Since the very beginning of Buddhism over 2500 years ago, Buddhist monks and nuns have depended on alms food. They were, and still are, prohibited from growing their own food, storing their own provisions or cooking their own meals. Instead, every morning they would make their day’s meal out of whatever was freely given to them by lay supporters. Whether …

Eastern Province Muslim militant groups responding to a government amnesty yesterday surrendered dozens of automatic weapons before a major crackdown by the authorities, Police said. Militants surrendered their weapons to the mosques in the area before they were collected in bulk and handed over to the Police at a Kattankudy mosque, they said. Some weapons including 17 T-56 rifles were …

Warning about the pitfalls of operating in a secular imposed order, ZAfAR BANGASH, Director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought , argues that the Islamic movement must be clear about its goals as well as methods in bringing about change in Muslim societies. Muslim scholars, Islamic movement activists and even ordinary Muslims agree that the only natural habitat for …

THE MAINSTREAM media narrative of events unfolding in Iran has been set out for us as clear as a fairytale: an evil dictatorship has rigged elections and now violently suppresses its country’s democrats, hysterically blaming foreign saboteurs the while. But the Twitter generation is on the right side of history (in Obama’s words), and could bring Iran back within the …

On Tuesday American troops withdrew from Iraq’s cities to their barracks in accordance with an agreement the George W. Bush administration and the Iraqi government signed hours before a UN mandate permitting US presence in Iraq expired. The June 30 withdrawal was a milestone indeed, some analysts may say, given the fears many people entertained when the United States invaded …

Listening to people talk since the vote in the Human Rights Council, anybody would think that Sri Lanka’s approach to international relations was now clear. Newspapers have been full of praise for Dayan Jayatilleka and the principles he has been advocating. If they were genuinely convinced, I’d be delighted. I’ve always believed that a foreign policy based on solidarity with …