Groundviews during a Cold Peace
Photography by James Morgan has continued to be a necessary space for discussing the cold peace that arrived with the conclusion of the war in May 2009. It was only in late-2009…
Year: 2016
Lessons Learnt on Reconciliation
After opening night of on the 26th of November 2009, a small group remained behind long after the show finished. They sat dotted around the small amphitheatre, not speaking a word. Theatre…
MMDA: Personal Narratives – 2
This is the second in a series of video interviews conducted by sister publication highlighting the difficulties faced by women under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Article 16 of the constitution states…
10 Years of Groundviews: What’s the impact?
Any pioneering venture that stays the course requires commendation and acknowledgment. Therefore when invited by Sanjana, founder curator, to pen a few lines on 10th Anniversary, I saw it as an opportunity…
Reconstruction
Pictures photographed for . The book is a visual documentation of this four-year undertaking by the Trust, in partnership with UNICEF. The Trust’s activities centred around education, health and child protection as…
Let the local discussion be your lodestar
Image via Having been in the Washington D.C. area for a fair amount of time and having read a few of the really good contributions to the most recent series, I got…
Reconciliation in Sri Lanka: Mission Impossible?
Photograph courtesy During the past few years much has been spoken and written about the need for reconciliation between the different communities in Sri Lanka. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)…
Human Rights Day, Transitional Justice and the Reform Agenda in Sri Lanka: What Next?
10th December marks international human rights day. While we should respect, promote and protect human rights regardless of a special day, 10th December ideally should be when we revisit and reflect on…
Human Rights in 2016: Aspiring for more
On January 8, 2015, President Maithripala Sirisena took office, making ambitious promises of good governance, transparency and openness. It was hoped his surprise victory would change the way Sri Lanka tackled rights…
Lankan Muslims, Extremist Monks & a Feverish Government
Photo via Al Jazeera As turns ten, Sri Lankan Muslims are at a crossroads. The last ten years were predominantly about tensions between Sinhalese and Tamils, Muslims seem to now be the…
MMDA: Personal Narratives – 1 [VIDEO]
There is currently a call for the reform of personal laws such as the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Article 16 of the constitution states that existing written and unwritten laws,…
Muslim Women: Second-Class Rights Holders in Sri Lanka’s Quazi System
Despite volumes of research and recommendations for reform, Sri Lanka’s Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act of 1951 (MMDA) and the Quazi court system remain untouched and continue to oppress Muslim women. Muslim…
Non-existing ethnic problem in Sri Lanka
In his article under the above title in the Island of Saturday 3rd December, my old friend P.S.Mahawatta pays me two inaccurate compliments. Firstly, he says, using the present tense, that I…
Democratising Majority Rule
Sri Lanka has been exposed to veiled despotic and corrupt rule for some time. The malady persisted through the last regime and the people joined hands, two years back hopefully, to usher…
Personal/Political
Photo courtesy Abdul Halik Azeez In September 2013, I lost my mother. 8 months after that, in May 2014, I lost my brother. They were significant people, in more ways than one. There…
