TM: "Sri Lanka Struggles to Deliver Justice for Easter Sunday Terror Victims"

June 09, 2022

On April 21, amid an unprecedented economic meltdown, political turmoil, and social unrest, Sri Lanka observed the third anniversary of the Islamic State (IS)-claimed Easter Sunday terror attacks. To mark the occasion, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa promised once again to punish those behind the carnage that killed 260 people and injured over 500, who were mostly Christian worshippers at Easter services, foreign nationals, and tourists in hotels. Rajapaksa reiterated his government’s commitment to ensure justice for all the victims of the Easter terror attacks.

ANIMESH ROUL

"Exacerbating the Pandemic? Assessing The Critical Role of Religious Congregations in Indian Subcontinent"

ABSTRACT:  The Coronavirus pandemic has exposed myriad vulnerabilities of the modern world, severely questioning the so-called human progress in the sphere of scientific innovations and advances in the global health care system. It has also exposed the socio-religious divide and defiance within communities and lack of collective responsibilities in the face of this Covid-19 challenge.

ANIMESH ROUL
January 2022

Veiled Threat: Burqa, Madrasa and the Problem of Radicalisation in Sri Lanka

After over a month-long debate and discussion, the Sri Lankan cabinet, on April 27, 2021, imposed a ban on wearing Burqas (full-face veils in public used by Muslim women) and closing down madrasas (Islamic Seminaries) across the country. The government defended the decision by stating that these restrictions would improve national security and prevent radicalisation in society. As expected, few Islamic countries and groupings termed the decision as anti-Islamic.

ANIMESH ROUL & NIHAR NAYAK

TM: "Islamic State’s Easter Sunday Attacks in Sri Lanka: Assessing the Government’s Response Two Years On"

April 10, 2021

Two years ago, on April 21, 2019, eight suicide bombers affiliated with the Islamic State (IS)-linked local jihadist groups National Towheed Jamaat (NTJ) and Jammiyat-ul Millathu Ibrahim (JMI) carried out deadly terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, targeting luxury hotels and Catholic churches. The synchronized attacks on that fateful Easter Sunday killed or injured over 750 people.

ANIMESH ROUL

MLM: "Mentor, Provocateur or Mastermind? Understanding Naufar Moulavi’s Role in Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Attack"

February 06, 2021

In early January 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that three foreign nationals – Muhammed Naufar (also, Naufar Moulavi), Muhammed Riskan and Ahamed Milhan – had been charged with conspiring to provide material support to Islamic State (IS), a designated foreign terrorist organization that claimed responsibility for the deadly April 2019 Easter Sunday violence in Sri Lanka (U.S. Department of Justice, January 8).

ANIMESH ROUL

LUMBINI: So near and yet so far for India

Lumbini

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Nepal once again during August 30-31, 2018. This is his fourth visit to Nepal ever since he assumed office in May 2014. During this late August visit, PM Modi will be primarily attending the BIMSTEC summit and holding a bilateral meeting with Nepal’s premier Khadga Prasad Oli on the sidelines. It is believed that he may sign a couple of bilateral agreements with his counterpart during this meeting.

NIHAR R NAYAK & SIDHARTH AGARWAL

Common Sense at CHOGM: Advantage China?

India’s external affairs minister Mr Salman Khurshid went to Sri Lanka substituting Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to participate in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) conclave. This decision by the government of India speaks volumes about how the regional politics and associated narrow political compulsions adversely impact the national security policy making. Regrettably, the politics of Tamil Nadu is more about tokenism than actually helping the cause of Talmilians in Sri Lanka.

 

AJEY LELE

End(uring) of Militancy in Sri Lanka: The Rudiments of Striking Back

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has been involved in the armed struggle with the Sri Lankan government since 1983, has now lost many of its senior cadres and strategic hideouts to the Sri Lankan military. For the first time, questions have been raised internationally on the future of Eelam movement under the Rajapakse's military doctrine. Despite the Sri Lankan military success, the LTTE could still stunningly make its presence felt by its active sympathisers worldwide and probably resorting to more suicide strikes at the same time.

Manohari Velamati
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