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Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne 1931-2024: Founder of Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka By Antonio Carvallo (Image by Pressenza) Source:-pressenza Born November 5th 1931, Dr. Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne founded Sri Lanka’s Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement. The concept of “Shrama-dana” directly translates as “donating your labour”, a concept adopted by A.T.Ariyaratne when working as a high school teacher at Nalanda College, where he organised the first Shramadana work camp which would eventually become the largest grassroots people’s movement in the country. Since then, he has led tens of thousands of “family gatherings” and meditations, alongside millions of others throughout Sri Lanka and beyond. The Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, at its core, is a grass-roots humanitarian organisation based on the ‘sharing of labour, thought and energy for the awakening of all’. Tudor Ariyaratne, his wife Mrs.Neetha Dhammachari Ariyaratne, their family and close collaborators, developed the concept inspired by Gandhi, as well as Buddhist philosophy, to promote ...

Apr 29, 2024 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged Buddhist philosophy, Community leadership, Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne Legacy of Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne International awards Mahatma Gandhi Peace Prize, Gandhi inspiration Community development, Global impact of Sarvodaya Movement, Human Rights, Humanitarian organization, Integral development solutions, Niwano Peace Prize, Nonviolence, Pressenza International Press Agency, Ramon Magsaysay Award, Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, Sri Lanka grassroots movement, World Humanist Forum

Political Parties should genuinely address sovereign voter proposals at the APC – By Bernard Fernando The ‘All Party Conference’ (APC) aimed at resolving our National issue has come to a grinding halt due to the stubbornness and ‘one -upmanship’ embedded in the DNA of our traditional Political parties. However, the country loving sovereign voters are confident that the reconciliation proceedings can be catalysed by addressing the following Electoral Reforms/System changes with a ‘win-win’ outlook. 1)Allocate seats to People’s Representatives using simple Proportionate arithmetic thereby ensuring ‘Equality of Vote’ as per UN Human Rights Declaration of 1948 and fostering ‘Sri lankan ness’ in the process. 2) Ensure Quality of Peoples’ Representatives by applying a mandatory methodology based on Meritocracy using minimum eligibility criteria and a structured interview marking system applicable to all parties across the board. 3) Abolish existing Preference Voting (‘Manape’) and Mixed Member Voting (MMV) systems together with ‘Cross-over’ ...

Aug 8, 2023 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged Bernard Fernando, Equality of Vote, Human Rights, Manape, Mixed Member Voting, Parliament, Political Parties, Pradeshiiya Sabha, Sri Lanka, strengthen Provincial Councils

Australia urged to redeem itself after ‘leading race to the bottom’ on border laws – By Latika Bourke Source : smh London: An Australian lawyer with decades of experience defending the rights of the rejected and the oppressed is now at the helm of one of the world’s leading human rights organisations. Tirana Hassan, 48, was appointed the new executive director of Human Rights Watch in March, replacing Kenneth Roth, who led the US-based NGO for nearly two decades. Hassan was born in Singapore, the daughter of a Pakistani father and a Malaysian-born Sri Lankan-Chinese mother. She was raised in Adelaide, attending Scotch College before studying social work and human rights law at the University of South Australia, the University of Adelaide and Oxford University in the UK. In 2002, she was a founding member of Woomera Lawyers’ Group, which provided legal services to hundreds of refugees detained, without the public’s full ...

Apr 24, 2023 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged Human Rights

A bankrupt Country craves for urgent ‘system changes’ – By Bernard Fernando ‘’Change is the law of life. Those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future’’— John F. Kennedy Introduction Ever since we became a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by United Nations in 1948,our political and Civil democrats constantly agitated for ‘Free and Fair Elections’ whenever ‘Elections’ are called. This phrase was based on article 21 (3) of the Declaration which reads as follows. ‘’The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of Government; this Will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.” It may be assumed that the words ‘Free and Fair’ were substitutes for the words ‘Universal’, ‘Genuine’ and ...

Apr 18, 2023 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged Aragalaya, Elections, government, Human Rights