‘The Invention Of The Jewish People’
Shlomo Sand, ‘The Invention Of The Jewish People’ Collective identity needs a misty image of an ancient biological common origin (Sand, 280). In Sri Lanka, ‘identity’ contains a very distinctive blend of…
Religion and faith
Blocking inconvenient truths: Time magazine and Sri Lanka
Image courtesy Al Jazeera (AFP/Christophe Archambault) magazine, is banned in Burma. Even though the lead article is primarily on U Wirathu, the leader of the 969 Buddhist Nationalist movement and only has passing…
Celluloid Nationalism in Sri Lanka
Photo courtesy Cinema.lk In post war Sri Lanka, where triumphalism is an ever-present threat to reconciliation, and where issues of religious and language diversity continue to engender conflict, we are encountering a…
From Merchant Prince to Akbar Brothers: Inayat Akbarally and the Bohras of Sri Lanka
Inayet Akbarally tells the remarkable story of his great grandfather Careemjee Jafferjee and how he became the first member of the Dawoodi Bohra community to set foot in Ceylon believed to be around 1830. A…
The ascendent hate speech in Sri Lanka: In conversation with Mohamed Hisham
Mohamed Hisham, Co-Spokesperson, Rally for Unity begins the interview by saying why he chose to be associated with and helped co-found a group that openly and in public stands up against hate…
Burning for (Sinhala) Buddhism?
Image from First, I want to convey my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of late Venerable Bōwatte Indrarathana (VBI) for the shocking and untimely way he embraced his death on…
The Asymmetric Relationship of Buddhist-Muslim Bond in Sri Lanka
The Buddhist –Muslim relationship in Sri Lanka is centuries old. It grew from the pre-Islamic Arab relationship with Sri Lanka and continued beyond the advent of Islam. Principally, the Arabs who built…
Thoughts on Sri Lanka’s Future on Another Vesak Day
Photo courtesy Dawn.com/AFP The Vesak Poya day has come and gone several times since May 2009 when the prolonged war with the LTTE ended. And we Sri Lankans are yet trapped in…
Interview with MIXED RICE: Standing up for a diverse Sri Lanka
The people behind MIXED RICE are a collection of Sri Lankans from various backgrounds who are scattered across the globe from Sri Lanka to Australia, Japan, the US and UK. There are…
My Esteem for the Buddha: An open letter at Wesak to my Buddhist Sisters and Brothers
Photo courtesy Reuters My good friend, the Ven. Bellanwila Wimalarathana wrote a letter to Christians on his understanding of Christ at Christmas last year. This has prompted me to reciprocate with this…
Vesak Reflections
Image courtesy This Vesak Day I was reflecting on the centuries of Buddhist tradition and the cultural response, recorded in the magnificent constructions and spiritual art that withstood centuries of exposure to…
Use Vesak decorations to reflect upon Dhamma
Lord Buddha gave different meditation objects to different people. For some, just focusing on rubbing two pieces of material against each other worked, and for some others focusing on the breath worked….
Sri Lanka Today: Due Process & Civil Liberties or Security State?
Photo courtesy The Nation “And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?” ‘The Second Coming’, WB Yeats (1919) Must the Sri Lankan citizenry accept…
Responding to a reader who critiqued ‘Where every prospect pleases, man alone is vile’
I appreciate Anoja Fernando’s response () and her reference to those of DLO Mendis and E de S Wijeyaratna. Was the Bishop’s reference to Buddhist and Hindus (and Muslims?) in Sri Lanka,…
Is the Tamil Diaspora Against Unity in Sri Lanka?
“The great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes The Tamil Diaspora is a diverse ethnic group….
