This is an attempt to engage with the current arguments and counter arguments, debates and contestations over Muslim women’s rights in Sri Lanka and the need to reform Muslim Personal Law in…
Photo courtesy Does the axiom have it that the more you change, the more you remain the same? With a slight twist, what may be said of All Ceylon Jammiyathul Ulama (ACJU)…
The world is going from bad to worse, day by day; with the spread of conflict, terrorism, political instability, poverty and impending economic crises spreading like wind. At times, the interpretation of…
Photo by Christina Coombe The recent attack by a group of hoodlums led by Buddhist monks on a safe house sheltering Rohingya refugees in Colombo has once again exposed the ugly face…
I ordered, he says, as if those two words would suffice. Perhaps they do, in his eyes. ‘I’m the state,’ Louis XIV declared, according to Carlyle. Mahinda Rajapaksa sees himself as the…
The government of Sri Lanka recently announced plans to widen the scope of the law on abortion. This initiative was subsequently put on hold because of strong opposition from religious leaders and…
Image courtesy Asia Society I once came into contact with a woman on account of a professional relationship we had. We had met to discuss her prolonged absence from work. With a…
Photo by Dominic Sansoni Some moons back, in the course of a conversation with an overseas-based Sri Lankan academic who was then in Colombo on a short vacation, I was struck by…
On July 17, 2017, Deepam and her niece were subject to a bizarre and frightening experience. The family was grocery shopping at the up-scale Crescat Shopping Centre, in the heart of Colombo,…
The words of a Muslim man I met on my visit to Aluthgama, two weeks after the violence broke out in 2014 rang hollow as I returned to Aluthgama a few weeks…
Image courtesy The reply sent by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka [BASL] to Lakshan Dias is embarrassing. Faced with a belligerent Ministerial threat to disenroll him Dias had emailed Amal Randeniya,…
The initial shock at the response of a high ranking minister to comments made by a citizen on a recent talk show, soon shifted to the realisation of its seriousness. During the…
Dharga town is sleepy in the afternoon heat, especially at this time of year, the month of Ramadan. However, three years ago, in 2014, the streets were filled with smoke. has written…
The monk Ashin Wirathu, center, was the guest of honor at the Buddhist Power Force convention in Colombo, held in 2014. Credit Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images, via The presidential election…
Image from Religious minorities in Sri Lanka – particularly Muslims and Evangelical Christians – faced serious persecution under the Rajapakse Government, which has continued even under the Sirisena-Ranil Government. The Catholic Archbishop…
