serving Jail Term
Image: Galagodaatte Gnanasara has been serving concurrent jail terms over his disruptive behaviour in court. COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s president granted an amnesty to a firebrand Buddhist monk on Wednesday, four days after holding talks with him at the country’s main prison, officials said. President Maithripala Sirisena pardoned Galagodaatte Gnanasara days after releasing 762 other convicts to […]
