Features

250 Years of Illusion: America’s Tarnished Democracy

Published

7 months ago

2025/07/6

US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites

We have been deceived—again and again—into believing that U.S. democracy was born as a noble product of collective will. The story handed down to us is that George Washington, in a moment of virtuous restraint, rejected Colonel Lewis Nicola’s suggestion to crown him king, choosing instead the path of liberty and republicanism. This moment is celebrated as the moral genesis of American democracy. But 250 years on, the illusion fractures under the weight of historical reality.

What has been marketed to the world as democracy is, in fact, a meticulously engineered architecture of power: elitist at home, imperial abroad. The so-called “rules-based order” championed by American diplomats is not a codified universalism—it is an ideological cudgel wielded only when convenient, a system of selective legality designed to mask naked geopolitical aggression.

America’s origin myth is steeped not in egalitarianism but in extermination, slavery, and expansionism. The Declaration of Independence, crafted by men who themselves owned human beings, is less a document of freedom than a philosophical smokescreen. The economic engine of the new republic ran on the backs of enslaved Africans—auctioned, whipped, raped, and bred like livestock. The foundational wealth of the United States was extracted not merely through commerce or innovation, but through racialised brutality institutionalised as law.

Simultaneously, Indigenous nations were decimated by policies so ferocious they now fall under the ambit of genocide. The Trail of Tears, initiated under Andrew Jackson, led to the deaths of thousands during forced removals. The Sand Creek Massacre (1864), the Bear River Massacre (1863), and the slaughter at Wounded Knee (1890) are but a few unambiguous testaments to settler-colonial annihilation. These were not chaotic by-products of war—they were methodical acts of ethnic cleansing, carried out under government authority.

The Indian Boarding Schools, operating well into the 20th century, functioned as laboratories of cultural erasure. Native children were stolen from their families, stripped of language and identity, and subjected to systematic abuse. Many perished. Their bodies remain buried, literally and metaphorically, in the margins of American history books.

Slavery’s formal abolition was a bait-and-switch. The 13th Amendment, often cited as a moral landmark, explicitly permits involuntary servitude “as punishment for crime.” This clause birthed the carceral leviathan that now holds more than two million people—disproportionately Black and Brown—in cages. Chain gangs were simply replaced by prison labour. Jim Crow laws mutated into mass incarceration. Democracy, in the land of its supposed origin, has been operationalised as an instrument of racial management.

Beyond its borders, the United States has imposed its will through fire and steel. Since the mid-20th century, over 800 American military bases have metastasised across the globe—encircling rivals, destabilising regions, and foreclosing sovereign futures. The map of U.S. bombings reads like a grim eulogy for the postcolonial world: Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945), Korea (1950–53), Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia (1964–75), Grenada (1983), Panama (1989), Iraq (1991, 2003), Yugoslavia (1999), Afghanistan (2001–2021), Libya (2011), Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan—the list is encyclopaedic, the outcomes catastrophic.

George Washington

These assaults were not aberrations. They are the sinews of U.S. foreign policy. Civilian casualties, mass displacement, decimated infrastructure—these are collateral sacrifices at the altar of American primacy. The 2003 invasion of Iraq, launched under the pretext of non-existent weapons of mass destruction, killed hundreds of thousands and unravelled an entire region. It was not just a war crime; it was an act of ontological vandalism.

Meanwhile, the CIA functioned as the state’s clandestine sword arm—executing assassinations, staging coups, and manipulating foreign governments with pathological impunity. Operation Ajax in Iran (1953), the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in Congo (1961), the orchestration of Chile’s 1973 coup and Salvador Allende’s death, the slaughter following Suharto’s rise in Indonesia—these are not Cold War footnotes. They are the operational grammar of empire. From Latin America’s death squads to Africa’s proxy militias, the U.S. exported death in the name of freedom, dissolving democracies while preaching democratic virtue. The façade cracked further on 22 June 2025, when the U.S. military launched the airstrikes on alleged Iranian nuclear sites. Again, no Senate approval. Again, no UN mandate. No evidence presented, no imminent threat substantiated. Just premeditated violence delivered from above, wrapped in the rhetoric of pre-emption.

These violations are not the exceptions—they are the doctrine. They expose the hollow core of the “rules-based international order” that American officials regurgitate at every diplomatic summit. Where were the rules when the International Atomic Energy Agency’s findings were ignored? When civilians became uncounted corpses? Sovereignty is sacred—until it obstructs U.S. interests. Legality is upheld—until it isn’t. Morality is espoused—until it becomes inconvenient.

Antonio Gramsci’s concept of cultural hegemony is not an abstraction here. American dominance is sustained not only through bombs and bases but through narratives. The cinematic heroism of soldiers, the pageantry of 4th July, the mythologising of the Founding Fathers—all cultivate acquiescence. This is not democracy; it is imperial pedagogy. History is sculpted to erase Indigenous resistance, to sanitise slave rebellions, to omit the bloodied cost of expansion. Power survives by shaping memory.

Domestically, this hegemony manifests as a fortified police state. Urban policing is militarised, racialised, and terminally unaccountable. Surveillance pervades every digital crevice. Billionaires underwrite elections while voters are purged from rolls. Meanwhile, whistle-blowers like Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden are criminalised for revealing the very duplicities on which the system runs. Justice is rationed. Dissent is criminalised. The machinery of control is bipartisan.

And yet, resistance grows quieter when comfort replaces conviction. U.S. policymakers have long perfected a dual strategy: attracting the brightest minds from other nations through the front door with scholarships and opportunity, while welcoming corrupt elites through the back—bringing with them vast stolen wealth. This was not coincidence; it was policy. Intellectual capital is harvested, while accountability is outsourced. Those who manage to benefit—regardless of where they come from—often learn to stay silent. Silence becomes the currency of survival.

Meanwhile, American officials, often standing in nations hollowed out by these very dynamics, deliver polished speeches about anti-corruption and a “rules-based order.” It is disarming to witness a person speak of justice while actively undermining it, to see a smile accompany the quiet betrayal of their own conscience.

At 250 years, the United States is not an enlightened republic; it is a paradox on the verge of collapse. It exhorts others to uphold international law while treating treaties as toilet paper. It funds brutal regimes while sermonising about human rights. It cloaks militarism in democracy and calls it liberation.

To participate in this pageantry is to be complicit. To swallow the official myths is to ingest poison disguised as principle. American democracy, if it is to mean anything, must be exhumed, dismantled, and reimagined—not venerated as sacred scripture, but interrogated as a living contradiction.

by Nilantha Ilangamuwa ✍️

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Features

Crucial test for religious and ethnic harmony in Bangladesh

Published

18 hours ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

A political protest that led to governmental change in Bangladesh mid last year. (photograph: imago)

Will the Bangladesh parliamentary election bring into being a government that will ensure ethnic and religious harmony in the country? This is the poser on the lips of peace-loving sections in Bangladesh and a principal concern of those outside who mean the country well.

The apprehensions are mainly on the part of religious and ethnic minorities. The parliamentary poll of February 12th is expected to bring into existence a government headed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist oriented Jamaat-e-Islami party and this is where the rub is. If these parties win, will it be a case of Bangladesh sliding in the direction of a theocracy or a state where majoritarian chauvinism thrives?

Chief of the Jamaat, Shafiqur Rahman, who was interviewed by sections of the international media recently said that there is no need for minority groups in Bangladesh to have the above fears. He assured, essentially, that the state that will come into being will be equable and inclusive. May it be so, is likely to be the wish of those who cherish a tension-free Bangladesh.

The party that could have posed a challenge to the above parties, the Awami League Party of former Prime Minister Hasina Wased, is out of the running on account of a suspension that was imposed on it by the authorities and the mentioned majoritarian-oriented parties are expected to have it easy at the polls.

A positive that has emerged against the backdrop of the poll is that most ordinary people in Bangladesh, be they Muslim or Hindu, are for communal and religious harmony and it is hoped that this sentiment will strongly prevail, going ahead. Interestingly, most of them were of the view, when interviewed, that it was the politicians who sowed the seeds of discord in the country and this viewpoint is widely shared by publics all over the region in respect of the politicians of their countries.

Some sections of the Jamaat party were of the view that matters with regard to the orientation of governance are best left to the incoming parliament to decide on but such opinions will be cold comfort for minority groups. If the parliamentary majority comes to consist of hard line Islamists, for instance, there is nothing to prevent the country from going in for theocratic governance. Consequently, minority group fears over their safety and protection cannot be prevented from spreading.

Therefore, we come back to the question of just and fair governance and whether Bangladesh’s future rulers could ensure these essential conditions of democratic rule. The latter, it is hoped, will be sufficiently perceptive to ascertain that a Bangladesh rife with religious and ethnic tensions, and therefore unstable, would not be in the interests of Bangladesh and those of the region’s countries.

Unfortunately, politicians region-wide fall for the lure of ethnic, religious and linguistic chauvinism. This happens even in the case of politicians who claim to be democratic in orientation. This fate even befell Bangladesh’s Awami League Party, which claims to be democratic and socialist in general outlook.

We have it on the authority of Taslima Nasrin in her ground-breaking novel, ‘Lajja’, that the Awami Party was not of any substantial help to Bangladesh’s Hindus, for example, when violence was unleashed on them by sections of the majority community. In fact some elements in the Awami Party were found to be siding with the Hindus’ murderous persecutors. Such are the temptations of hard line majoritarianism.

In Sri Lanka’s past numerous have been the occasions when even self-professed Leftists and their parties have conveniently fallen in line with Southern nationalist groups with self-interest in mind. The present NPP government in Sri Lanka has been waxing lyrical about fostering national reconciliation and harmony but it is yet to prove its worthiness on this score in practice. The NPP government remains untested material.

As a first step towards national reconciliation it is hoped that Sri Lanka’s present rulers would learn the Tamil language and address the people of the North and East of the country in Tamil and not Sinhala, which most Tamil-speaking people do not understand. We earnestly await official language reforms which afford to Tamil the dignity it deserves.

An acid test awaits Bangladesh as well on the nation-building front. Not only must all forms of chauvinism be shunned by the incoming rulers but a secular, truly democratic Bangladesh awaits being licked into shape. All identity barriers among people need to be abolished and it is this process that is referred to as nation-building.

On the foreign policy frontier, a task of foremost importance for Bangladesh is the need to build bridges of amity with India. If pragmatism is to rule the roost in foreign policy formulation, Bangladesh would place priority to the overcoming of this challenge. The repatriation to Bangladesh of ex-Prime Minister Hasina could emerge as a steep hurdle to bilateral accord but sagacious diplomacy must be used by Bangladesh to get over the problem.

A reply to N.A. de S. Amaratunga

A response has been penned by N.A. de S. Amaratunga (please see p5 of ‘The Island’ of February 6th) to a previous column by me on ‘ India shaping-up as a Swing State’, published in this newspaper on January 29th , but I remain firmly convinced that India remains a foremost democracy and a Swing State in the making.

If the countries of South Asia are to effectively manage ‘murderous terrorism’, particularly of the separatist kind, then they would do well to adopt to the best of their ability a system of government that provides for power decentralization from the centre to the provinces or periphery, as the case may be. This system has stood India in good stead and ought to prove effective in all other states that have fears of disintegration.

Moreover, power decentralization ensures that all communities within a country enjoy some self-governing rights within an overall unitary governance framework. Such power-sharing is a hallmark of democratic governance.

Features

Celebrating Valentine’s Day …

Published

18 hours ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love, romance, and affection, and this is how some of our well-known personalities plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day – 14th February:

Merlina Fernando (Singer)

Yes, it’s a special day for lovers all over the world and it’s even more special to me because 14th February is the birthday of my husband Suresh, who’s the lead guitarist of my band Mission.

We have planned to celebrate Valentine’s Day and his Birthday together and it will be a wonderful night as always.

We will be having our fans and close friends, on that night, with their loved ones at Highso – City Max hotel Dubai, from 9.00 pm onwards.

Lorensz Francke (Elvis Tribute Artiste)

On Valentine’s Day I will be performing a live concert at a Wealthy Senior Home for Men and Women, and their families will be attending, as well.

I will be performing live with romantic, iconic love songs and my song list would include ‘Can’t Help falling in Love’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘Burning Love’, ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’, ‘The Wonder of You’ and ‘’It’s Now or Never’ to name a few.

To make Valentine’s Day extra special I will give the Home folks red satin scarfs.

Emma Shanaya (Singer)

I plan on spending the day of love with my girls, especially my best friend. I don’t have a romantic Valentine this year but I am thrilled to spend it with the girl that loves me through and through. I’ll be in Colombo and look forward to go to a cute cafe and spend some quality time with my childhood best friend Zulha.

JAYASRI

Emma-and-Maneeka

This Valentine’s Day the band JAYASRI we will be really busy; in the morning we will be landing in Sri Lanka, after our Oman Tour; then in the afternoon we are invited as Chief Guests at our Maris Stella College Sports Meet, Negombo, and late night we will be with LineOne band live in Karandeniya Open Air Down South. Everywhere we will be sharing LOVE with the mass crowds.

Kay Jay (Singer)

I will stay at home and cook a lovely meal for lunch, watch some movies, together with Sanjaya, and, maybe we go out for dinner and have a lovely time. Come to think of it, every day is Valentine’s Day for me with Sanjaya Alles.

Maneka Liyanage (Beauty Tips)

On this special day, I celebrate love by spending meaningful time with the people I cherish. I prepare food with love and share meals together, because food made with love brings hearts closer. I enjoy my leisure time with them — talking, laughing, sharing stories, understanding each other, and creating beautiful memories. My wish for this Valentine’s Day is a world without fighting — a world where we love one another like our own beloved, where we do not hurt others, even through a single word or action. Let us choose kindness, patience, and understanding in everything we do.

Janaka Palapathwala (Singer)

Janaka

Valentine’s Day should not be the only day we speak about love.

From the moment we are born into this world, we seek love, first through the very drop of our mother’s milk, then through the boundless care of our Mother and Father, and the embrace of family.

Love is everywhere. All living beings, even plants, respond in affection when they are loved.

As we grow, we learn to love, and to be loved. One day, that love inspires us to build a new family of our own.

Love has no beginning and no end. It flows through every stage of life, timeless, endless, and eternal.

Natasha Rathnayake (Singer)

We don’t have any special plans for Valentine’s Day. When you’ve been in love with the same person for over 25 years, you realise that love isn’t a performance reserved for one calendar date. My husband and I have never been big on public displays, or grand gestures, on 14th February. Our love is expressed quietly and consistently, in ordinary, uncelebrated moments.

With time, you learn that love isn’t about proving anything to the world or buying into a commercialised idea of romance—flowers that wilt, sweets that spike blood sugar, and gifts that impress briefly but add little real value. In today’s society, marketing often pushes the idea that love is proven by how much money you spend, and that buying things is treated as a sign of commitment.

Real love doesn’t need reminders or price tags. It lives in showing up every day, choosing each other on unromantic days, and nurturing the relationship intentionally and without an audience.

This isn’t a judgment on those who enjoy celebrating Valentine’s Day. It’s simply a personal choice.

Melloney Dassanayake (Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2024)

I truly believe it’s beautiful to have a day specially dedicated to love. But, for me, Valentine’s Day goes far beyond romantic love alone. It celebrates every form of love we hold close to our hearts: the love for family, friends, and that one special person who makes life brighter. While 14th February gives us a moment to pause and celebrate, I always remind myself that love should never be limited to just one day. Every single day should feel like Valentine’s Day – constant reminder to the people we love that they are never alone, that they are valued, and that they matter.

I’m incredibly blessed because, for me, every day feels like Valentine’s Day. My special person makes sure of that through the smallest gestures, the quiet moments, and the simple reminders that love lives in the details. He shows me that it’s the little things that count, and that love doesn’t need grand stages to feel extraordinary. This Valentine’s Day, perfection would be something intimate and meaningful: a cozy picnic in our home garden, surrounded by nature, laughter, and warmth, followed by an abstract drawing session where we let our creativity flow freely. To me, that’s what love is – simple, soulful, expressive, and deeply personal. When love is real, every ordinary moment becomes magical.

Noshin De Silva (Actress)

Valentine’s Day is one of my favourite holidays! I love the décor, the hearts everywhere, the pinks and reds, heart-shaped chocolates, and roses all around. But honestly, I believe every day can be Valentine’s Day.

It doesn’t have to be just about romantic love. It’s a chance to celebrate love in all its forms with friends, family, or even by taking a little time for yourself.

Whether you’re spending the day with someone special or enjoying your own company, it’s a reminder to appreciate meaningful connections, show kindness, and lead with love every day.

And yes, I’m fully on theme this year with heart nail art and heart mehendi design!

Wishing everyone a very happy Valentine’s Day, but, remember, love yourself first, and don’t forget to treat yourself.

Sending my love to all of you.

Features

Banana and Aloe Vera

Published

18 hours ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

To create a powerful, natural, and hydrating beauty mask that soothes inflammation, fights acne, and boosts skin radiance, mix a mashed banana with fresh aloe vera gel.

This nutrient-rich blend acts as an antioxidant-packed anti-ageing treatment that also doubles as a nourishing, shiny hair mask.

* Face Masks for Glowing Skin:

Mix 01 ripe banana with 01 tablespoon of fresh aloe vera gel and apply this mixture to the face. Massage for a few minutes, leave for 15-20 minutes, and then rinse off for a glowing complexion.

* Acne and Soothing Mask:

Mix 01 tablespoon of fresh aloe vera gel with 1/2 a mashed banana and 01 teaspoon of honey. Apply this mixture to clean skin to calm inflammation, reduce redness, and hydrate dry, sensitive skin. Leave for 15-20 minutes, and rinse with warm water.

* Hair Treatment for Shine:

Mix 01 fresh ripe banana with 03 tablespoons of fresh aloe vera gel and 01 teaspoon of honey. Apply from scalp to ends, massage for 10-15 minutes and then let it dry for maximum absorption. Rinse thoroughly with cool water for soft, shiny, and frizz-free hair.