Refugee Jesus: Christmas & Refugees in Sri Lanka
Photo by Jessica Sallabank, from IRIN Jesus was born as a refugee child. When Mary, the pregnant mother on the move couldn’t find a place to give birth, it was poor shepherds…
Religion and faith
Stable Truth: A Christmas reflection
Hard lessons The birth of Christ has not changed the world but it offers hard lessons for those who work for change. Herod, whom Jesus called the fox, is clever with words;…
MMDA: Personal Narratives – 3
This is the third in a series of video interviews conducted by sister publication highlighting the difficulties faced by women under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Article 16 of the constitution states that existing…
MMDA: Personal Narratives – 2
This is the second in a series of video interviews conducted by sister publication highlighting the difficulties faced by women under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Article 16 of the constitution states…
Lankan Muslims, Extremist Monks & a Feverish Government
Photo via Al Jazeera As turns ten, Sri Lankan Muslims are at a crossroads. The last ten years were predominantly about tensions between Sinhalese and Tamils, Muslims seem to now be the…
MMDA: Personal Narratives – 1 [VIDEO]
There is currently a call for the reform of personal laws such as the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Article 16 of the constitution states that existing written and unwritten laws,…
Muslim Women: Second-Class Rights Holders in Sri Lanka’s Quazi System
Despite volumes of research and recommendations for reform, Sri Lanka’s Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act of 1951 (MMDA) and the Quazi court system remain untouched and continue to oppress Muslim women. Muslim…
Is it time Sri Lanka sheds its religious identity?
Sri Lanka is on the cusp of history, in several months it will be presenting to the people its third constitution in the space of four decades. Abolition of the Executive Presidency,…
Sri Lankan personal laws between justice and freedom – A value based perspective
No century in recorded history has experienced so many social transformations and such radical ones as the twentieth century (Peter, 2016). Over this period, without any exception every human culture has been…
The Ampitiye Sumana Saga and the Political Economy of Temples
Among the Buddhist monks to rise to fame (or infamy) in Sri Lanka in recent times, the 47-year-old Venerable Ampitiye Sumanarathana Thero from the Batticaloa District is surely the star of the…
Petition signed by over 5,000: Inaction of Police in face of extremism
Photograph courtesy Fox News ### Dear Mr. Jayasundara, Attached herewith, is a follow-up Complaint to you, signed by 5000+ people from Sri Lanka, regarding the inaction of the police against extremist groups,…
A Podium to Spit Venom
Two days ago a video was posted on YouTube where a man named Abdul Razik belonging to an extremist sect that calls itself ‘Sri Lanka Tawheed Jamath’ (SLTJ) makes a speech in Sinhala in…
Muslim Personal Laws reforms: On or not?
Photograph courtesy Sister Hood Call for reform In announcing the decisions made by the Cabinet of Ministers last Wednesday, the Government spokesperson has stated, amongst others, that the Cabinet has decided to…
The View from Madinah
Around the debris of triumphantly post-war Sri Lanka, new research is churned out, state grant money proffered and secured, and security expert careers built around jihadi headlines, veil puns, and paradoxically hyper(de)racinated definitions…
Different yet Equal: On effectively battling hatred
The corner of Bauddhaloka mawatha near Independence Arcade was relatively quiet at 4:30 pm, apart from a small group holding white umbrellas. These were participants of “Different Yet Equal” an online-led campaign…