Stories from Quick Reads and Sri Lanka
Updates on the 18th SAARC Summit On Social Media
The ongoing summit of the The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was covered by international media with different perspectives. However non-official initiatives such as 18th SAARC Summit blog, Facebook account, Twitter and Google+ account are aggregating updates on the summit for easy archiving. Here are some examples: This...
Infographic: 5 Facts About Sri Lanka’s Tamil Community in the North
The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a civil society think tank in Sri Lanka, has recently conducted a top line survey on “Democracy in post-war Sri Lanka 2014“. The results show that difference of opinion on the reconciliation still exists between the Tamil and the Sinhalese people after the Sri...
Sri Lanka's Slow LLRC Implementation
The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was a commission of inquiry mandated to investigate the facts and circumstances which led to the bloody civil war in Sri Lanka. After an 18-month inquiry, the commission submitted its report to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa almost three years ago, on 15...
Sri Lanka Plans to Deport 1,500 Pakistani and Afghan Refugees
Facing persecution in Pakistan, many Ahmadiyya Muslims and Christians have taken refuge in Sri Lanka. These refugees are mostly held in Boossa and Mirihana detention centers and have to live on government-provided rations as they are not eligible for work. According to the media, the Sri Lankan government is preparing to...
Deported Sri Lankan Asylum Seekers Speak of Mistreatment by Australian Authorities
Thirty seven Sinhalese and four Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka sailed in a boat towards Australia and were intercepted west of the Cocos Island late last month by Australian authorities. They were returned to Sri Lanka, their point of origin, and they appeared in a court in the country's southwest...
Attacks Against Muslims Continue In Sri Lanka
It has been two weeks since the violent riots against Muslims in the Sri Lankan coastal cities of Aluthgama and Beruwala. Although the situation has died down after widespread condemnation, sporadic violence against Muslims continues in different parts of Sri Lanka. Blogger Abdul Khaleq tweets about one such recent incident in...
9 Essentials Uncles You Need In Sri Lanka
Cerno opines that ordinary Sri Lankans need the right network of relationships with many ‘powerful uncles’ to survive properly.
Contraception Woes For Sri Lankan Women
Journalist, photographer and blogger Meg at Life in Lanka blog reports that in remote Sri Lankan villages some women do not have a say in what type of contraception they use. Their husbands were not keen on using condoms and preferred that their wives used contraception instead; so the inexpensive,...
Traditional Media Conspires Against Facebook
Tech blogger Amitha Amarasinghe alleges that Facebook is being portrayed negatively in mainstream media in Sri Lanka accompanied with saucy headlines like “Student commits Suicide over a Facebook photo”, “Facebook love ends in Death” etc: All of a sudden, there is a huge increase in number of mass media content...
Legalizing And Regulating The Sex workers in Sri Lanka
Shilpa Samaratunge, a development worker, discusses in Groundviews about the problems surrounding the sex workers in Sri Lanka. Instead of abolishing and criminalizing them, which is the path Sri Lanka currently is on, she suggests to legalize the profession and impose regulation and provide health-services for the sex workers.
Sri Lanka's Best Bus Terminal
Freelance writer, translator and blogger Nandasiri Wanninayaka writes about the multi-purpose bus terminal-cum shopping and entertainment complex in the resort town of Negombo: You wouldn’t expect a bus stand in Sri Lanka to be like a mini airport. But if you happen to go to Negombo Bus Stand, renamed as...
Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka: 2006-2013
Groundviews highlights a report (pdf), which aims to facilitate the criminalization of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka during 2006-2013, recognize and uphold the rights of the victims families.
Sri Lanka's Census On War Dead – A Step Towards Transparency and Reconciliation
The Government of Sri Lanka has started a census on the deaths, missing people and damage to property in the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam affecting the Tamil minorities from 1983 to 2009. Serendipity blog hopes that the counting would be done properly: Whilst the press and...
A Durian Village In Sri Lanka
In Southern parts of Sri Lanka the cultivation of Durian, regarded by many in southeast Asia as the “king of fruits”, is becoming popular as it has export demands. The Sri Lanka Ministry of Agriculture has taken steps to commercially cultivate Durian, reports Ajith Parakum Jayasinghe. A 30-acre Durian village...
Brain Drain Or Brain Save
Indrajit Samarajiva refutes the notion that Sri Lankan talents invariably end up migrating in a foreign nation resulting in brain drain. In fact talent is there among: Not only professionals but also many innovative village youth who would be National assets elsewhere, unseen and unrecognized in Sri Lanka. The issue...
Sri Lanka: Debate On Legalizing Sex as a Profession
“Sex work finds its place in the underbelly of most societies, more so in conservative cultures like that of Sri Lanka,” comments Shilpa Samaratunge at Groundviews. The question remains whether the sex workers can demand their rights confronting stigma.
Discovering the Bouquinistes of Colombo
Paris may be famous for its bouquinistes, stalls selling second hand and antiquarian books lining the banks of the River Seine, but Colombo also has them. They don’t line the banks of the Beira Lake and tourists seldom find them but they are invaluable for the traveller. In this lovely...
An Alternative Guide to Colombo for CHOGM 2013
The prestigious Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2013 is taking place in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo and the government ensured an expensive makeover of the city for the distinguished guests. Groundviews posts a guide to the other sides of the city which are apparently invisible to the guests.
Screening Of Sri Lankan Movie Forcefully Stopped In Nepal
Sunanda Deshapriya at Freedom Of Expression Sri Lanka reports that the international screening of No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka has been stopped in Nepal due to the pressure of Sri Lankan government. Earlier, the investigative documentary about the final weeks of the Sri Lankan Civil War...
Council Elections 2013 of The Northern Province of Sri Lanka Updates
The Sri Lankan Provincial council elections are being held today (September 21, 2013) to elect 148 members to three of the nine provincial councils in the country. The Northern Province, which was plagued with civil war, is having its first council elections in 25 years. Centre for Monitoring Election Violence...
Its Getting Hot In Sri Lanka
Blogger sEnEl informs that during recent months Sri Lankans experienced some of the hottest days in their lifetimes. The blogger attributes the reason for the erratic weather to the global climate change.
