ACJU Hijacks MMDA Reform
For three long decades, Muslim women have fought to reform the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Justice Saleem Marsoof’s Committee issued two sets of recommendations early last year, the culmination of…
Religion and faith
Looking East
Batticaloa and Kattankudy are 318 and 317 kilometers away from Colombo, respectively. They are, however, just under 10 kilometers away from each other. The relationships and experience, that have been shaped by…
Long Overdue: Breaking down the minimum age of marriage in Sri Lanka
One of the most contested issues in the debate around reform of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) has been with regard to increasing the minimum age of marriage for Muslims….
Blasphemy and the Prisoner of Buddhism
For the last 11 weeks Shakthika Sathkumara, an award winning creative writer, has been deprived of his liberty by the State, for what appears to be the crime of blasphemy. Apart from…
The Malaise Affecting Buddhism
In the run up to the 2014 Aluthgama riot, the rabble-rousing monk Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara coined the term Aba Saranai, a battle-cry of hate totally at variance with the teachings of the…
The Blanket of the Dark
Photo by President’s Media Division (PMD) “From now on, people and monks will govern this country from the streets” Aturaliye Ratana Thero (Lankadeepa – 28.5.2019) A man in a suit defending the…
Keep it clean: A reflection
Photo courtesy CNN. “ . “ Real stories-real racism A Colombo taxi driver informed a customer that he was a Muslim. It sounded like an apology. His two previous hires…
The Terrorist, The Muslim and the Other
It was a casual Sunday breakfast, as I was making notes on refugees in Sri Lanka, when my partner, his eyes still peeled on his phone, exclaimed in shock that a church…
On the Presidential Pardon: Reactions to Gnanasara’s Release
The photos, depicting a saffron-robed Gnanasara Thero, received thousands of reactions on Facebook. “He has been freed” they read. commenters posted on the Facebook Pages of mainstream media like Neth FM and…
In the name of security: How the Burqa/Niqab Ban is Impacting Muslim Women
My neighbour, Maya, from a Tamil Christian family, usually attends the mass at St. Anthony’s Church every Sunday. But on Easter Sunday she didn’t attend the mass as her brother had returned…
Testing Muslims in the Month of Patience
Ramadan, the month of abstinence is when Muslims observe fast, voluntarily depriving themselves from all that are permitted to them on ordinary days. These abstentions are replaced with worship and acts that…
Secularism or Barbarism
The blue, red, yellow, orange and white lights are on, as are the makeshift stalls selling lanterns. Yet few pause to see, haggle, buy. Vesak, so near chronologically, had never seemed so…
Madrasahs, Extremism and National Security
Photo by Gemunu Amarasinghe, via The nexus between Madrasah education and Islamic extremism have been in the global discussions ever since the emergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan. This phenomenon emerged in…
Sensitivity, solidarity and social stability: A post Easter-Sunday reflection
Photo courtesy The message The worship had just reached the the affirmation of God’s intervention in history, when the police arrived. The officer was courteous but firm. The service had to be…
Security, Freedom and Co-Existence after the Easter-Sunday Attacks in Sri Lanka
Photo courtesy Getty via The Easter-Sunday attacks have changed a lot of things in Sri Lanka. It proved, if proof was indeed required, the sheer inefficiency of the present government. Some of…
