The Cannon and the Cranium: Towards a Wider Agenda for Reparatory Justice in Sri Lanka by Andi Schubert

Lewke Disave’s Cannon, Colombo National Museum Lara Wijesuriya’s excellent recent essay is a wonderful invitation for further conversation about the politics of repatriation and the role of museums, archives, and the labour that underpins them in the national imaginaries. Wijesuriya cites in passing Nira Wickramasinghe’s essay on the return of Keppetipola’s cranium. In that essay,… Continue reading The Cannon and the Cranium: Towards a Wider Agenda for Reparatory Justice in Sri Lanka by Andi Schubert

When crises converge: how uneven agrarian development influences the effects of climate change in Sri Lanka’s North-Central dry zone by Harry M. Quealy and Cherisma Rajaratnam

In 2016-2017, Sri Lanka’s North-Central dry zone suffered what had been described as the worst drought in decades (Fernandez 2017). The severe drought conditions, followed by heavy rainfalls, led to widespread crop failures, particularly affecting the 2016/17 Maha and 2017 Yala cultivation seasons. The drought had a significant impact on paddy cultivation. Overall, paddy production… Continue reading When crises converge: how uneven agrarian development influences the effects of climate change in Sri Lanka’s North-Central dry zone by Harry M. Quealy and Cherisma Rajaratnam

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Palestine and Us

Three months of atrocity upon atrocity and abomination upon abomination have passed since the dogs of war were unleashed over Palestine. As of the dawn of 2024, over 22,000 Palestinian men, women and children have been killed, and around 57,000 injured, in Israel’s annihilation of the people of Gaza, accompanied by multiple and ongoing acts… Continue reading Palestine and Us

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Best Reads 2023

Vajra Chandrasekera I have meant to read Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978) my whole adult life but only picked it up while glued to the current horrific news about Israel’s genocide in Palestine. On reading the book for the first time, I found perhaps unsurprisingly that I already knew it. Not Said’s close readings of specific… Continue reading Best Reads 2023

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Budget 2024: ‘Deep Marketisation’ in Sri Lanka by B. Skanthakumar

Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Budget for 2024 had safe passage on third reading on 13 December as expected, with a majority of 41 votes in the 225-member legislature. The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP—People’s Front) with its rotten majority in parliament, having selected Wickremesinghe as president last year, made sure of that. There were 122 votes in… Continue reading Budget 2024: ‘Deep Marketisation’ in Sri Lanka by B. Skanthakumar

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A Voice from Palestine by M. A. Nuhman

[Israeli defence minister says: ‘‘We are fighting with human animals” and prime minister Netanyahu says in his address to the nation: ‘‘Israel is fighting with the enemies of civilization … This war is between the forces of civilization and the forces of barbarism’’. This poem is in response to their utterances.]       [Israeli defence minister says: ‘‘We are… Continue reading A Voice from Palestine by M. A. Nuhman

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Categorized as Literary

නාද්‍යාගේ Minarets නාදය: “ඉස්ලාමීය සද්දයක්ද? සිනමා සද්දයක්ද? NGO සද්දයක්ද? ” – බූපති නලින් වික්‍රමගේ

වාර්තා චිත්‍රපටයක් තවදුරටත් වාර්තාවකටම ඌණනය විය යුතු නැත. සිනමාව තවදුරටත් සමාජ විද්‍යාවේ කාර්යභාරය ද ඉටු කළ යුතු ද නැත. සමාජ විද්‍යාත්මක තොරතුරු සාධනය යනු තවදුරටත් වාර්තා සිනමාවේ ප්‍රකාශිත ආඛ්‍යානයක් නොවේ. වාර්තාවක් වූව ද එය හුදු නිශ්ක්‍රීය වාර්තාවක් නොව, එමගින් හෙළිදරව් වන තොරතුරු හරහා දැනටමත් අප නිර්මාණය කරගෙන තිබෙනා “ව්‍යාජ සමස්තයන්” කළඹවන සෞන්දර්යාත්මක වාර්තාවක් විය හැක.… Continue reading නාද්‍යාගේ Minarets නාදය: “ඉස්ලාමීය සද්දයක්ද? සිනමා සද්දයක්ද? NGO සද්දයක්ද? ” – බූපති නලින් වික්‍රමගේ

2024 and Beyond: Electoral Politics and the Left by Devaka Gunawardena

Amid a suffocating consensus on austerity, any opportunity to expand on the current stakes of Left strategy in Sri Lanka must be seen as a small victory. The debate provoked by my original piece, including Ramindu Perera’s response in Polity, ought to continue to widen to include a diverse set of voices. But I must… Continue reading 2024 and Beyond: Electoral Politics and the Left by Devaka Gunawardena

Repatriation and Reparation: Objects and the Colonial Museum by Lara Wijesuriya

Exhibit 1: Throne of Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, Colombo National Museum In 1934, the Duke of Gloucester paid a State visit to Ceylon, bringing with him the throne and regalia of Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, the last king of Kandy. The return of the throne, which had been taken to Britain when Kandy was conquered in 1815,… Continue reading Repatriation and Reparation: Objects and the Colonial Museum by Lara Wijesuriya

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Categorized as Essay

Why 2024 Will Not Be 2015 Redux by Ramindu Perera

Amidst the woes of a deepening economic crisis and the disastrous effect of International Monetary Fund-dictated austerity measures, Sri Lanka is passing through a tremendous political crisis. On the one hand, the government — an unstable coalition between the Sri Lanka Podujana Pakshaya (SLPP—People’s Party) and Ranil Wickremesinghe has become increasingly desperate due to lack… Continue reading Why 2024 Will Not Be 2015 Redux by Ramindu Perera