Photo source: Financial Times By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront Sri Lanka hasn’t seen an economic catastrophe like seen in March 2022 in seventy years. Food inflation alone rose to a record thirty percent. Essentials, such as rice, lentils and chicken, have become unaffordable for many.  As cost of living in the tourism driven country has become unbearable, Sri Lankans have taken out to the streets. As a response, government had gagged the social media and messaging apps. The protests have settled a great unease within Rajapaksa family, whose members hold key positions in the government. Due to a public anger, the cabinet of ministers had resigned, and a new finance minister was announced. After a few days, he too resigned. It seems that most of Sri Lankans aren’t content with Rajapaksa’s rule. Former government officials have alleged that the Rajapaksa family has hidden their multibillion-dollar fortune in bank accounts in Dubai, the Seychelles, and St. Martin. For example, a...

Photo Source:  Al Jazeera By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe UpFront I n post-war Sri Lanka, when two hundred fifty civilians, including forty-two foreign nationals, were killed in a single day on 21 April 2019 across hotels and churches, in a string of coordinated attacks, it reminded the world of a predatory civil war, which rattled the country, in the past.  The hospitals had struggled to cope up with a high number of casualties, as suicide bombers, wearing backpacks, caught on CCTV, blew themselves up. Gory pictures in the press appeared showing debris spread from ceilings, walls and burst water pipes on roads. There were screams of helplessness around, as survivors got paralysed with shock. Sometime later, the army was seen looking for explosives in the earth, as pallbearers, handling wooden coffins, with mourners around them, were making a way for mass burials. The episode received worldwide condemnations, but the world also had scrambled for answers: Tamil ...

Photo Source: India TV Written by Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe UpFront Sri Lanka slipped into chaos in October 2018 when a constitutional crisis happened in a matter of fourteen days. It was 26 October, when President Maithripala Sirisena removed Ranil Wickremesinghe and appointed Mahindra Rajapaksa as the new prime minister. When people questioned his unconventional decision, as he sacked him without any parliamentary consultation, he defended this decision on the basis of internal stability, governance issues and accountability. He had adjourned the parliament session till November 16, giving Rajapaksa ample time to gain support. Eventually, Rajapaksa became the new prime minister and entered the official Temple Trees Residence. But this is something against democratic values because Wickremesinghe enjoyed a majority in the parliament. As two ‘non-confidence votes’ have already passed against Rajapaksa, it seems that it is illegal for Rajapaksa to stay in power. parliament h...

Photo Source: Scroll.in By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront Communal violence between Buddhist Sinhalese and Muslims escalated sharply in Sri Lanka in March 2018, forcing the government to impose a nationwide state of emergency on 6 March. International outlets such as Reuters and Al Jazeera reported that the immediate trigger was the killing of a 41‑year‑old Sinhalese man in Kandy district after an altercation with Muslim youths. His death sparked retaliatory attacks, with Sinhalese mobs ransacking Muslim businesses and setting fire to mosques. Human Rights Watch noted that police struggled to contain the unrest, and at least two people were killed while dozens were injured. The violence had already been brewing. In late February 2018, riots broke out in Ampara after false rumours spread that a Muslim‑owned restaurant had laced food with sterilisation pills. This baseless claim inflamed tensions and led to attacks on Muslim property. By early March, the unrest spread to Kan...