Anthropologist of War and Pictures. Conflict. Politics. Resistance. Visual Culture. International Development. Sri Lanka. https://xitter.cf/t.co/f3kfu55O8r

Colombo / Jaffna / St Andrews
Joined February 2017
Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
Around 40 stranded Iranian sailors aboard U.S.-sanctioned oil tankers anchored just outside #SriLanka’s territorial waters received urgent medical treatment in the island nation on Saturday (October 24, 2026) thehindu.com/news/internatio… via @the_hindu
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
BREAKING: Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won the presidential run-off against right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro on Sunday, the electoral authority said, securing a fourth non-consecutive term. 🟠 LIVE updates: aje.news/vs1cfu
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
'At Jaffna Customs office, books dealing with political subjects get singled out for scrutiny. The presence of words such as “war,” “military,” “gun,” “Tigers,” and “mass grave” is enough to detain a book.' - A joint appeal by the Eelam Tamil writers. kirishanth.com/?p=3925
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
AI labs: building a monster 
Technician looks up: "Guys, see this monster I'm building? Yeah? I’m just warning you about it, ok!?” 
Technician goes back to building monster
Replying to @hinapansari
yes. it was always going to be this way. we tried to warn the world.
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
Customs said they don't have a list of confiscated books over the years when @ExaminerLK RTI'ed for them. There's effectively a set of banned books, but nobody knows for sure what they are.
Adding further to the list of censored Tamil books, on Thursday (22), Sri Lanka custom officials in Jaffna refused to release 30 copies of the Tamil novel "Thorai" by Pradeep Kunaradnam alias Yatharthan & informed the author to obtain a "permission from the Ministry of Defence".
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
Adding further to the list of censored Tamil books, on Thursday (22), Sri Lanka custom officials in Jaffna refused to release 30 copies of the Tamil novel "Thorai" by Pradeep Kunaradnam alias Yatharthan & informed the author to obtain a "permission from the Ministry of Defence".
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
Court in Jaffna urged to reject Professor Raj Somadeva's recent report on Sri Lanka’s largest mass grave, which "appear to be inconsistent with, or materially depart from, the findings, opinions and conclusions contained in the previous reports" submitted by the same archeologist
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
In the midst of violent repression of student protestors, she compared the language of campus protests to WMDs - a morally repugnant, intellectually obtuse essay.
lmao….not Zadie Smith signing this Sally Rooney letter as if we don’t all remember Smith’s 2024 @newyorker essay criticizing pro-Palestinian student protestors when it actually mattered. girl, pls, try cleansing your soul some other way🙄
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
truly honored to have had my recent review essay on books by Pankaj Mishra and Esmat Elhalaby for @HimalSouthasian translated into Arabic by @I_Sharif13 and Roba Salibi 🙏🏾
ترجمتُ والصديقة ربا الصليبي مقالة مهمة للكاتب راول راو @thariel تتناول كتاب بانكاج ميشرا "العالم بعد غزة" بنظرة نقدية ثاقبة تكشف عيوبه وقصوره عن التضامن الذي يزعمه، كما تلفت الانتباه لكتاب عصمت الحلبي عن تاريخ فلسطين والهند وما فيه من نماذج تداخل ثقافي وتضامن مناهض للاستعمار.
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
A joint press conference by writers, journalists & trade unionists is NOW in progress at Dr. NM Perera Centre in Colombo, calling on Sri Lankan authorities to respect the recent ruling made by @HRCSriLanka & release Tamil writer Theepachelvan's books seized by Sri Lanka Customs.
UPDATE: 1/2 On Monday (12), @HRCSriLanka issued a ruling that by detaining 2 books by Tamil author P. Theepachelvan, Sri Lanka Customs has violated "fundamental right to the freedom to enjoy & promote his own culture" & ordered to "forthwith release all the copies."
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
🚨The first expert report on the findings at Sri Lanka’s largest recorded mass grave was handed over to court today. The 190 page report by Prof Raj Somadeva and Archaeologist Anusha Wanninayake analyses the findings at Chemmani where 110 days of excavations recovered 583 bodies.
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
The very best of book post 😍 #Srilanka #anthropology #photography @vindib_
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
Near total power failure across Sri Lanka. The live updates on the CEB website have reset to zero.
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
perennial
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
Ganasara thera has evaded acceptability for his criminal acts (threats / assualt etc..) for years.. his role in the Aluthgama riots in 2014 (the speech he made) & in fermenting anti Muslims sentiments between 2011 - 2014 was never adequately investigated (1/5)
Buddhist monks were stopped at barricades near the Presidential Secretariat as they tried to hand over a petition seeking a pardon for convicted colleague Ven. Gnanasara. A campaign to restore his robes whenever he leaves prison has become an appeal for a pardon.
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Vindhya Buthpitiya retweeted
So why don’t u abolish the death penalty in #srilanka?
I welcome the decision by the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia to set aside the death sentence imposed on Sri Lankan national Anojan Sivarasa. This brings immense relief to Anojan, his family, and all Sri Lankans who have followed his case with deep concern. It reflects the value of patient diplomacy, respect for the legal processes of a friendly nation, and the tireless work of those who stood by a Sri Lankan citizen abroad. I express my sincere appreciation to the Government of Saudi Arabia for this outcome. I also thank the many Saudi Arabian and Sri Lankan diplomats, civil servants and legal teams for their dedicated efforts. My Government will continue to extend all necessary support to Anojan and his family as the remaining legal processes conclude. No Sri Lankan who leaves our shores in search of a livelihood should ever feel that they stand alone.
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