Freedom of religion

SRI LANKA: More bang for your buck

Nilantha Ilangamuwa I ask no monument, proud and high, To arrest the gaze of the passers-by; All that my yearning spirit craves, Is bury me not in a land of slaves – Frances Harper Read this carefully. Our politicians are not that stupid but maybe we are? You may have different answers: we may debate […]

INDIA: Judge, judge thyself

Statement | India | 26-04-2012

The attempt by the Supreme Court of India to draw-up operative principles for the media outlining the contours of Article 19 (1) (a) of the constitution is an exercise that the Court should not venture into. In fact, the Court does not have a constitutional mandate to do so. It is within the realm of […]

SRI LANKA: Concerned citizens’ statement against religious intolerance

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following joint statement from non-governmental organisations and social activists based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Joint Statement from non-governmental organisations and social activists in Colombo, Sri Lanka forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission It is with great concern […]

INDONESIA: An atheist on trial for religious defamation in Padang, West Sumatra

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the arrest and trial of Alexander Aan, a 31-year-old civil servant in Padang, West Sumatra, who was arrested for posting a status on Facebook questioning the existence of god and administering a Facebook group called Ateis Minang (Minang Atheists). He is also being charged for […]

INDIA: Dishonesty threatens stability

Reading the speech of the prime minister and that of the home minister of India, one could easily get carried away by the thought that they are not in fact referring to India, but to some other country in the world. Both ministers were addressing the chief ministers of the country in a conference organised […]

INDIA: Paranoia at Writer’s Building

Statement | India | 12-04-2012

Referring to the reactions of the government of West Bengal to demands of public causes and justice under the leadership of Ms. Mamata Banerjee, as paranoid, would be in fact an understatement. The state government led by the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) that was elected to power – reflecting the people’s wish for change, […]

SRI LANKA: MR and HR

By Nilantha Ilangamuwa  Directions and instructions are determinations of action which have an influence upon a number of minor circumstances too numerous and unimportant for general laws. — Carl von Clausewitz  A new chapter of politics is emerging in Sri Lanka after the UN resolution adopted at the 19th session of the UNHRC in Geneva. […]

PAKISTAN: In a hate campaign against the Ahmadis the police tortured to death an innocent school teacher

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the illegal arrest, detention and custodial torture which led to the death of Mr Abdul Qudoos Ahmad, a school teacher and the president of the Nusrat Abad chapter of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat, by the Chenab Nagar police. He was kept in illegal detention […]

PAKISTAN: A newspaper terminates its editor after threats from fundamentalists

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that an editor of a daily newspaper was terminated from his job after threats of the filing of a blasphemy case against him. Threats of blasphemy cases were also made against the publisher, editor and editor of the editorial page by Muslim fundamentalists. After […]

SRI LANKA: Destructive effects of racial nihilism

Nilantha Ilangamuwa “Those whom God wishes to destroy, he first deprives of their senses.” – Euripides The government has about an year to improve governance in terms of human rights, instead of selling racial nihilism and isolating itself from the world and the people. Next March (2013 March) the High Commissioner for Human Rights would […]

SRI LANKA: Possibility of new opportunities – successful UN resolution

The successful United Nations Resolution on reconciliation and accountability should pave the way for a new period of commitment to cure the wounds of a long conflict, caused upon individuals as well as on the institutional structure of democracy and the rule of law in Sri Lanka. A responsible approach to dealing with the past […]

SRI LANKA: Civil society urges government to stop hate campaigns and protect human rights defenders

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from a group of Sri Lankan human rights defenders. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Statement from a group of Sri Lankan human rights defenders forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission SRI LANKA: Civil society urges government to stop hate campaigns […]

SRI LANKA: Extrajudicial Killings — The miserable breakdown of the rule of law

By Nilantha Ilangamuwa Our lives are spinning out from world to world; the shapes of things are shifting in the wind. What do we know beyond the rapture and the dread?- Stanley Kunitz* “They finished off my husband after two days of torture, and then took me to Hambantota where a number of women were […]

BURMA: Religious elder sentenced to 20 years in jail for peaceful practice of faith

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission has received detailed documentation on the case of an elderly religious leader in Burma who has been imprisoned after being sentenced to 20 years in jail for peaceful practice of his faith. Because the leader, Shin Nyana, established a religious order that claims to adhere to Buddhist teachings […]

SRI LANKA: Rupee Devolution May Lead to Malnutrition and starvation Among the Poor

The value of the rupee came down to 131 for a US dollar. This is the highest point reached relating to the value of a rupee ever. In all likelihood, it will go up further even though by artificial means, it may be brought down a little now and then. Thus, the high devaluation of […]

SRI LANKA: Dum spiro, spero, dum vivimus vivamus

By Nilantha Ilangamuwa Speech after long silence; it is right, All other lovers being estranged or dead, Unfriendly lamplight hid under its shade, The curtains drawn upon unfriendly night, That we descant and yet again descant Upon the supreme theme of Art and Song: Bodily decrepitude is wisdom; young We loved each other and were […]

INDIA: Prospect is in inaction

Statement | India | 14-03-2012

The national debate regarding India’s position about the proposed resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council concerning Sri Lanka is limited to a Tamil view of the issue. The views exchanged in both houses of the country’s parliament and in the media reflect this. This parochial view about the resolution exposes the widespread lack […]

INDIA: Predicament from organised lawlessness

Statement | India | 12-03-2012

The murder of an Indian Police Service officer Mr. Narendra Kumar on 8 March in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh has again brought to light the criminal nexus between the mining mafia operating in the country and their patrons in power who have political interests. The young, 2009-batch police officer, stationed as the Sub-Divisional Police […]

BANGLADESH: Arbitrary arrests and detention must end immediately

The people of Bangladesh are living in a tense situation prior to a mass rally in Dhaka on March 12, 2012 called by the opposition parties against the ruling regime. The opposition political parties, led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, have organised a march towards Dhaka, on March 12 which is aimed at showing their […]

PAKISTAN: Government makes no effort to halt the persecution and killings of Ahmadis

The situation in Pakistan grows worse for the religious minority groups on a daily basis. The security and law and order situation has become so chaotic that the authorities seem to have no control over providing protection to these minorities. The fundamentalist Muslim leaders (Mullahs) have a free rein and relentlessly exploit the blasphemy laws […]