The Necessity of Religious Freedom in the Growth of an Economy

Governments often look to equipping an educated workforce, securing foreign direct investment, and strengthening innovation as a means of achieving economic growth. However, there is a factor that has as much relevance in the race to strengthen and grow an economy. One that will have growing significance in the years to come.

இலங்கையும், சமூகமும், நீதியும்

Violence against Hindu Worship Places

வடக்கில் தலைதூக்கும் மதவாத கட்சிகள்!!

The Intersection of Technology and Gender: Some Reflections

Over some months last year, I had the privilege of being a part of a Working Group that helped develop this resource – a Digital Citizenship Toolkit, focusing on areas I have been working on such as cyber exploitation and violence & the intersection of gender and technology. The Toolkit covers several areas, and as Minor Matters (the publishers) describes: “We are in the midst of a digital transformation – that is, the integration of digital technology into many areas of personal lives, work, leisure, business and government. Our personal and public activities are increasingly channeled through digital devices and the web. This opens up new opportunities, but it also brings up new challenges – for example violations of privacy, electronic surveillance and online harassment. Digital citizenship is an approach to cope with this new reality to minimise negative impacts and derive optimum benefits for everyone.

In Defence of Dissent: Before, During and After COVID-19

As first appeared in Groundviews on 12th June 2020. Written by Shalomi Daniel and Ermiza Tegal. There is a clear global trend of curtailing freedom of expression under the guise of controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of writing, 34 countries have been recorded as taking executive action, issuing orders or promulgating laws affecting this freedom.[i]

Art and Conflict in Sri Lanka

In a society in which direct speech is censored, indirect speech often has a better chance at getting through. Art is indirect speech. And artists, for a long time, have been active in speaking out when others have remained silent. Often because the unique medium of art provides a mode of expression that can often pass under the radar of state and social censorship.

2018; a year in retrospect.

Statement Condemning Violence Against the Muslim Community

Statement on Easter Sunday Attacks in Sri Lanka

Muslims Should Be Heard

Muslims Should Be Heard is an excerpt from the parliamentary debate of Hon.Lakshman Kadiiragamar on 21st October 2003. It delves on 11 points why Muslims should be heard to achieve lasting solutions to the ethnic conflict in our country.

Tales from Primary School

My difference defined me from the beginning, when I was a child in school in which everyone spoke a different language to what I was used to at home. This signed me out from the very first day. My name was very different to what everyone else’s was. And gave birth to a lot of snarky nicknames. Grade 1 was full of bullying.

THE SCARY WEDNESDAY

8-year-old Aaliyah Dilshan shares her experience of the Digana anti-Muslim riots

The Challenge for the Muslim Community after the Recent Communal Violence in Sri Lanka

The recent spate of Anti Muslim violence that took place in the east and central part of Sri Lanka at the end of February brought to realisation the worst fears that many of us working in the space of community relations have had.

Digana one year on: lesson learnt or mistakes repeated?

As 26th February, 2019 marks one year since the reprehensible anti-Muslim riot in the South-Eastern and Central provinces of the country, this would be an opportune time to take stock of where we stand as a country today, especially with regards to the Freedom of Religion or Belief (FORB).

Study: New Buddhist Extremism and the Challenges to Ethno-Religious Coexistence in Sri Lanka

The evolution of the role of Buddhism in Sri Lankan society and politics has taken a new step with the emergence of aggressive and extremist Buddhist organisations.

ICES Study: Religious Interface and Contestations between Buddhists and Muslims in Sri Lanka

When the term conflict is applied to Sri Lanka, it is often preceded by the term “ethnic”. While this may have rung true in the past, post-war conflicts in the country currently tend to stem from religion instead, marking a shift in the conflict dynamics of the state. To examine this claim, ICES undertook a study of multi-religious heritage sites in Sri Lanka to discern whether conflicts have indeed taken on a religious turn.

කළු මාර්තුවක අඳුරු සටහන්

2018.මාර්තු 05 වන දා සිට දින කීපයක් පුරා දිගන හා ඒ අවට ප්රදේශයන් හි මුස්ලිම් ප්රජාවට එරෙහිව එල්ලවූ ජාතිවාදී ප්රහාරයන් පිලිබඳ මතක ශේෂ දිගන , මහනුවර , අඹතැන්න , අකුරණ මාස කීපයකට උඩදී මෙරටේ බොහෝ දෙනෙකු බිය ගැන්වූ නගර කීපයකි. එහෙත් දැන් ඒවා මාස කිපයකට කලින් කටට හුරුවූ නම් කීපයක් බවට පමණක් පත්ව තිබේ. දිගන ට දැන් මොකද? කවුරුත් අසන්නේ නැත. සිංහල වේවා, මුස්ලිම් වේවා, දෙමළ වේවා කිසිදු දේශපාලකයෙකුට දැන් මේවා තවදුරටත් මාතෘකාවන් නොවේ.

மதங்கள் அன்பை மட்டும் போதிப்பவை வெறுப்பை அல்ல

“அன்பும் சிவனும் இரண்டென்பர் அறிவிலார் அன்பே சிவமாவது யாரும் அறிகிலார் அன்பும் சிவமும் ஒன்றென்று அறிந்தபின் அன்பேசிவமாய் அமர்ந்து இருந்தாரே”

My Village

Today, I will be speaking about ‘My Village’, she said, as she stood shyly before her class. I love my village. It is beautiful.

The Online Ethnic Crisis

Sri Lanka is a highly networked society. By some accounts, the number of Sim cards outnumber the number of people. We’re also pretty much addicted to social media and have become reliant on it as a source of relevant information about what is happening in the country. This, as one can imagine, leaves us open to all sorts of dangers, fake news is just one of them. With the already rather lacklustre status of journalistic ethics further eroded in the online landscape, users on social media can use all manner of subtle and not-so-subtle techniques to spread hate and misconceptions that can ultimately cause great damage to national unity.

Identity, Politics, Division

Sri Lanka is famed for a few things, tea, #islandliving, cricket, warm smiles and hospitality towards tourists, and ethnic violence and xenophobia between our own. The waves of ethnic violence have been attributed to various factors. More often that not, ethnic violence has been a result of and reduced to one man’s political ambition; if they are not pandering to the ethnic majority, they are conning the ethnic majority in to a xenophobic fit to create just a little chaos for them to thrive on.

Religious Censorship of Artistic Expression

Tolerance is widely accepted as an essential component of developing harmonious societies. However, societies often pursue methods of censorship (somewhat ironically) in order to successfully achieve tolerance between communities. Free speech is often trampled on in the name of preserving religious sensibilities—either through self-censorship or legislation that censors.

Unpacking Evil: Why Violence in Sri Lanka is a Spectator Sport

‘The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing’. This quote has been attributed to a mysterious figure that spread terror through the streets of Whitechapel in the 1800s. Found scrawled on a wall close to the crime scene of a well-known serial killer – a mysterious figure known to the public only by the name Jack the Ripper. That name evokes a range of reactions, from horror to quiet fascination.