A Christmas Reflection
Bethlehem – Birth place of the Incarnate One Bethlehem is the little village in which Jesus was born. It was here, that the unseen God emptied himself to become human in the…
Religion and faith
Waiting for the Muslim Man to “Soften Up”
The Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) is in need of amendment and has been under the scrutiny of a most ineffectual committee for the past nine years. For years, individuals and…
The MMDA and Muslim Women’s Right to Shape an Egalitarian law
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…
ACJU: An orchestra of frogs in a well
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)…
Violent Monks and the Buddha’s Dispensation
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…
Countering the Fascists on the Streets: A Lesson from Australia
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…
Power, Religion and Impunity
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 Abortion Debate: The Absence of Questions
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…
The Abortion Debate: Mismatched and Misplaced?
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…
On religion, intolerance and economic prosperity
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…
Buddhist Imagery and Clothing: An Unwritten Code
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 Aftermath: Aluthgama Three Years On
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…
Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) on Lakshan Dias
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,…
Bias in the Dias affair: A reflection
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…
Aluthgama Three Years On
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…
