The new year week witnessed the drama surrounding the press conference of Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe MP and ven. M. Aanada, followed by the subsequent publicising of the news of a heated conversation between President Nandasena and Wijeyadasa. As many analysts and citizens have highlighted, this drama has all the characteristics of…

The name of Disha Ravi [DR], a 21-year-old climate justice activist, shook Bharat by storm in mid-February 2021. DR is the founder of the India chapter of Fridays for Future, an international protest network launched by Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg. On 13 February 2021, DR was arrested, on…

Nandasena Rajapaksa [NR], the president of Sri Lanka placed in that role by powerful commercial and media interests, recently published a tweet — on equality! …

It was undoubtedly the most frustrating cinematic experience ever. I watched Funny Boy by D. Mehta [DM] on CBC Gem, during the weekend of 5th November 2020. It is indeed a ‘funny’ film, which does a great deal of injustice to a Lankan Tamil queer boy’s coming-of-age story. Funny Boy…

By Dr Chamindra Weerawardhana John Hume has passed away at the age of 83. Hume is credited for making major innovations in the peace process of the north of Ireland. His contributions are considered as especially vital, in terms of developing a bridge of dialogue with the Irish Republican leadership…

Pride 2020 is markedly different from previous years. Apart from the obvious reality that we are unable to organise pride events and social gatherings, the pandemic situation has impacted pride, and SOGIESC rights advocacy in general, in a number of very specific ways. Pandemic as a ‘grounding’ force? …

[part one] *Published in the Colombo Telegraph on 4 May 2019. Sri Lanka in May 2019: we have a man in the top job, whose incompetence has been repeatedly proven. He lies like he breathes, lets innocent citizens and their children be bombed in the most brutal way, and travels…

[to mark Dr Halappanavar’s sixth death anniversary] Six years ago, Dr Savita Halappanavar, herself a medical professional living and working in the Irish Republic, was denied an abortion. To quote the New York Times: …17 weeks pregnant, Dr. Halappanavar went the hospital with back pain on Oct. 21 and doctors said she was having a miscarriage… Dr…

Originally published in The Last Round, on 27th May 2018]. As activists celebrate the landslide victory from last week’s referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment; Dr Chamindra Weerawardhana talks to TLR about the result and what lies ahead for rights and equality advocates. The Referendum on the 8th Amendment has…