The Sinhalese were all parties to the Kandyan Treaty signed on 2nd March 1815, handing over the Sinhalese kingdom to the King of England. This is strong evidence that no other ethnic group had a legal claim to the rule of the country at that time. However, exactly 100 years later, in 1915, a minority group attacked the religious freedom of the Sinhalese. The Sinhalese, enraged by this attack, attacked the minority in return. It is apparent from certain documents published at this time that the true history of the ethnic conflict, which caused great suffering to the Sinhalese by imposing martial law and shooting dead 66 people, including two women, convicting 5,193 people by civil and military courts, detaining a large number of others without trial, extorting money for their release, and forcibly confiscating vehicles and livestock, is now beginning to emerge. I wanted to write this after reading a newspaper article recently, which analyzed the British government's attempt to cre...
In a world not so far from our own, humanity stood at the precipice of change. Divided by borders, beliefs, and histories, the global challenges of war, poverty, and climate change loomed large. Yet, in this era of discord, a ripple of hope began to emerge in the form of world peace initiatives that spanned the continents. It all started with a gathering in an inconspicuous town called Harmonyville, named so for its rich history of peaceful cohabitation. Ecologists, diplomats, volunteers, and visionaries from every corner of the earth converged to brainstorm solutions. The town's leaders, inspired by stories of ancient treaties and peace accords, decided it was time to breathe life into the idea of global unity again. The conference, dubbed “The Summit for a New Dawn,” brought together the most mixed of delegations. Among them was Zara, a young activist from Kenya, whose organization focused on environmental conservation as a path to peace. There was Raj, a tech entrepreneur from...