Kadapatha launched in Anuradhapura

Kadapatha (The Looking Glass-Sixty Years of Independence), a collection of articles from the Sunday Lankadeepa weekly column of the same name written by Milinda Moragoda and edited by Edmond Ranasinghe, will be launched in Anuradhapura, on Friday, February 13.

The first copies of the book will be handed over to members of the Maha Sangha by Ranasinghe on the occasion of the Sangha Advisory Committee meeting of the Ministry of Tourism.

The book brings together a selection of fifty-five articles, which appeared during the period of September 2007-February 2009.

The Kadapatha column - launched a few months before the 60th Anniversary of Sri Lanka's Independence - critically evaluates the progress and setbacks we have made since then, exploring pertinent areas such as political reforms, governance, ethnic and cultural relations, economic reforms, women's affairs, education policy and international affairs.

The column ultimately argues for following a 'middle-path' approach away from extremism, to meet our society's challenges.

A television programme created and hosted by Moragoda entitled Nidhahasa (Freedom), which was aired on television in early 2008, was initially run parallel to the column.

Currently, Moragoda's ongoing weekly radio programme, Sanvada (Dialogue) continues an examination of these issues.

Podcasts of this show can be listened to on his website milinda.org.

Kadapatha is the latest in a series of columns by Moragoda, who has written regularly for over a decade for several newspapers on social, cultural, political and economic matters.

His earlier columns include Arthika Vigrahaya (Economic Review) Sathiye Sithiwilla (Weekly Thoughts) and Loka Nayakayan (World Leaders).

The latter two columns have appeared in the Tamil press, translated, along with Kadapatha (which is presently running).

The publishers are scheduled to distribute a limited number of copies of the book free. Interested persons can obtain a copy by writing before the end of this month to: Sanasili Foundation, 30/8, Sidharatha Place, Colombo-05.