This is the fourth in a series of video interviews conducted by sister publication highlighting the difficulties faced by women under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Article 16 of the constitution states that existing written…
This is the third in a series of video interviews conducted by sister publication highlighting the difficulties faced by women under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Article 16 of the constitution states that existing…
This is the second in a series of video interviews conducted by sister publication highlighting the difficulties faced by women under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Article 16 of the constitution states…
There is currently a call for the reform of personal laws such as the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Article 16 of the constitution states that existing written and unwritten laws,…
On August 14, 2006 the Sri Lankan air force bombed an orphanage in Vallipunam killing 61 schoolgirls. The Rajapaksa administration insisted that the location was a LTTE training camp and the victims…
It was the spring of infatuation. Millions of Sinhala voters saw Gotabaya Rajapaksa the way he saw himself, a colossus among men, a king reborn. He and his acolytes had spent much…
There is a roaring Hajj business in Sri Lanka. As a friend of mine commented, no business is as good as the religious business. The Hajj committee, whose members are appointed on…
Sri Lanka’s national anthem presents a vision of the country as a motherland to many, life giving and filled with nature’s abundance and beauty, a place of truth seeking and wisdom. It…
At two meetings held on March 8 and April 29 the Cabinet approved reforms to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). The reforms will make 18 years the minimum age for…
Thirty years ago, Juwairiya Mohideen was one of the 75,000 Muslims driven out of the North by the LTTE. She and her family were forced to settle as refugees in Puttalam, where…
Photo courtesy A tumultuous year has ended, and an uncertain future lies ahead. Democratic space is already closing around us, and it is critical for civil society to be clear-eyed about where…
Photo courtesy The last year of this decade, 2019 is possibly a turning point in Sri Lankan history. When looking back on the year that passed, what looms above all else is…
Why is it so difficult for the All Ceylon Jammiyathul Ulama (ACJU) to acknowledge 18 as the minimum age of marriage? What is interesting is that the Qur’an does not specify a…
An old Greek fable goes something like this: A dog lying in a manger who did not eat grain, nevertheless prevented the horse who approached the manger from being able to eat…
Mythic Inflation is a concept introduced by American mythologist Joseph Campbell to explain the emergence of a new kind of ruler, the secular king who is also the divinely mandated saviour of…
