Tisaranee Gunasekara

Tisaranee Gunasekara is a political commentator based in Colombo.

Sri Lanka’s political monks rage against reduced clout

After the 2022 protests and the fall of the Rajapaksas, Sri Lankan monks are politically adrift and looking to project new threats – including Christians

Jun 30, 2023

China courts influence in Sri Lanka via the Buddhist clergy

Beijing needs new allies now that the Rajapaksas are reeling, but the enmeshing of politics and religion in Sri Lanka is always cause for concern

Jan 26, 2023

Sri Lanka: Back on the brink

Easter Sunday bombings could create new fissures.

Apr 26, 2019

Sri Lankan Muslims: the new ‘others’?

The history and politics of Muslimphobia in Sri Lanka.

Apr 23, 2018

Freeing the fourth estate

In post-Rajapaksa Sri Lanka there is less restriction on the media.

Sep 20, 2016

The spectre haunting Lankan democracy

Will economic austerity come in the way of democracy?

Jun 08, 2016

Whither Lankan spring?

What the Rajapaksa comeback spells for democracy in Sri Lanka.

Jul 21, 2015

When the worm turns

On 8 January, the dynastic ambition of the Rajapaksas faces an unprecedented challenge.

Dec 31, 2014

A garrison state?

Why is the Sri Lankan army running parks, shopping arcades, a vet clinic and a beauty salon?

Oct 13, 2014

Sri Lanka’s Orwellian mediascape

Media workshops are not news in Sri Lanka. But in 2014 three media workshops became news, for all the wrong reasons.

Jun 25, 2014

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