Khanum Shafiq

Khanum Shafiq is an independent researcher

October 11, 2026

The JVP’s Invisible Monks: Where Are They Now?

The article reveals the little-known role of Buddhist monks in the JVP’s second insurrection in Sri Lanka during the late 1980s, tracing their involvement in revolutionary politics, the brutal violence that claimed

Human Rights/Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan Teen Tobacco Use Doubles as Economic Growth Forecast Slows

Tobacco use among schoolchildren in Sri Lanka has increased significantly over the past eight years, with the proportion of students who have tried smoking at least once doubling between 2016 and 2024, according to a World Health Organization survey. The

October 11, 2026

Sri Lanka’s Adam’s Bridge Tourism Plan Faces Legal Challenge and Conservation Warnings

Sri Lanka

Plans to open Sri Lanka’s Adam’s Bridge Marine National Park to tourism on October 15 have drawn strong objections from an environmental lawyer and

Sri Lanka’s State Universities Struggle as Vacancies Mount

Education/Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s state universities are struggling to recruit and retain senior academics as lecturers leave for overseas employment, creating staffing shortages that threaten their

Misrepresentation of Pak-Afghan Dialogue — A Pakistan Viewpoint

August 30, 2025

Columns/Geopolitics

In recent days, a Track-II academic dialogue meditated so-called Towards Unity and Trust has become the centre of a brouhaha with former U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad misunderstanding the scholarly exercise as a

Signs of Uprising in Sistan-o-Balochistan: Regional Implications of Mossad-RAW Nexus

July 8, 2025

Columns

The Iranian province of Sistan-o-Balochistan, historically marked by marginalization and sporadic insurgency, is once again witnessing waves of unrest. Recent developments suggest that this unrest is neither spontaneous nor entirely local in