How Climate Change is Affecting Eastern Sri Lanka
In the Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka, where the Gal Oya meets the sea, farmers, fishermen and families are facing an ongoing crisis. It is one shaped by rising temperatures, erratic rainfall…
Batticaloa
Local Government Elections Aim to Restore Democratic Governance at the Grassroots
The Local Government elections scheduled for May 6 give Sri Lankans the opportunity to once again take control of running their own affairs and restore democratic governance at the grassroots level. The…
Local Government Elections Herald a Positive Change for Women in the East
Women in Sri Lanka shun participating in politics for numerous reasons including hostility, harassment, threats, intimidation, violence and personal attacks on all fronts. While women consist 52 percent of the country’s population…
Women’s Attire Stokes Religious Tension in Eastern Sri Lanka
In times of calamity women are affected disproportionately, and Sri Lanka’s ethnic and religious conflicts are no exception to the rule. In the post-war context, Tamil women were left to look for…
The Mylanthanai Massacre: A Continuing Cycle of Impunity
Nallasera Nallamma was cooking lunch when the soldiers stormed into her remote village of Mylanthanai, one hour northwest of Batticaloa town, on August 9, 1992. They rounded up the villagers, separating the…
Batticaloa Dairy Farmers Face Violence and Threats over Grazing Land
Batticaloa cattle farmers protesting against the encroachment of outsiders into their grazing land have faced physical attacks and threats as tensions escalated. Their cows have been killed and land set on fire….
Kamala Vasuki: Bringing Truth Through Art
Kamala Vasuki is an artist and feminist activist who has continuously reacted and responded to oppressive, marginalizing and silencing mechanisms through her social action and her expressions through art. The work she…
We want the Power of Equality, Justice and Love. Not Love for Power.
In late April, women from movements and collectives in the North and East marched into GotaGoGama in Galle Face to voice their concerns and issues in solidarity with the struggle in the…
Refusing a Neoliberal Peace in The Incomplete Thombu
Today Sri Lanka faces its worst economic crisis since independence. In the coming months, people’s hardships will only worsen as more austerity is forced on them. The present crisis is a result…
Batticaloa Bears Impact of Easter Sunday Attacks
Sri Lanka’s return to terror came on April 21, 2019 with the bombing of three hotels and three churches that killed 267 people and injured about 500. The trial of 25 men…
“I live with his memory”: A Documentary on the Easter Sunday Attacks
The voices on the walkie-talkie sound alarming. The eyes of security officers in uniform search for unknown faces. They stand 500 meters away from the church and closely monitor the situation. Those…
Two Years On, They Are Still Asking For Answers
When new faces are seen at the Zion evangelical church in Batticaloa, it is customary for the pastor to welcome them. As a healing church, it is open to non-Christians. Two years…
Fear in the East: What Lies Beneath
They joke of being followed by intelligence officers and questioned on who visited them and what they spoke about but underneath lies a real fear of being intimidated, harassed and threatened when…
The Sathurukondan Massacre: Witnesses Speak
September 9, 1990, 5.30 pm. Armed men clad in military uniform and civilian clothes instruct people from Sathurukondan, Kokkuvil, Pachchaiyadi and Pillayaradi to come out to the road. They are taken to…
“Where, where, where?” They Ask
It was a dramatic moment: a tall, well-built young man dressed in white with a black band tied across his forehead pushed his way through the closed gates of the church premises…