Image courtesy Al Jazeera Religion and authority Three recent pronouncements caught the attention of the media and dominated conversations. Advisors to President Trump quoted the Bible in defence of the separation of…
Sri Lanka’s Muslim women are being denied family and other rights available to other women under this country’s constitution. The government committee set up nine years ago to reform the out-dated and…
“Fear Allah! Do not do injustice to your own community women and girls” This was the plea on placards held by many of the women who stood near the Parliament opposing Muslim…
One of the greatest challenges facing Sri Lanka today is the failure to bring about communal reconciliation in the island. Hate has grown, gone rampant and viral. On a recent visit to…
In March 2018, mob violence visited pockets in an East to West arc from 5-20 kilometres North of Kandy. The state is obligated to ensure the safety of its citizens and it…
‘I used to give this space for people to hold dansals at on Vesak and Poson poya days’ says Jazeel, indicating the parking area of his showroom. Jazeel’s shop was centrally located…
‘For three years, they have been putting up these posters, telling people not to go to our shops’ said Nizar. They were not pasted on his shop, he says, but in public…
Mr. Jazeel (captured in featured image) walks around his shop, located on the bend near the Akurana bridge, 12 kilometres from the bustling Kandy city. It looks the same as it did…
In Akurana, bunting with the words ‘Ramadan Mubarak’ hangs inside a quiet home. In Digana, newly built shops hurry to restock for weeks of festive shopping. In Pallekele, kanji is being cooked…
“This is the money that my daughter and I collected every day in a till. It used to be on the cabinet. The notes can no longer be found. The coins were…
was sent a copy of the Justice Saleem Marsoof (JSM) Committee report on the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA), leaked from a reliable source. Download it here. The Marsoof Committee was…
Scores of Muslim mosques, homes and businesses were destroyed as mobs ran amok for three days in Kandy. Thousands of Muslims are disillusioned and uncertain about their safety and security for the…
Jacques Lacan (1901-1981) wrote of the mirror-stage in the development of a human being when, unlike with animals, it realises that the image seen in the mirror is she, herself. The German…
Image courtesy The highly-educated and hyper-religious Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is consistently failing to apply inclusive, just, and peaceful approaches to resolving the country’s violent inter-communal clashes. The unfolding narrative…
It happened on the morning of March 7, almost two days after the initial attacks in the Theldeniya and Digana areas. The elderly woman I first spoke to said that a Sinhalese…
