Global Voices

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The world is talking, are you listening?

Sunanda Deshapriya at Groundviews opines that “the judicial case related to the violent attack on Muslim owned Fashion Bug head office and warehouse in Pepiliyana, 10 km away from Colombo, is destined to be a turning point in Muslim Rights in Sri Lanka.”

Sri Lankan blogger Indi Samarajiva explains why Bodu Bala Sena, a hardline Buddhist organization, is gaining popularity in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan blogger Patta Pal Boru opines that the majority religion in a country is a curse as the simple weight of the established religion (inertia) gets people thinking about the wrongs rather than the rights favoring the fringe or the other religions.

The One Billion Rising campaign constitutes of one billion people across the world showing their antipathy towards all forms of violence against women. Meg posts pictures and analysis of the One Billion Rising campaign in Colombo, Sri Lanka on the 14th of February, 2013.

Freedom Of Expression Sri Lanka reports that the Sri Lankan government has started the process of introducing a comprehensive code of ethics, for both print and electronic media, in accordance with its overall aim to streamline the industry.

Law and Other Things has updates on the proceedings that were initiated in the Sri Lankan Parliament to impeach the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, Dr Shirani Bandaranayake.

Shenali Waduge opines that Sri Lanka needs a National Media Commission to steer Journalistic Ethics. The blogger adds: “in the absence of self-regulation by mass media and communication channels there is a need for content analysis by a competent and unbiased team”.

Nandasiri Wanninayaka sold his Motorbike through a free online classified portal in Sri Lanka and writes about his experience and the potentials of such platforms.

Ratmale shares his experience of putting a child into a Sri Lankan local school. Without purchasing or political power “one has to go through a minefield of hurdles,” he thinks.

N Sathiya Moorthy reports that the the ruling UPFA coalition is set to impeach Sri Lanka’s first woman Chief Justice Sirani Bandaranaike.

Chitrangi posts news of police brutality on a 20 years old unmarried youth from Rabavava, Ihala Puliyankulama, Puttalam and many more in her blog.

Malaka Rodrigo reports that many fish species have aggregated to the Sri Lankan East coast giving a bumper harvest to the fishermen. Experts say that this might have happened due to changing patterns of Oceanic Currents and climate change.

Dilrukshi Handunnetti reports in Groundviews that Sri Lanka’s largest internment facility was officially closed last week and its 346 interns were relocated to other confinement(s) instead of being resettled.

Sri Lanka and India, despite our pre-colonial religious and social accommodation of differing sexuality, have remained Victorian in attitude long after the colonial powers have changed. In terms of gay rights, we really need to catch up, and be more honest to ourselves and each other.

The villagers living at the Malankaadu temporary resettlement camp were evicted in 2007 by the Sri Lankan Navy. Most of them are being resettled in an adjoining village, however, the Mullikulam Roman Catholic Tamil Mixed School continues to be occupied by the Navy. Groundviews has more.

Indu Nanayakkara informs that the third edition of the annual meet of the Twitter users in Sri Lanka will take place on Saturday, September 1, 2012. Details are here.

TweetupSL 3. Image credit tweetupsl.org

Serendipity questions the lack of credibility of the School Examination System in Sri Lanka and relates how that is contributing to the growing unemployment in the country.

D. B. S. Jeyaraj informs that a mob led by a Buddhist Priest had forcefully taken away a statue of Pillaiyar, the Elephant faced deity, from a Hindu temple in Panamai on the Eastern coastal district of Amparai in Sri Lanka.

Ranil Senanayake at Groundviews exerts that the water rich Sri Lanka urgently needs a National Water Resources Policy to preserve the quantity and quality of the water resources.

Shubha remembers the dark days of the Sinhalese-Tamil riots in Sri Lanka which began on the 23rd of July 1983, in the aftermath of a funeral of 13 Sri Lanka Army soldiers, who were ambushed and killed by the LTTE in Jaffna.

Since 2010 the Colombo City Corporation has been removing stray dogs from the streets of Colombo and whereabouts of them are unknown. People are worried about the fate of the canines, reports Canging Perspectives blog.

Hemantha Warnakulasuriya writes about the systemic denial of Justice to Tamils in the Sri Lankan judicial sphere.

Nanadasiri Wanninayaka writes about the state of the government officials in Sri Lanka.

Perceptions argues that there are so many words written about sustainable agriculture and “very little of that comes directly from someone who earns 100% of his income from existing agriculture, sustainable or not”.

Indi.ca informs that the Sri Lankan Central Bank has given permission to launch mobile payment systems in Sri Lanka for the first time.

The Puppeteer participated in the “Colombo Cycle Fun Ride 25km”, a public cycling event organised by the Pedal Pushers cyclist group, and shares her experiences.

Sri Lanka Unites blog informs about a campaign titled S.H.O.W (Stop Harassment of Women) You Care which plans to engage nine hundred young men to travel on the busiest bus routes in Colombo and spread the words to stop violence against women.

Elijah Hoole looks at the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka from a different angle. The blogger thinks that a perfect reconciliation process should entail work towards building or rather restoring inter-ethnic relationships and making people care for each other.

Indi.ca writes about the difficulty of getting a Chinese Visa in Sri Lanka.