Lanka

Road to Colombo's Carnage

Islam, Christianity and Colonialism collided with greed in the Indian Ocean, creating an ideological storm that is far from spent. Islam arrived on the island around 9CE, and local monarchs encouraged the traders to marry into the community. But the arrival of European powers in 1505 gave rise to the anti-Muslim hostility

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni on Forest of Enchantments, timeless epics, comparisons between Sita and Draupadi

If symbolically, Sita, being the daughter of the earth, is in tune with the power of nature, then Ram embodies the laws of the city or civilization, everything that opposes Sita’s power — natural, emotional and free flowing

Ravi Shankar Prasad says US channel's finding on Ram Setu reaffirms BJP's stand

The claim made in a new show of a US science channel that the 'Ram Setu' is man-made and not natural has reaffirmed the stand of the BJP on the issue, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

Happy Diwali! Do you know why it is called the festival of lights?

Diwali isn't just about food, fireworks and festivities. Learn more about the mythology that revolves around the festival of lights

Hardline Buddhists in Myanmar, Sri Lanka strike anti-Islamist pact

COLOMBO (Reuters) - A Myanmar monk accused of inciting violence against Muslims and a hardline Buddhist group in Sri Lanka said on Tuesday they would work together to rally other Buddhist groups and defend their faith against militant Islamists. Ashin Wirathu, who once called himself "the Burmese bin Laden" said the agreement with Sri Lanka's Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or "Buddhist Power Force", was the first step in a broad alliance against conversions by Islamists in the region. The deal gave no detailed indication what the groups were planning to counter what they said was the risk of Buddhists becoming "victims of conversions by extremists", but the agreement could stoke anti-Muslim attacks in both countries

PMK leader Ramdoss condemns Lanka govt for auctioning boats seized from Indian fishermen

PMK leader Ramdoss on Friday strongly condemned the reports that Sri Lankan Government was auctioning the boats seized from the Indian Fishermen, and said "the act of the Island government has shocked Indian fishermen."

Stop intimidating us, rights groups tell Lankan govt

Six global human rights groups have jointly asked the Sri Lankan government, President and member states of the Human Rights Council to stop intimidating them and ensure that nobody faced retaliation for cooperating with the United Nations.

U.S. to propose new UN rights resolution against Sri Lanka

COLOMBO (Reuters) - The United States will table a U.N. human rights resolution against Sri Lanka, a State Department official said on Saturday, putting new pressure on Colombo to address war crimes allegations