Local Issues

In a concerted effort to tackle the educational hurdles encountered by Muslim schools in the Colombo region, President Ranil Wickremesinghe chaired a formal discussion at the Presidential Secretariat today (02). The meeting, which brought together key stakeholders, including Minister Ali Sabry and representatives of school principals and organizations, addressed a range of pressing issues. Among the challenges discussed were the shortage …

The Sri Lankan Government needs to move ahead with MMDA reforms before any more delays and scuttling by conservative groups with intentions to suppress Muslim women’s rights in the name of culture or religion   The Sri Lankan Muslim communities have been abuzz with debates about the reform of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) lately, with most segments agreeing …

Reforming the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) has become an endless saga of committees and consultations, more to satisfy the political addenda of governments, parliamentarians and Muslim vote-bank managers than to make Muslim matrimonial matters keep pace with changing circumstances of Sri Lanka and its Muslim community. Between the time when Justice Saleem Marsoof Committee (JSMC) submitted its findings and recommendations …

UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka Hanaa Singer-Hamdy said 22 per cent of the Sri Lankan population or 4.9 million people live in need of food assistance at the moment. In an interview with Daily Mirror, she said several factors are interacting to put pressure on the current food security situation in Sri Lanka. “We have also seen that low-income …

The Education Ministry with immediate effect has recalled the Islam text books for Grade 6, 7, 10 and 11 after the Presidential Task Force for ‘One Country, One Law,’ raised concerns over the contents of the books. Issuing a directive to principals of National and other schools that have received the text books in Sinhala and Tamil, Educational Publications Department …

Divorce is distasteful to anyone but it needs to be considered as an option ‘Law is Light’ is a trilingual legal project to shed light on the law. The Latin maxim ‘ignorantia legis neminem excusat’ translates to ‘ignorance of the law is not an excuse’. The Pro Bono Committee of the Law Students’ Association of Sri Lanka strives to educate …