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“Exploring ethno-religious identity formation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Sri Lanka” - May 2022

The Young Feminist Network Newsletter

May 27, 2022

The Young Feminist Network was established in July 2020 by Everystory Sri Lanka to bring together people interested in learning more about feminism, particularly from a Sri Lankan and South Asian perspective.

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Dear Reader,

We are happy to deliver the YFN newsletter this month after a brief hiatus. We delayed the publication of our April newsletter to focus our team's energy and hours towards contributing and taking part in the protests being held islandwide. We have also been taking the time to read, listen, and engage with Sri Lanka's own political history as a way to understand what brought us here, and why these systems continue to be held up.

The teach-outs on various Sri Lankan related subtopics at Independence Square and at GotaGoGama and suggestions for reading from peers have immensely contributed to our own learning, and we hope this month's reading list by Shamara Wettimuny, a Sri Lankan historian studying for her PhD at the University of Oxford, on “Exploring ethno-religious identity formation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Sri Lanka” will offer an opportunity to learn and reflect on our history.

This will be my last newsletter before I move into an Operations role at Everystory Sri Lanka, and my successor Nisha Gunawardana takes over as Program Manager for YFN. Curating newsletters for you has been such a joyful task which allowed me to grow and further develop my own feminism, and I hope they had the same impact on you.

As always, we would love to hear your thoughts and feedback. We value the complimentary and the critical equally, so please share! You can get in touch with Nisha via email at [email protected]

In Solidarity,

Stefania Perera,

YFN Newsletter Editor - May

Past Program Manager - Everystory Sri Lanka

Curated by Shamara Wettimuny who is a Beit Scholar in History at the University of Oxford. Her doctoral thesis is on identity formation and religious conflict in British colonial Sri Lanka. She is also a Tutor in Global and Imperial History at Worcester College, University of Oxford.

Also explore...

The Whetstone Dispatch has created an episode in their podcast series featuring the ongoing protests in Sri Lanka. In this episode, hear from protestors expressing their frustration at the lack of basic items such as milk powder, academics who discuss the controversial fertilizer ban and farmers who discuss their falling yields.

Hashtag Generation provides pointers and suggestions if you intent to join a protest, from suitable clothing to safety precautions.

Power and violence being an inseparable part of Sri Lanka's history, humanity for prisoners, understanding your civic rights, the Tamil national anthem and racism. Ambika Satkunanathan, former human rights commissioner of Sri Lanka, lawyer and advocate joins Tracy on Kota Uda. This is a must watch!

இலங்கை தீவிரமான பொருளாதார நெருக்கடியை எதிர் கொண்டுள்ள இவ் வேளையில், இப் பொருளாதார நெருக்கடியானது பால்நிலை அடிப்படியில் எப்படியான தாக்கத்தை ஏற்படுத்தி உள்ளது, எதிர்வரும் காலங்களின் இத் தாக்கத்தின் விளைவுகள் என்ன மற்றும் இவ் விளைவுகளின் தீவிரத்தை கட்டுப்படுத்த தனி நபர்களால் என்ன செய்ய முடியும் போன்ற விடயங்கள் தொடர்பில் கலந்துரையாட உள்ளோம்.

This is a video recording of a Teach-out session taking place during a protest gathering at Independence Square and a clear explanation of the economical crisis in Sri Lanka.

“today’s #historyinpoetrylk from Ahilan’s ‘Then There Were No Witnesses’ (trans. Geetha Sukumaran) in memory of the lives taken, taken, taken by a murderous military. #Mullivaikkal”

Poetry Corner

We first heard this poem at the women’s day event hosted by the Progressing Women’s Collective (PWC)’s in March. As we spent the evening celebrating decades of feminist resistance, sisterhood, and joy. This piece also reminded us of the unacknowledged and unpaid labor carried out by women, and how our resistance must begin at home by examining our own complicity.

The poem "This Country is Mine" by Nida Admani was captured by Kaushalya Ariyathilaka during a protest gathering at Galle Face GotaGoGama.

Instagram Pages to follow!

"Weed out the rot. Maintain this wild, collective bloom."

"The power of the people is stronger than the people in power."

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