What does it mean to be Sri Lankan?
70 years after independence, our identity is defined mostly along majoritarian lines, which can be traced back to the divisions created under British rule. These divisions have contributed to violence and war, in the years since 1948.
To this day, there are communities who feel that what is commonly projected and defined as the Sri Lankan identity does not reflect their reality, or themselves.
Looking at this, Groundviews produced a series of videos exploring identity and belonging in a country emerging from war, but not yet out of conflict.
Vicky Shahjahan is a visual artist from Kompanna Veediya. In this interview, Vicky talks about the stigma that persists towards gender non-conforming individuals, and highlights the need to make them feel included in workplaces and society at large.
Editor’s Note: To watch the next video, click here. Click here to see the earlier video in our video series, or here for more content around Sri Lanka’s 70th Independence Day.