The Prevention of Terrorism Act: Whom Does It Keep Safe?
Photo courtesy of Sri Lanka – WordPress By Ermiza Tegal and Amra Ismail Does the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) keep us safe? How often is it misused? Does it cause unjust…
Easter Sunday Terrorist Attacks
A Big Lie: The Promise of Justice for Easter Sunday Attacks
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith presided over the April 21 commemoration with the participation of other religious leaders. Talking about the issue he has said that the problem is not just about Catholics, but…
“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…
Denying Justice While Dehumanizing a Community at Large
Photo courtesy of Shreen Saroor 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…
Justice for Easter Sunday Attacks, Navaly Church Bombing and Other Crimes
Last Sunday, February 28, during the holy mass our parish priest at St. Joseph’s Church, Ratmalana announced that all Catholics in Colombo Archdiocese are requested to wear black when going to church…
Remembrance and Tribute to Victims of Terrorism
Photo Courtesy of Aleena Cader Today is the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to Victims of Terrorism. In Sri Lanka, the word terrorism embodies an experience that stretches over 30 years,…
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…
Easter Sunday Attacks: Phobias, Prejudices, and a Paradox
Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images The Easter Sunday attacks were brutal and unprecedented. It surfaced communal prejudices and certain phobias that Sri Lankan society lives with. There is a paradoxical narrative that…
A Lenten Reflection
Image from Flickr “Try again; fail again. Fail better. “- Samuel Beckett Last year at Easter, sudden acts of violence spread immense fear, injury and death, within a matter of moments. A…
Digana: Two years later
5th of March 2018 marked the beginning of a series of violent mob attacks against the Muslims in the central parts of the country, perpetrated by the ethno-nationalist Sinhala Buddhists. A personal…
On Resilience and Bridging Division
Featured image from Quartz The devastating attacks on Easter Sunday widened existing rifts between religious communities. There have been reports of attacks on Muslims and Christians, as well as of arbitrary arrests,…
Building Resilience: A Conversation On Security and Withstanding Political Turbulence
Featured image courtesy Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images Almost four months after the Easter Sunday bombings, Sri Lanka continues to operate under a State of Emergency. National security has once again become a central…
A Violent Past, An Uneasy Present
Featured image by author: Tilly’s Beach Hotel, Mount Lavinia, which was burned by mobs in July 1983 The true stories of the violence on July 1983 are not captured in newspaper headlines….
Looking East
Batticaloa and Kattankudy are 318 and 317 kilometers away from Colombo, respectively. They are, however, just under 10 kilometers away from each other. The relationships and experience, that have been shaped by…
