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…
Easter Sunday Terrorist Attacks
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…
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
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, the most recent being the…
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
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 may help us understand some…
A Lenten Reflection
“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 small group of…
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
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, and in some instances,…
Building Resilience: A Conversation On Security and Withstanding Political Turbulence
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 topic. The Easter Sunday bombings revealed…
A Violent Past, An Uneasy Present
The true stories of the violence on July 1983 are not captured in newspaper headlines. 36 years ago, Page One of the Daily Mirror read, “Anti-Govt forces behind rioting and looting.” A…
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…
Counterterrorism and the Rule of Law
Whenever the topic of counterterrorism is raised my mind goes back to the 2012 film ‘The Gatekeepers’, directed by Israeli filmmaker Dror Moheh. The documentary was shortlisted for an academic award. The…
EleFriendly Bus Endangered after Easter Sunday Attacks
Several months on, the effect of the Easter Sunday attacks on April 21, 2019 is being felt even in remote areas like Wasgamuwa, affecting both children and elephants. As an indirect result…
A Threatened Refuge
June 20th is World Refugee Day. In the immediate aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks, Pakistani refugee families living in Negombo, faced intimidation and violence that forced them to leave their homes. The…
