‘The Owl of Minerva takes flight only at Dusk’ –Walter Benjamin “We have met the enemy, and he is us” — Pogo Comics quoted in the “ISIS is US: The Shocking Truth Behind the Army of Terror.” April is the cruelest month: Four years ago as the Fahrenheit rose on a beautiful Easter Sunday morning in April 21, bombs exploded[Read More…]
The alarm bells had been ringing for some time in Sri Lanka. The island nation is strategically located at the center of the Indian Ocean on the busiest trade and Undersea Data Cables routes in the world and hence perpetually in the cross-hairs of big power rivalry. For those who missed the signs if not the red flags; ripples caused[Read More…]
More than 250 people were killed in a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in churches and hotels in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 20 April during Easter Sunday. Local Islamic orgasnisations NJT and JMI are held responsible for the attack. Islamic State has also claimed responsibility. Sri Lanka has had a long history of majoritarian Buddhist and state violence against religious[Read More…]
Sri Lanka, Easter Sunday, 21 April 2019: More than half a dozen bomb blasts shook the country killing from 250 to more than 350 people. Depending on who counts, the death toll varies. The devastation took place in in several catholic churches and luxury hotels. Other explosions, including from – what they say – are suicide bombers, have since killed[Read More…]
In the times we live in, where smoke and mirrors are the world’s two chief weapons of war, fiction is a better guide to contemporary events than ‘facts’ presented by governments and media. A case in point are the horrific Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, that killed over 250 and maimed scores of people, and has sparked fears of[Read More…]
Sri Lanka does not seem to have returned to its normal conditions even after six days’ of the Easter-day carnage. Panic still grew and fears of unexpected attacks were haunting people even as warnings come in different forms in the Island. Reports of ‘further attacks’ and ‘reprisals’ have led to alerts that people stay away from public gatherings, including in[Read More…]
This article is a sequel to my last piece “Blaming Muslims Again! Terror Attacks in Sri Lanka” (Countercurrents, April 23, 2019). As so many absurd and conflicting stories and claims by experts, laymen, victims and purported perpetrators, 9/11 gave birth to so many conspiracy theories, similarly, this Easter Sunday terror attacks in Sri Lanka have also brought us to the[Read More…]
The carnage in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday has been condemned by people everywhere. Individuals and groups from different faith traditions have not ceased to emphasise that the mass slaughter of at least 321 persons in churches attending Easter services and in hotels on 21st April is a heinous crime in the eyes of any religion. It is important to[Read More…]
The Sri Lanka Easter bombings that killed more than 350 people including foreign nationals raise several pertinent questions Why did the bombings received far less foreign media coverage than Christ Church terrorist attack and Notre Dame fire? Why was the intelligence warning which came on April 4 was ignored and even withheld according to Sri Lankan minister Lakshman Kiriella It[Read More…]
I am very disappointed at countries and individuals who have not verified the truth about who was behind the latest rounds of terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka before finger pointing at Islam and Muslims for killing around 300 innocent people in Colombo. This insensitivity, if not prejudice against Muslims, reminds me of what leading newspapers and analysts in the US[Read More…]
The entire world remains confronted with the horrors that unfolded yesterday throughout Sri Lanka. Whilst the country remains under curfew, the authorities have pinned the blame for the attack on an obscure group called National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ). NTJ is reportedly an Islamist terror group that as noted by Sri Lankan authorities, has multiple links to foreign countries. The links[Read More…]
My mind is numb, my heart is heavy, the tears have dried, Yet the day dawns and life must be lived, Unanswered, unanswerable questions, Actions, reactions, a vicious cycle that must be broken. As I sit down to write this, my biggest struggle is with myself, ‘Should I write this or not? What use is it? Surely the next planner[Read More…]
The day of ‘Resurrection’ became a black Sunday for hundreds in Colombo who gathered in Churches for Easter prayers. Many in nearby hotels, including several foreign nationals, also fell victim to the bomb blasts. As of now, the death toll is reaching 300 and hundreds of people are in serious condition in different hospitals. Reports suggest that the eight bomb[Read More…]
A series of coordinated bombings struck three churches and three hotels on Easter Sunday killing 207 people in the worst attacks in Sri Lanka since the end of the civil war 10 years ago. At least 450 people were wounded in total of eight explosions. According to police several of the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers. Most of[Read More…]
Notre Dame is an iconic edifice of French culture and of Humanity and the conflagration has shocked the world, as have the recent Christchurch Massacres in New Zealand mosques and now the Sri Lanka Massacres in churches and hotels. However while these tragedies have laudably received massive media coverage in the Christian West, there is scant coverage of such historical, recent[Read More…]
Easter is the day when it is said, the Christ resurrected again. Devotees celebrate because they believe the Christ was crucified for them. Whether he is a myth or reality, it does not mean but one fact is clear, the life of Christ is inspiring and suggest love conquer all. As I thought of calling friends, the events and devastation[Read More…]
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…]
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My Amma (Malayalam word for Mother) passed away on August 22, 2023 at 3.10 AM. It is always difficult to deal with the passing of a parent, that too one’s mother. I thought the grief would go away. No it didn’t. All those bitter sweet memories won’t go away. At night I lie awake for hours. My friend, guide and[Read More…]
