ANTI-MUSLIM EXTREMISM & DILEMMAS OF DIVERSITY IN SRI LANKA
Opening presentation at 2nd in Discussion series on Constitutional Reform organized by The Liberal Party) Having come out of the war, a war which I for one am glad the Sri Lankan…
Religion and faith
Father Tissa Balsuriya’s struggle for social justice will continue in Sri Lanka
Photo courtesy the late Fr. Tissa’s blog We heard the sad news that the internationally acclaimed Sri Lankan catholic priest and theologian Father Tissa Balasuriya (Fr Tissa) has passed away. His exertions on…
Fr. Tissa Balasuriya: A loving and gentle rebel
Photo courtesy the late Fr. Tissa’s blog Fr. Tissa has been called a radical and rebel within the Catholic Church and society. This is perhaps because like Jesus, he never flinched from…
I’d rather be a cow in Sri Lanka
Photo courtesy What says the law? You will not kill. How does it say it? By killing! – Victor Hugo Rizana Nafeek’s execution on Wednesday (9th January) outraged many Sri Lankans. She…
Bodu Bala Senā and Buddhism’s militant face in Sri Lanka
Image courtesy website One of the first things I had to do in the new year was to firmly remind my (Lankan) Facebook friends to avoid posting or tagging me to any…
Keeping Up with the Times: Old Men, Power and Values
I was wondering how Deepa Mehta would put to the screen Salman Rushdie’s Midnights Children and then heard from her at the Ottawa premier that he wrote the screen play. The movie…
Why Religious Intolerance Makes Me Mad
Image courtesy My name is Anisha, I am a liberal Muslim woman and more than anything a proud Sri Lankan. I support the Sri Lankan cricket team…always have and always will. I…
A-Z of Sri Lankan English: V is for vel festival
A Hindu vel festival is better described in pictures than words. The photos here were taken a few years ago at the annual festival on Havelock Road, on a rainy August morning……
Religious sensitivities, the Islamic world and the communication revolution
Much hue and cry has been raised the world over the US made video titled “The Innocence of Islam”. In Sri Lanka too we have seen protests and numerous articles on the…
Innocence of the Muslims
Muslims have never shied away from discussing the private and public life of their Prophet Muhammed (PBUH). In fact they have welcomed an examination of his life and times. However when the…
Video on Mediated: Hard data on Sri Lanka, through art
Mediated is an art project that essentially seeks to create greater awareness around and engagement with aspects of post-war Sri Lanka’s ideational, constitutional, economic, social and religious challenges. Four individuals – a…
Heard of a Sinhala Buddhist ‘Khomeini’?
Photo courtesy ahfesl.free.fr “Our future society will be a free society, and all the elements of oppression, cruelty, and force will be destroyed.” – Ayatollah Khomeini (in an interview with the German magazine…
The Kattankudy mosque massacre in Sri Lanka: 22 years after
During my recent visits to Batticaloa I met many elders for my I Am narratives project. Many of them, like Father Harry Miller S.J., talked about the difficult period for Batticaloans during…
A quotidian response: Letter to President regarding religious extremism
On 4th July 2012, along with printed and bound copies of the over 1,400 comments in Tamil, Sinhala and English generated by Not In Our Name (coming to over 300 pages), a…
Buddhist monks and party politics in post-war Sri Lanka: In conversation with Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe MP
Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, President’s Counsel, is a Member of Parliament from the United National Party, and currently President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka. In the past, Mr. Rajapakshe’s also chaired the…