Refugees in Their Own Land: The Shared Plight of Sri Lankan Tamils and Muslims
I was 10 years old when Muslims were forced to move out of their homes in the North in October 1990. I never again saw or heard about the two Muslim students…
justice
A Single Story But With Differing Actors
In Israel/Palestine these are dark, terrible times with no obvious end in sight to the mounting bloodshed and destruction. It is also a time that gives rise to difficult but necessary conversations:…
Northern Muslims’ Right to Return – Whose Responsibility?
Thirty three years have passed since the eviction of northern Muslims. In October 1990, some 75,000 to 100,000 Muslims in the Northern Province, about five percent of the province’s total population, were…
Media Narratives, Hateful Rhetoric and the Gaza Genocide
“Mom, I’m fine.” Those were the final words of Wadea Al-Fayoume, the six-year-old Palestinian American who was fatally stabbed 26 times at his home in Plainfield Township, Illinois on October 14, 2023….
The Cauldrons We Make
Jewish Currents is a US-based leftwing Jewish magazine. Soon after October 7 Hamas attack, its editor, Arielle Angel, a vocal proponent of Palestinian liberation, penned a letter to the readers. “I watched…
The Tragedy and Power of a Single Story
I am sick and tired of people not taking a stand on Palestine because they fear it is a “complex” issue; they don’t know enough of the history, they are neither Israeli…
From the River to the Sea: Sri Lanka and Palestine
Sri Lankans are overwhelmingly standing with Palestine and with much of the Global South, which voted for a recent UN resolution, introduced by Russia, condemning Israeli atrocities in the Gaza Strip. There…
Sanitizing Israeli Horror and Demonizing Palestinian Resistance
Hamas’ coordinated rocket attack on Israel, which killed hundreds of Israeli citizens and brought a new Palestine-Israel War, is another chapter in the history and expansion of the Zionist settler state. To…
The Voice Referendum in Australia: Correcting Past Wrongs
Australia and Sri Lanka share a complex history of colonisation, which has deeply impacted their Indigenous populations. Both countries, members of the Commonwealth of Nations[i], grapple with the repercussions of their colonial…
Reflections on the Israel-Hamas War
Israel’s Western allies, the US in particular, believe that any investigation into Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip will “exacerbate tensions” and “undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution.” I…
Sandya Ekneligoda: 5,000 Days of Struggle for Truth and Justice
On October 4 it is 5,000 days since disappearance of cartoonist, journalist and human rights defender Prageeth Ekneligoda. It is also nearly 5,000 days since I first met his wife Sandya Ekneligoda…
Anti-Terrorism Bill Version 2.0: Still Worse Than the PTA
On September 15, the government published an Anti-Terrorism Bill, referred to as the ATA. The Bill is presented as a revision of an earlier version that was gazetted in March 2023, when…
Human Rights Watch Questions Credibility of Proposed Truth Commission
The government’s proposed National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC) has come in for criticism from a leading international human rights organisation, which also condemns the ongoing persecution of victims’ families, human rights…
Unthinking Nation
It was the spring of infatuation. Millions of Sinhala voters saw Gotabaya Rajapaksa the way he saw himself, a colossus among men, a king reborn. He and his acolytes had spent much…
Strong Criticism and Weak Excuses: Sri Lanka at HRC
On the opening day of the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) on September 11, member states were considering yet another report detailing abuses by the Sri Lankan regime….
