Media | Literature | Postcolonial Studies | Personal Account | RTs ≠ endorsements
Colombo
Joined June 2014
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THIS!
Also, individual Sri Lankans AND organisations need to think twice, thrice, as many times as possible, about our consumerism, and most importantly about *what happens* to all your stuff at the end of its life.
"Oh I just give away my clothes/shoes/bags" isn't good enough
- what happens *after* that? Where is it going to end up once it has served its purpose?
One thing that's helped me be more conscious of what I buy/possess is to sit down in a room, look around at everything it contains, & imagine what happens to all those things in the end
Maryam retweeted
Pallakkadu Garbage heap has been a national shame. EU funded the garbage Management Center at the site in 2008. Mismanagement killed the Center in little time and our garbage eating jumbos are a globally infamous sight. Not just this one, there's another place in Dambulla too.
Maryam retweeted
the OMP’s records reveal thousands of missing names & unexplained discrepancies in official tallies of Sri Lanka’s disappeared: truth-seeking mechanism has become another instrument of impunity? himalmag.com/disappearances-… by @francesharris0n + Yasmin Sooka
Maryam retweeted
delighted to be collaborating with @shamara4w and Itihas itihas.lk/ on this workshop intended for those preparing to apply for a PhD. Please do share!
Dr. Vindhya Buthpitiya and I are running a workshop in Colombo in December to support prospective PhD applicants to UK institutions.
Details in the CfP below! Please share with anyone who might be interested. It is free of charge.
Apply here: forms.gle/XkzZvBVeJpHcYCDK9
@vindib_
Got online (i.e. Twitter) to check #CycloneArnab updates and this is how I learn that my country had a chance to name a cyclone and we went with "Gigum"
(WHY???)
thehindu.com/news/national/c…
ALT Screenshot from The Hindu article, link shared in post. It lists out the names of the next ten cyclones in the region, along with which Asian nation came up with each name.
We need to come up with a name for that phenomenon — where three decades (and so much trauma) later, South Asian parents are forced to realise that their eldest daughters were right all along
Maryam retweeted
“This is an opinion column. It usually runs to 1,000 words. Eight hundred of them have been spent naming ordinary things Israel has illegally denied the people of Gaza. I could fill another column and still not exhaust the list.”
~Colin Sheridan
Irish Examiner
Maryam retweeted
makes you wonder what the Bureau of Foreign Employment does with all the money it’s making off migrant worker registration/insurance? One would assume this ought to cover such situations and access to legal aid - astounding how much the family has paid out of pocket?
Sivarasa Anojan’s life must be saved.
I am planning to raise his case in Parliament next week following reports that his appeal in Saudi Arabia has resulted in a death sentence, after he was originally sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and a SAR 3 million fine.
There are serious questions that the Foreign Ministry must answer.
The Embassy’s own legal advice had reportedly assessed the prospects of a successful appeal or reduction of sentence as “extremely low.” Yet, according to the family, after meeting Deputy Minister Arun Hemachandra and following the advice given to them, they proceeded with the appeal.
The family subsequently paid Rs. 1,890,766 as requested for legal fees into an account identified with the Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Documents show that the appeal was filed on 24 August 2026, but the Ministry’s letter forwarding the appeal to the family is dated only 16 September 2026, despite the family saying they had requested it earlier. Saudi (1).pdf
The appeal identifies Attorney Adlan Abdullah Al-Subaie as counsel. However, the family states that a different lawyer actually appeared before Court and that they were not provided with his identity or contact details. Saudi (1).pdf
Once the family proceeded with an appeal following advice given through the Ministry and paid the requested legal fees, what responsibility did the Ministry assume to ensure proper legal representation and keep the family informed? Who selected and instructed the lawyer who actually appeared? How was the money disbursed? Why was the appeal not provided to the family at the relevant time?
These circumstances raise serious questions as to whether there was a failure in the consular and diplomatic handling of this case, and I intend to seek answers in Parliament.
But accountability cannot delay the immediate priority.
The Government must urgently secure experienced independent legal representation, pursue every remaining legal remedy and clemency process, and make diplomatic representations at the highest appropriate level in Saudi Arabia.
A Sri Lankan citizen’s life is at stake. Every legal, consular, diplomatic and humanitarian avenue available must now be used to save Sivarasa Anojan’s life.
Maryam retweeted
1) Airbus provided Sri Lankan investigators with documents indicating that Namal Rajapaksa communicated directly with Airbus during the 2013 procurement of 10 aircraft for SriLankan.
2) An Airbus email dated March 23, 2013 reportedly states that the “President’s son” would present Airbus’s case for the aircraft sale to Cabinet through President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
3) Airbus representatives visited Sri Lanka and gave statements to investigators in support of the local probe.
4) Then Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne submitted a Cabinet paper on March 27, 2013, seeking approval for SriLankan Airlines to purchase the 10 Airbus aircraft.
5) On April 13, 2013, Mahinda Rajapaksa, then also Finance Minister, told Cabinet that SriLankan Airlines did not require Cabinet approval because it was a Companies Act-registered entity with an independent board empowered to make decisions.
6) Police told court that Namal Rajapaksa met Airbus delegations visiting Sri Lanka to discuss the deal.
7) When Airbus offered to establish a training centre in Sri Lanka as part of the large aircraft order, Namal reportedly asked that it be located in Hambantota, his electorate. Emails allegedly corroborate this.
8) Nimal Perera affidavit says Namal Rajapaksa had requested from him a foreign bank account number to receive money from a foreign consultancy, at which instant he had provided the Sabre Vision account.
9) Once the money was received by the Sabre Vision account, Nimal withdrew it and paid Rs 100mn to Mr Rajapaksa “in cash”, the affidavit states.
10) Namal maintains that he did not get this payment and that there is no physical or scientific evidence corroborating the alleged cash handover. His lawyers also questioned the credibility of Mr Perera and his statements.
Namal Rajapaksa has been in remand since September 4 in a CIABOC investigation into an alleged Rs. 100 million bribe connected to the SriLankan Airlines aircraft procurement.
Important: This case is still at the stage of reporting facts to Court.
sundaytimes.lk/260913/news/a…
Excuse me. My mother and grandmother before me fold their grocery bags into tiny perfect triangles.
And THEN they stuff those into a bigger plastic bag.
Maryam retweeted
And there was no mainstream coverage. There was no outcry, no public condemnation, no outrage, no compassion, no humanity for our children, for our mothers, for our fathers and elders. Decades of this, and there was only silence.
Guys they found yet another way to make women do all the work
Pimp your pal is happeninggg
It’s a matchmaking party where women bring and pitch the men.
> Saturday, 12 September
> HSR, Bangalore
> 30 spots only
Registerrr: offlyn.life/e/dYrxnQY