Is the Aragalaya Checkmated?
Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his first interview as the new prime minister, said he would protect the GotaGoGama site while Army Commander Shavendra Silva said that if the protesters were not violent they…
Author: Shreen Saroor
The Tragic Lives of Women Victims of the PTA
Nearly three years have passed since the deadly 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. While failing to prosecute the actual perpetrators, the state has singlehandedly used the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) as a…
Denying Justice While Dehumanizing a Community at Large
Thirty-one people died in the suicide attack on Zion evangelical church in Batticaloa on April 21, 2019, of which 14 were children. To date the church remains locked with a notice on…
The Deception Continues
On February 24, after the Interactive Dialogue on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) when the burial issue dominated discussion of Sri Lanka’s respect for minority rights, the government…
Reconciliation in Practice
Our country is ethnically, religiously and linguistically diverse and our survival depends on equal treatment. Discrimination and violence against Tamils led to civil war and displacement. After the 2019 terrorist attacks, the…
Dead Body Politics and Racism: A Prayer for 2021
Federation World Health Organization, Infection prevention and control for the safe management of a dead body in the context of COVID-19, Interim guidance (September 4, 2020). Forced cremation of those who pass…
Black October: 30 Years Since, Where Are We?
In October 1990, some 75,000 Muslims in the Northern Province (about five percent of the province’s total) were forcibly expelled from their homeland by the LTTE. In some places the rebels gave…
Reform the Proposed 20th Amendment to Strengthen, Not Weaken, Transparency and Public Oversight
Following parliamentary elections, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa wasted no time in obtaining cabinet approval and thereafter gazetting the proposed 20th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. Many commentators have noted how…
Disproportionate Effects of Covid-19 on Sri Lankan Women
Sri Lanka has not been immune to the ravaging effects of the novel coronavirus, which emerged late last year and has affected millions worldwide. For the many struggling to cope with changes…
Scapegoating the Muslims: From Aluthgama to Post-Easter Sunday to COVID-19
Photo via To date in Sri Lanka 9 persons are said to have died of Covid-19 and out of these 4 are Muslims. At least 02 of these victims’ families believe their…
Honouring the victims of 21 April 2019 through togetherness and unity
Photo by Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP via NPR Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Easter Sunday attacks, in which eight IS terrorists senselessly murdered 269 Catholic and Christian worshippers and tourists, shattering our…
Reframing the debate around Women, Peace and Security
Photo from Wikimedia When a peace deal is struck between warring factions, it is widely understood that peace has been achieved. However, when key sections of society—in most cases all women—are kept…
Taking Stock for the New Year
Photo courtesy A tumultuous year has ended, and an uncertain future lies ahead. Democratic space is already closing around us, and it is critical for civil society to be clear-eyed about where…
Boycotting an election: Can we afford it?
Photo courtesy Verite Research The Tamils won the 2005 Presidential election – for Mahinda Rajapaksa. They did so not by voting for him. They did so by boycotting the election. In 2005…
A Betrayal of Trust: On Gotabhaya’s Candidacy and Shavendra’s Promotion
The International Day of the Disappeared is on August 30, and I was in Mannar when a group of mothers were preparing to show their collective resistance at Omanthai in the North…