De Pilo Pendet: Reconciliation and the Catholic Church’s Role in Post-War Sri Lanka
Photo by Dominic Sansoni I have a memory that dates back several years. It is of a Good Friday Service at my family’s parish in Kotte, Sri Lanka and of the length…
Religion and faith
The failure of the media, civil society and the ‘moderates’
Photo by AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena via SC [FR] 97/2014 is a Fundamental Rights application currently pending before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. FH the Petitioner is an 11 year old Muslim girl…
The unlawful arrest & deportation of a British tourist
Photo via BBC A close look at the series of illegal steps taken by law enforcement authorities Ms. Naomi Michelle Coleman, a British Tourist with wide travel experience in many Buddhist Countries…
Lankan Muslims in London and Political Myopia
AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, via There was a protest that took place yesterday by a group of Sri Lankan Muslims in Britain outside the Sri Lankan High Commission in London mostly regarding the…
Arya Sinhala and the restoration of the Commons of Lanka
Submitted to as a response to Kalana Senaratne’s assertion that Buddhism does not have a means for contemporary political engagement, in The ‘Mad Monk’ Phenomenon: BBS as the underside of Sinhala-Buddhism. ### Being…
2 Years after ‘Not In My Name’ campaign
Exactly two years ago to date, Not In My Name (NION) – Sri Lanka’s first web based campaign against violent religious extremism – was created and launched, just under a week after…
Theocratic fascism in Sri Lanka
Photo courtesy I’ve heard of home invasions but this is the first time I’ve watched a Ministry invasion. The country watched while the BBS swarmed into Rishad Bathiudeen’s Ministry in search of…
Right royal battle: The BBS vs. Bathiudeen
Photo courtesy Colombo Gazette The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), a recent and chilling phenomena of Sri Lanka’s post war political landscape is locked in a battle with Minister Rishard Bathiudeen, leader of…
The ‘Mad Monk’ Phenomenon: BBS as the underside of Sinhala-Buddhism
Photo courtesy The marauding Buddhist monks, who appear to be tied to a long political leash, have run out of control. They need to be stopped. But it is equally necessary to…
Rescuing Patriotism from the Extremists
Photo: Paula Bronstein for The Global Mail It is almost five years since the military victory of May 2009 brought an end to three decades of armed conflict. Yet, the prospects for…
CBK takes on religious intolerance in Sri Lanka
Photo courtesy Dinouk Colombage President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has since her graceful retirement from office more than eight years ago after the completion of a constitutionally mandated two term limit, busied herself…
Buddhists challenged to respect their religion
Photo by Dinouk Colombage, via The third resolution on Sri Lanka to be taken up for vote at the 25th Sessions of the UNHRC now in progress, saw even Galaboda Gnanissara Thera,…
Time Out: Breaking the Cycle for a New Conversation, a New Vision
Image courtesy Reuters It was 2007, at the height of the war, when one hundred youth (Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala) from every part of the country except the north gathered in Thanamalvila…
Reception of Buddhism in Lanka: An entanglement with worldly sovereignty?
Image courtesy [Constitutional amendments at Anuradhapura were signified by the erection of a new stupa; or as in the case of King Kasyapa, by moving the capital to another place. The ideological…
Religion and Politics in South Asia
Photo courtesy London Cosmopolitan Let me that I have to thank my friends and colleagues who discussed and challenged me throughout the process of preparing this presentation. They may not be satisfied…
