Sri Lanka

The world recoiled in horror this weekend at the news coming out of Sri Lanka. Multiple explosions at churches and hotels have resulted in 200 dead and over 500 people injured.  Sri Lanka’s Christians were celebrating Easter when tragedy stuck the beautiful Island. While the Sri Lankan government has put curbs on social media, reports indicate that the attack was the handiwork of Wahhabi Salafi terrorists who have returned from fighting in Syria.  These reports are as of yet unconfirmed, but they are in keeping with the modus operandi of Saudi-sponsored Wahhabi terrorism worldwide.

Sri Lanka’s police chief issued an alert to top officers ten days ago warning that Muslim suicide bombers planned to hit “prominent churches”. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but there has been an increase in persecution and threats against Christians from the Muslim and Buddhist populations.

More than 200 killed and at least 500 injured as eight explosions rocked Catholic churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka while Christians began Easter Sunday celebrations. Media report said: The blasts started at around 8:45am local time at St. Anthony’s Church in Colombo and St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, a Catholic-majority town outside of the capital. The Zion Church[Read More...]

The Malaysian government last year expressed a surprise change of heart on a policy long held dear; it would reconsider the death penalty. The case of Muhammad Lukman, sentenced to death in August for the purchase and sharing of medicinal marijuana, did much to stimulate outrage.  On October 10th, law minister Liew Vui Keong announced that it would be abolished.  Doing so would leave such last bastions as Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

Writer, comedian, and University of Bath teaching fellow, Matthew Alford joined me to discuss his latest book Union Union Jackboot: What Your Media and Professors Don’t Tell You About British Foreign Policy, which we co-authored with TJ Coles. We started off the conversation by discussing the unique structure of the book. Matt and I talked about the perception of British foreign policy we see today in the media. We touch on the brutal legacy the British Empire has had around the world, and take shots at some of the UK’s sacred cows like Winston Churchill.

Yesterday Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena blatantly violated the country’s constitution and dissolved parliament almost two years before its term officially ends. According to the gazette notification issued last night, new elections will be held on January 5 and the new parliament convened on January 17. Sirisena’s anti-democratic actions came just two weeks after he sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe[Read More...]

The culture of impunity to the security forces under the DRACONIAN PREVENTION TERRORISM ACT [PTA] and their licence to kill especially the Tamils caused several disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Sri Lanka. It is to be noted that the Mass Graves, Disappearances and the Prevention of Terrorism Act [PTA] are all inter-connected. The Office of the Missing Persons is toothless[Read More...]

When a flotilla of 44 motorboats filled with 300 Sri Lankan Tamils — and a small group of activists, journalists and clergy — ignored the navy’s explicit orders and set sail for their former homes on the navy-occupied island of Iranaitheevu, they didn’t actually think they’d make it in one piece.
“We were very, very scared,” said Elisabeth, one of the women who helped organize the initiative.

Why Jailing of Gnanasara Did Not Become News in This Part of Asia “Ordered disorder, planned caprice, And dehumanised humanity…” – Bertolt Brecht in The Exception and the Rule (quoted in The Sunday Leader) “I have done my duty towards the country,” Gnanasara told reporters as he boarded the bus taking him to prison. Why should I regret?”   Rarely … Continue reading The Monks Who Spew Hate

On March 4th, Sinhala Buddhist mobs began sweeping through Sri Lanka’s Kandy district, hurling petrol bombs at Muslim-owned houses, shops and mosques. The attacks came as a shock, as Sri Lanka has not seen violence on this scale in nearly a decade.