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
Latest Articles
Podcast: Uttar Pradesh’s halal ban, Myanmar’s armed groups expose military junta’s weakness, and more
Your Southasia news roundup from 20 Nov - 1 Dec 2023, plus an interview with Aung Kaung Myat on Operation 1027 in Myanmar
India’s slow-burn affair with Israel heats up
Azad Essa’s 'Hostile Homelands' explores the ideological convergence of Hindutva and Zionism, and the consequences for Kashmir and Palestine – but there is much more driving India and Israel’s deepening ties
Disillusioned with the Taliban, Pakistan reverses its four-decade Afghan policy
As Kabul refuses to act against the TTP and Baloch militant groups, Pakistan is ending the support it has extended to the Taliban since 1994 and its welcome to refugees from Afghanistan since the 1980s
The limited genius of Geoffrey Bawa
‘Geoffrey Bawa: Drawing from the Archives’ allows an exploration of the rift between the celebrated architect’s vision for nation-building in Sri Lanka and the country’s present reality
