Don’t Re-Traumatise The War-Traumatised: Dons

A group of Sri Lankan university academics who took different positions during the war fought between the Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE have called upon the Sri Lankan government, all political parties, the UN and other international bodies and sponsors of the UNHRC resolution to place the needs and concerns of those who suffered during the war at the forefront of any mechanisms that will be put in place in the future. Read more>>>

A Global Crisis Comes To Sri Lanka

The radical extremists in ISIS the Islamic militant group is wreaking havoc in Syria along with Assad’s minority Alawite Shia regime. Between the two of them, they have killed more Arab Muslims than any other group(as Sunni dictator Saddam did during his disastrous 9 year war with Iran and his suppression of Kurds and Shias). The Wahabi Salafist radicals hate Shia Arabs. The want to force everyone to abide by their twisted version of Islam: which is by far a peaceful religion. Turkey too is suffering; while Turkey is a predominantly Muslim nation it is not a religious theocracy. Read more>>>

Minorities – The Problem Of The Twenty First Century

The great black American ideologue W.E.B. Du Bois wrote “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line”. I hold that the problem of the twenty first century is the problem of minorities. Let me first clarify what Du Bois had in mind in making his famous statement. He was universalist in his outlook, not tribalist or narrowly nationalist. By the colored he had in mind not only black Americans or black Africans but also the colored peoples of Afro-Asia and of the rest of the world.Read more>>>

Policy Statement Delivered By President Sirisena on 01/09/2015

It is my great pleasure to offer you the congratulations of the people of Sri Lanka and welcome you to the new parliament. You are the democratically elected representatives of the people and you have been elected in the most peaceful election held in the history of our country. As a person political experience of more than five decades, including 26 years as a Member of Parliament, I take this opportunity extend my thanks to the brotherly people in this country, those who voted for and against me at the Presidential Election on January 08, which I won as the Common Candidate of the opposition. Read more>>>

Identity Politics and State-Building in Sri Lanka: by Sisira Pinnawala

In 2011 the Pathfinder Foundation (PF) and the Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR) of Columbia University initiated a joint Project entitled “Historical Memory as a Tool for Conflict Resolution” with the objective of engaging scholarly and intellectual participation in the country’s post conflict peace building and reconciliation effort. The specific task identified by the Project was to get the scholars and intellectuals with different perspectives to work together in collaborative work to produce, through research, public debate and discussion, shared narratives of the conflict which would provide a strong and dependable basis for mutual understanding between the two main protagonists leading to sustainable peace and reconciliation. The formal work of the Project commenced with a workshop jointly organized by the PF and ISHR in Colombo in July 2011, facilitated by Dr. Elazar Barkan, Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and Director of Columbia’s ISHR. The participants of the civil society representing academics and researchers from the Universities and other stakeholder groups, were invited to this workshop. A consensus that emerged from the workshop was that the lack of agreement on the nature of the postcolonial Sri Lanka state was one of the root causes of the conflict. Therefore it was decided to conduct a collaborative research project and produce a scholarly volume on the Sri Lanka state as focusing on Identities and State-Building with particular attention to the postcolonial state.  A Working Group (WG) consisting of university academics/ researchers and civil society intellectuals was formed to carry out the above activity. The Working Group (WG) on State-Building.  Read more>>>

Ugly Muslim Politics in Sri Lanka

The most important factor here in selecting a candidate is seeing through distortion techniques. All the candidates are trying to sell themselves to the voters. In many cases, they use the languages that they are so skilfully crafted that they distort the truth in a way that is difficult even for the most careful observer to detect. They attack opponents based on characteristics that may not be true. They also make references to region, for example. The region of a leader where he comes from will not affect his performance. At the last minute, the opposite candidates may also spread rumours about withdrawals or supporting the opponent. This is not a factor at all they should consider in electing a candidate as their representative in the parliament. Read more>>>

Sri Lanka Between Elections

A half year after Maithripala Sirisena’s stunning defeat of President Mahinda Raja­paksa raised hopes for democratic renaissance, the complexities of partisan politics, and Rajapaksa himself, have returned to centre stage. Sirisena’s initial months with a minority government led by the United National Party (UNP) have opened important political space: robust debate and criticism have replaced the fear under Rajapaksa, and important governance reforms have been made, but much remains undone. By initial steps on reconciliation, the government set a more accommodating tone on the legacy of the civil war and the ethnic conflict that drove it. But divisions within government and Sirisena’s failure to take control of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) prevented deeper reform and allowed Rajapaksa and his supporters to mount a comeback. With Sirisena opposing Rajapaksa’s return, the 17 August parliamentary elections will test the continued appeal of the ex-president’s hardline Sinhala nationalism and give a chance for the fresh start that lasting solutions to the country’s social divisions require.Read more>>>

Social Market Economy Vs. Social Market Socialism

Social Market Economy may be a familiar term or concept but the other concept might be new. As I perceive it, both concepts have very similar economic components but there is one significant difference. What is it? Social Market Economy will continue to link the distribution of distributable output significantly to the ownership of means of production. On the contrary “Social Market Socialism” will separate the distribution of distributable output significantly from the ownership of means of production. This difference is not just theoretical; instead it has very far reaching practical impact. The impact is related to the efficiency of the economy. Let us discuss this matter further.Read more>>>

Muslims seek Solutions to their Problems; Not Ministerial Portfolios

Over the years today the SLMC ‘s selfish and short sighted politics has isolated the Muslims, especially those living in the predominantly Sinhalese areas, and had caused tremendous  damage to Muslims who now feel ignored  and orphaned. Muslims feel that this state of affairs cannot continue anymore and thus demand an end to racist politics to reestablish their harmonious ties with the majority community. This is the reason why Muslims, especially the educated lot and the civil society is keen that Muslims abandon the SLMC in the forthcoming elections and join national political parties. Read more>>>

The international significance of the Sri Lankan general election

The current election campaign takes place under conditions of acute political crisis in Colombo and deep fractures within the ruling elite. The two contenders in the January presidential election are both members of the opposition Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), and Sirisena, by virtue of being the country’s president, is also nominal party head. However, rising public hostility towards the government has emboldened Rajapakse and his supporters to take control of the party’s election campaign and promote the ousted president as the next prime minister Read more>>>

The Greek Tragedy

Tragedy is etched into the Greek psyche, whether it’s the fall of Troy, Macedonia, Thrace or Thessaly, throughout Greek history tragedy has been a constant feature. Located on the edge Europe, Greece came to dominate the ‘known Western world’ for a good portion of Europe’s ancient history. In the ancient era, Greece became a maritime city-state and invented a culture oriented towards commerce. Greece was the West’s first advanced civilization (Athens) and produced its first empire (ancient Macedon). Read more>>>

Gold Standard: The future for a stable global currency

With the European sovereign debt crisis threatening to dissolve the Eurozone and the US with record budget and trade deficits the world is facing a monetary crisis. 

Central to the sovereign debt, housing and financial derivatives bubbles has been the provision of cheap and abundant credit. Money that has been simply manufactured from the keyboards or printing presses of Central bankers. As long as the financial system allows the effective counterfeiting of paper currency to meet ever increasing central spending – inflation and instability will ensue.  Read more>>>

The Environmental Problem Its Causes & Islam’s Solution

In relation to the ongoing debate on the climate and the increasing focus on the condition of the environment, Hizb ut-Tahrir in Denmark has issued a booklet titled “The Environmental Problem – Its Causes & Islam’s Solution”. The booklet points out the cultural causes behind the incompetence of the Western capitalist states in solving the environmental problem. It highlights the major industrial countries’ erroneous diagnosis and treatment of the environmental problem, and it clarifies that the solutions of the Western great powers practically serve the interests of their large industries at the expense of the environment. Furthermore, the booklet explains the Islamic view on the environment, as well as the way in which the institutions of the coming Islamic Khilafah-state will deal with the environmental problem. Read more>>>

FIFA Crisis A Product Of Capitalist Culture

A corporate giant has, not for the first time, found it’s top administrators guilty of corruption. Following investigations from the FBI, FIFA has been charged with bribery and corruption in World Cup bidding as well as widespread bribery in sports marketing deals. Many of FIFA’s top officials have been charged with 47 counts of fraud, racketeering and money laundering conspiracies. Read more>>>

Sri Lankan Government Postpones Constitutional Amendment

The minority United National Party (UNP)-led government in Sri Lanka has been thrown into crisis after being forced to put off the parliamentary debate over its proposed 19th amendment to the constitution. Debate was due to take place on Thursday and Friday. The postponement was a result of infighting between ruling and opposition parties and compounded by the Supreme Court’s determination that some clauses should be referred to a referendum. The amendment has already been changed several times in a bid to get the backing of parliamentary opposition parties.Read more>>>

Women, Violence and Conflict in Pakistan

Women in the past were the principal victims of state policies to appease violent extremists. After democracy’s return, there has been some progress, particularly through progressive legislation, much of it authored by committed women’s rights activists in the federal and provincial legislatures, facilitated by their increased numbers in parliament. Yet, the best of laws will provide little protection so long as social attitudes toward women remain biased, police officers are not held accountable for failing to investigate gender-based crimes, the superior judiciary does not hold the subordinate judiciary accountable for failing to give justice to women survivors of violence, and discriminatory laws remain on the books.Read more>>>

91 Years since the Destruction of the Muslim Global Leadership

As much of the western world commemorates World War I (1914-1918) and looks at the role Europe played in ultimately defeating an aggressive Germany. Despite losing WWI, it was the Ottomans and other European empires that were rubbed of the global map – Germany was largely left intact. The political mess we have in the Middle East today goes back to what Britain and France created 100 years ago, when they dismantled the Khilafah. Understanding this 91 years on is the key to placing everything in its correct context.Read more>>>

Muslims want solutions to their problems

Muslims who voted for President Maithripala Sirisena as a whole seems to be a disturbed lot today. They voted in the hope of solutions to their burning problems and not reward their discredited politicians with ministerial portfolios. Their spontaneous decision to vote for President Maithripala was the result of their losing confidence on their politicians who, true to their past record, once again failed to raise issues concerning the community. Read more>>>

A new campaign on; STOP ‘Talibanization’ in Sri Lanka

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Towards to Next Correct Change in the Muslim Community of Sri Lanka

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