|
Sinhalese Nationalists
Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism is a Sri Lankan political ideology which combines a focus upon Sinhalese culture and ethnicity (nationalism) with an emphasis upon Theravada Buddhism, which is the majority belief system of most of the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka. It mostly revived in reaction to the colonisation of Sri Lanka by the British Empire and became increasingly assertive in the years following the independence of the country. Sinhalese nationalism has generally been influenced by the contents of the Mahavamsa, the major Pali chronicle, written in the 6th century. Origins The Sinhalese Buddhist national chronicle Mahavamsa ('Great Chronicle'), composed in the sixth century CE by Buddhist monks, contains historical accounts and mythological stories that have played a significant role in shaping and strengthening Sinhalese Buddhist identity. The Mahavamsa describes Gautama Buddha's three visits to Sri Lanka, during which he blesses and sanctifies the island, paving the way for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. It shares a maritime border with the Maldives in the southwest and India in the northwest. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka, while the largest city, Colombo, is the administrative and judicial capital which is the nation's political, financial and cultural centre. Kandy is the second-largest urban area and also the capital of the last native kingdom of Sri Lanka. The most spoken language Sinhala language, Sinhala, is spoken by the majority of the population (approximately 17 million). Tamil language, Tamil is also spoken by approximately five million people, making it the second most-spoken language in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has a population of appr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ananda Guruge
Ananda Wahihana Palliya Guruge (28 December 1928 – 6 August 2014), known as Ananda W. P. Guruge, was a Sri Lankan diplomat, Buddhist scholar and writer. Guruge was the former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sri Lanka to UNESCO, France, and United States (with non-resident accreditation to Spain, Algeria and Mexico) from 1985 to 1994. Guruge was adjunct professor of Religious Studies at Cal State Fullerton and was the dean of academic affairs at University of the West. Education Guruge was educated at Dharmaraja College, and went on to graduate from the University of Ceylon in 1947 with a BA first class honors in Sanskrit special. Thereafter he gained a Government scholarship to do a PhD at the University of London. Civil service He joined the Ceylon Civil Service, taking the civil service exam at the age of 23 and was posted to the Jaffna Kachcheri as a cadet. During his career he served as the Head of the Dehiwala Zoo and the Colombo Kachcheri. Eventua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National People's Power
The National People's Power (NPP), known in Sinhala language, Sinhala as Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB), is a left-wing politics, left-wing Electoral alliance, political alliance in Sri Lanka. It is the current ruling party of Government of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka, having won the 2024 Sri Lankan presidential election, 2024 presidential and 2024 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, parliamentary elections, and is currently the largest party in the Parliament of Sri Lanka. President of Sri Lanka, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is the current leader of the party and Nihal Abeysinghe is the general secretary. Established in 2019, the NPP consists of 21 diverse groups, including political parties and other organisations led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. It contests in elections under the compass symbol. Considered an electorally weak Third party (politics), third-party prior to 2024, it briefly formed a First Dissanayake cabinet, minority government under president Anura Kumara Di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Democratic National Alliance (Sri Lanka)
The Democratic National Alliance was a political alliance in Sri Lanka, formed by retired General Sarath Fonseka and his allies to contest in the 2010 general elections. The alliance was mainly made up of allies of Fonseka and of the following parties * Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) * Democratic National Front * Democratic United National Front * People's Tamil Congress *Voice of Muslim Organization Ruhunu Janatha Party left the alliance and joined the UPFA March 2010. Nava Sihala Urumaya was a member of the DNA until it was sacked from the alliance in November 2010. The DNA's application for registration as a separate party was rejected by the authorities in January 2011. The JVP would also leave the alliance in 2010. 2010 general election The Democratic National Alliance had a poor showing at the 2010 general election, obtaining a little over 5% of the national vote and winning just 7 seats in the 225 member parliament. This is a significant decline from the 40% national ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anura Kumara Dissanayake
Anura Kumara Dissanayake (born 24 November 1968), commonly referred to by his initials AKD, is a Sri Lankan politician who has been the tenth and current president of Sri Lanka since 2024. Dissanayake is the first Sri Lankan president to be elected in a second round of vote counting, and the first not to be a member of the traditional political parties of Sri Lanka. Born on 24 November 1968 in the village of Galewela in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, Dissanayake moved with his family to the village of Thambuththegama in the North Central Province in 1972. While he was a student at the University of Peradeniya, he joined the Socialist Students Union, the student wing of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) as a student when the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord was signed in 1987 and engaged in clandestine revolutionary activity until he was forced to go underground due to threats posed by the counterinsurgency operations undertaken by the government. A year later, he transferred ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Election Symbol Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Sri Lanka
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is also used in many other private and business organizations, from clubs to voluntary association and corporations. The global use of elections as a tool for selecting representatives in modern representative democracies is in contrast with the practice in the democratic archetype, ancient Athens, where the elections were considered an oligarchic institution and most political offices were filled using sortition, also known as allotment, by which officeholders were chosen by lot. Electoral reform describes the process of introducing fair electoral systems where they are n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; , PLF) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was formerly a revolutionary movement and was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 JVP insurgency, 1971 (SLFP), and another in 1987–1989 JVP insurrection, 1987–1989 (United National Party, UNP). The motive for both uprisings was to establish a socialist state. Since then the JVP has entered mainstream democratic politics and has updated its ideology, abandoning some of its original Marxist policies such as the abolition of private property, and moderating its rhetoric. The JVP has been led by President of Sri Lanka, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake since 2014. The JVP was initially a small organisation that became a well-organised party that could influence mainstream politics. Its members openly campaigned for the left-wing coalition government of the SLFP-led United Front (Sri Lanka), United Front; however, following th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lankan Parliament
The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Śrī Laṇkā Pārlimentuvā'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ilaṅkai nāṭāḷumaṉṟam'') is the supreme legislative body of Sri Lanka. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the island. It is modeled after the British Parliament. The 17th Parliament of Sri Lanka convened for the first time on 21 November 2024. It consists of 225 members known as Members of Parliament (MPs). Members are elected by proportional representation for five-year terms, with universal suffrage. The President of Sri Lanka has the power to summon, suspend, prorogue, or terminate a legislative session and to dissolve the Parliament. The President can dissolve Parliament only after the lapse of years or if a majority of the Members of Parliament reque ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evangelical Christians
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian gospel. The term evangelical is derived from the Koine Greek word ''euangelion'', meaning “good news,” in reference to the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. Evangelicalism typically places a strong emphasis on personal conversion, often described as being “born again,” and regards the Bible as the ultimate authority in matters of faith and practice. The definition and scope of evangelicalism are subjects of debate among theologians and scholars. Some critics argue that the term encompasses a wide and diverse range of beliefs and practices, making it difficult to define as a coherent or unified movement. The theological roots of evangelicalism can be traced to the Protestant Reformation in 16th-century Europe, particularly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Catholic Archdiocese Of Colombo
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Colombo () is a Latin metropolitan archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church, whose ecclesiastical province covers all Sri Lanka plus the Maldives (which are within the archbishopric). It depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The current archbishop of Colombo, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on 16 June 2009, is Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. He is assisted in this role by the auxiliary bishops. The archdiocesan mother church and cathedral seat of its metropolitan archbishop is St. Lucia's Cathedral. Its other national shrines are the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka in Tewatta and St. Anthony's National Shrine, a minor basilica in Kochchikade. Statistics As of 2014, it pastorally served 637,729 Catholics (8.8% of 7,281,000 total) on 3,838 km2 in 128 parishes with 592 priests (313 diocesan, 279 religious), 1,560 lay religious (380 brothers, 1,180 sisters) and 292 seminarians. History I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malcolm Ranjith
Patabendige Don Albert Malcolm Ranjith (; born 15 November 1947) is a Sri Lankan Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Colombo since 2009. He was made a cardinal in 2010. Ranjith previously served as auxiliary bishop of Colombo (1991–1995), Bishop of Ratnapura (1995–2001), Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (2001–2004), Apostolic Nuncio to Indonesia and East Timor (2004–2005), and Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (2005–2009). Early life and education Patabendige Don Albert Malcolm Ranjith was born on 15 November 1947 in Polgahawela, in what was then British Ceylon, to Patabendige Don William and Hettiarachchige Mary Winifred Perera. He had three younger sisters. Ranjith attributed his first interest in becoming a priest to the example set by a French missionary priest assigned to his parish. He studied in Rome, earning a degree in theology from the Pontifical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anti-conversion Bill
Anti-conversion laws, or anti-conversion legislations, are a set of judicial rules that restrict or prohibit conversion of faith (proselytism) from one religion to another. It is a federal law in countries such as Algeria, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, and Nepal. They are meant to prevent forced conversion of individuals to different religions, and offences are punishable by imprisonment and fine. Sri Lanka has prepared its legislation, but has not yet enacted it. Pakistan had introduced the Prohibition of Forced Conversion Bill 2021 that was rejected by its Ministry of Religious Affairs in 2021. Algeria The constitution of Algeria declares that Islam is the state religion. Religious conversion law was included in 2006, according to which an attempt to convert a Muslim will be penalised with five years in prison and a fine of USD70 to 140. Muhammad Aissa, director of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, explained that the new law was to restrict Christian evangelists who were part of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
