Media personnel and activists are reporting several cases of Hindu religious sites being damaged, relics removed and Buddhist statues erected in their place with the collaboration of the Department of Archaeology. Hindu…
This week marked the 14th anniversary of the ending of the long Eelam War. This week also saw the re-emergence of BBS head-honcho Galgoda Aththe Gnanasara to save the nation from that enterprising…
Buddhism has been a part of Sri Lanka’s culture for centuries and the ordination of young boys as novice monks is a well established tradition. It is a practice that is meant…
In a brilliant and much needed documentary directed by Nadya Perera, one of the fast dying heritages of Sri Lankan Muslims, namely their musical traditions, has been brought to light. The Muslim…
During Black July, marauding mobs, when uncertain about the ethnic identity of a potential victim, would order him/her to recite the five precepts in Pali or the chant , a composite which…
Hobson’s choice is not that bad because it offers you two options: you can either take what is offered or take nothing at all. However, the tradition of parents indoctrinating children with…
“A tangle within, a tangle without…” Jata Sutta – Samyutta Nikaya In July 2020, Indika Rathnayake, a non-theistic online activist, was summoned to the Organised Crimes Prevention Police Division and questioned for three…
Religion doesn’t exist in the singular in reality. In the real world it exists only in the plural – over 4,000 religions although some place the number as high as 10,000. With…
Himal Southasian With the onset of the Aragalaya earlier this year, discussions about harmony, unity and coexistence took center stage and became popular topics among people. The Aragalaya, and especially GotaGoGama at…
The Mahanayakes of Sri Lanka’s three Buddhist monastic orders – Siam, Amarapura, and Ramanya – have written a letter to President Ranil Wickremesinghe. They have requested concessions on the recent electricity tariff…
The people as demos contra ethnos (that is devoid of sectarian ethno-religious identity) have spoken and continue to speak against the depredations visited upon them by this insidious regime of kleptocrats and…
Censuses of the Trincomalee District taken through the various years will point out a slight numerical majority and minority in its various communities. Yet it is worth noting that no one ethnicity…
The latest drama in the long running saga of the Easter Sunday bombings was the sudden arrest by the CID and subsequent release by the Magistrate’s Court of social activist and Easter…
Sri Lanka burns — and we slap on the national bandaid. There is genuine disillusionment in the political establishment, and these feelings are valid. From COVID-19, to the 20th Amendment, to an…
The Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) has been under discussion by various groups, commissions and governments for the last six decades. Although recommendations have been made for amendments to the Act,…
