Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Amantha Perera UNNICHCHAI, Sri Lanka, May 28, 2011 (IPS) – The road to Unnichchai in eastern Sri Lanka makes for a nerve-wracking journey trying to avoid large crater-like potholes, squeezing across narrow bridges, and passing by a patchwork landscape of paddy fields – both abandoned and cultivated [...]
SRI LANKA: War Long Over, Media Still Muzzled
May 2, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Amantha Perera COLOMBO, May 2, 2011 (IPS) – It has been two years since the end of Sri Lanka’s decades long war, and life in general has begun to slowly edge back towards normalcy here. Not so for the country’s besieged media community, according to observers and [...]
Facing Human Rights Challenge in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka
April 1, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By H. M. G. S. Palihakkara* IDN-InDepth NewsSpecial COLOMBO (IDN) – A challenge that preoccupies local and foreign opinion is the Challenge of Human Rights: Some countries focus their bilateral dialogue with Sri Lanka only on human rights. Our interlocutors invariably refer to human rights concerns in [...]
Post-Conflict Sri Lanka Confronts Challenge of Peace Building
April 1, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By H. M. G. S. Palihakkara* IDN-InDepth NewsSpecial COLOMBO (IDN) – When domestic processes fail to find solutions to internal problems, external forces find space to advocate or even impose solutions for their own political or strategic convenience. Sri Lanka is no exception. Leadership failures since independence [...]
SRI LANKA: Latest Elections Reinforce Status Quo
March 31, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Amantha Perera COLOMBO, Mar 30, 2011 (IPS) – The latest elections in Sri Lanka serve as yet another reminder that despite all its follies, President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government is unshakable. In the Mar. 17 elections for 234 local government bodies, the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led [...]
SRI LANKA: Parliamentarian Breaks Silence on Domestic Violence
March 22, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Amantha Perera COLOMBO, Mar 22, 2011 (IPS) – She became famous playing the role of ‘Pabha’, a poor young girl in love with a rich man in a long running hit television series here. But these days, Upeksha Suwarnamali is better known for her real-life role: A [...]
SRI LANKA: Garment Industry Woos Women Workers
February 10, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Feizal Samath COLOMBO, Feb 10, 2011 (IPS) – Sri Lanka’s garment industry has launched a multi-million rupee campaign to bring in female workers shunning the country’s most profitable sector for better paying jobs. Executives at garment firms believe the industry is merely experiencing a bad image problem, [...]
SRI LANKA: A Powerful President Promises Prosperity
November 22, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Amantha Perera HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka, Nov 22, 2010 (IPS) – Percy Mahinda Rajapaksa is the quintessential Sri Lankan politician – someone who senses the subtle shifts in the political landscape quickly and can turn a narrowest of victories into the strongest of legacies. On Nov. 19, Sri [...]
SRI LANKA: Rising Bread Prices Expose Trade Vulnerabilities
October 28, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Amantha Perera COLOMBO, Oct 28, 2010 (IPS) – There was a time when being a breadseller here in Colombo enabled Charmindha to have modest dreams. But the teenager from Sri Lanka’s rural south has been seeing his daily earnings slide in the last two months, and indications [...]
SRI LANKAN TAMILS: A DISCONCERTING SITUATION FOR INDIA
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy B.RAMAN My attention has been drawn to a disturbing documentary titled “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” produced by Mr.Jon Snow of the Channel4 TV channel of the UK. 2.The documentary highlights the results of a forensic investigation into the bloody culmination phase of the counter-insurgency operations of the Sri Lankan Security [...]