ethnic conflict – Son of the Morning Light

No 13A in Tamil Town

February 20, 2023February 20, 2023 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_0731.jpg — A busy Friday evening in Pettah, Colombo’s main shopping and market district. January 2023. Interestingly, while the city of Colombo is mostly Tamil-speaking (over 60% of the residents are Tamil or Tamil-speaking Moors), the sign in the foreground prohibiting parking is only in Sinhalese (the majority language of Sri Lanka), reflecting decades of Sinhalese-dominated governance that many believe has contributed to ethnic conflict. The controversial 13th Amendment to the Constitution, passed by Parliament in 1987, legislated that, amongst other things, Tamil be elevated to the status of an official language, alongside Sinhalese, and that all official communications be in both languages. However, more than thirty-five years later, many clauses of the amendment remain unenforced, despite Tamil demands for equal treatment.

^{• 35mm • f/4 • 1/100 • ISO2000 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

Six Month’s Ago: Black Flags over Kochchikade

October 21, 2019June 11, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Black Flags over Kochchikade, Colombo, Sri Lanka by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — 8.45am, 21st April 2019; Easter Sunday. The moment when life stopped for over a hundred people gathered for the morning mass at St Anthony’s Shrine, Kochchikade, close to the port of Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo. A suicide bomber, claimed by the government to be from the previously unheard-of ISIS-affiliated Islamic group, National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) entered the crowded church and detonated the explosives he was carrying in a backpack.

Continue reading →

Multi-Religious Crossroads #2

June 5, 2019June 14, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Religious Crossroads, Galle Fort, Sri Lanka by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — A picture of Sri Lanka’s occasionally strained multi-religious connections: young Muslim men and boys set off for morning prayers on Church Street, in the Galle Fort, which is festooned with flags for the Buddhist festival of Vesak*. While Sri Lanka’s population is mostly Buddhist, as is Galle, the small 17th century town within the fort walls is largely Muslim. Sri Lanka. May 2015. Licensed to Polaris Images

Continue reading →

Life at Ground Zero #2

May 29, 2019June 14, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Jampettah Street, Kochchikade, Colombo #7 by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — A resident of Jampettah Street, leaves for work after his morning stop at the neighbourhood fruit stall, crossing himself with a glance back at the bomb-damaged St Anthony’s Shrine, cordoned off at the end of the street. Such daily rituals have resumed for the people of the multi-ethnic Colombo zone of Kochchikade, five days after a National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) suicide bomber killed over a hundred worshippers on Easter Sunday.

Continue reading →

Policeman, St Anthony’s Shrine, Kochchikade, Colombo #2

May 21, 2019June 15, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Policeman, St Anthony's Shrine, Kochchikade, Sri Lanka #2 by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — A policeman walks away from the bomb-damaged St Anthony’s Shrine in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo. Sri Lanka, April 26th 2019 (licensed to Polaris Images).

Continue reading →

Jampettah Street, Kochchikade, Colombo #6

May 14, 2019June 15, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Jampettah Street, Kochchikade, Colombo #6 by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — Shocked residents of Kochchikade walk beneath streamers of black and white, the traditional Sri Lankan colours of mourning, days after an Islamic suicide bomber entered the nearby St Anthony’s Shrine and killed over a hundred worshippers during morning mass on Easter Sunday, 21st April, 2019 (licensed to Polaris Images).

Continue reading →

The Faces of Shock, Jampettah Street, Colombo, Sri Lanka

May 7, 2019June 15, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Jampettah Street, Kochchikade, Colombo #4 by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — Residents of Jampettah Street, in Kochchikade, remain in shock five days after the devastating Easter Sunday suicide bombing killed over a hundred worshippers in St Anthony’s Shrine, Kochchikade, close to Colombo’s port.

Continue reading →

Shrouded by Sorrow

May 6, 2019June 15, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

Hidden by Sorrow, St Anthony's Shrine, Kochchikade by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — The usual view of St Anthony’s Shrine, Kochchikade, from the top of Jampettah Street is almost completely blocked by thousands of black and white streamers — the traditional sign of mourning in Sri Lanka — strung above the street by local residents (licensed to Polaris Images).

Continue reading →

Easter Sunday Shock

May 2, 2019June 15, 2020 David BlackerLeave a comment

St Anthony's Shrine, Kochchikade, Sri Lanka #5 by Son of the Morning Light on 500px.com — Sri Lankan police and Navy guard the bomb-damaged St Anthony’s Shrine in Kochchikade, close to the Colombo Port. The church’s glass doors, open on Easter Sunday morning, remain intact, but the semicircular lunettes over them have been blown out by the shock of the suicide bombing that killed over a hundred worshippers. The attack — along with five others across Colombo and Sri Lanka — killed more than 250 people and wounded over 500, and has been attributed to the ISIS-affiliated Islamic extremist group, National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ), a small local outfit barely known before the Easter Sunday massacre. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 26th April 2019 (licensed to Polaris Images).

All Out of Christians Today

July 29, 2014June 18, 2021 David Blacker4 Comments

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/screenshot-2021-06-18-at-15.51.00-copy.jpg — Meat stall displays “Sinhalese Meat”, “Tamil Meat”, and “Muslim Meat”, at No More July, Victoria Park, Colombo, Sri Lanka. July 2014.