Nuha Faiz
Column: Behind Closed Doors ‘Nuha’ is what you may term when a media communications degree meets a chronic overthinker with a flair for the dramatic, and a long-standing affair with marketing psychology. She started writing to make sense of the madness and now, she thrives in it. In her weekly column, she unpacks society’s contradictions with unfiltered honesty, biting humour, and the kind of observations that make you laugh and rethink your life choices. Basically, if it’s weird, messy, or wildly misunderstood...she’s already writing about it.
In Conversation With Fathoum Issadeen On The Intra-Community Backlash Muslim Female Athletes Face
We live in a world that loves turning women into talking points. Two mirrors held up: one showing a woman in a hijab, one without, as if a woman’s worth, her years of discipline and sacrifice, can be reduced to what
In Conversation with Reedah El-Saie: The Brainspark Games Founder Who Won Three Dragons and is Rewiring Education
There’s something profoundly unsettling about watching a system fail children simply because they learn differently, live in the wrong postcode, or were born into the wrong circumstances. After years of chronicling stories of innovation, I’ve grown weary of the glossy myths of overnight success and fearless founders.
In Conversation with Faraz Khan MBE What COP30 Really Means for Sri Lanka Part Four
In our previous three parts, we explored climate finance, diplomatic strategy, and practical resilience. In this final installment, we turn to technology’s role in sustainability, the importance
In Conversation with Faraz Khan MBE: What COP30 Really Means for Sri Lanka: Part Three
In Parts One and Two, we explored how to access climate finance and what diplomatic strategies can make COP30 work for vulnerable nations.
In Conversation with Faraz Khan MBE: What COP30 Really Means for Sri Lanka Part Two
In Part One, we explored how Sri Lankan SMEs and communities can access climate finance. This week, we turn to the bigger picture: what must COP30 deliver for vulnerable economies, and how can small nations like Sri Lanka punch above their weight in global climate negotiations?
In Conversation with Faraz Khan MBE: What COP30 Really Means for Sri Lanka | Part One
You’ve been involved in sustainability long before it became a global buzzword. What first drew you to this field, and how has your definition of sustainability evolved over the years?I believe my sustainability journey began with a desire to solve real-world problems I witnessed early in my career. Working as a banker in Pakistan, and then decades in impact investment through one of the first indigenous impact funds and ecosystem developer
India’s Legal Battle Against Female Genital Mutilation Shames Sri Lanka’s Silence
The Supreme Court of India is now seized with a question that should shake every South Asian nation. ‘Can the systematic mutilation of girl children ever be justified in the name of religion or tradition?’As Chief
Wasim Thajudeen Deserves Justice Not Rumours
On May 17, 2012, 27-year-old rugby player Wasim Thajudeen was found dead in his burning car near Shalika Grounds in Colombo. The initial story? Car accident. Case closed. Move along. Except his body
Is Political Performance Killing Real Democracy?
In a healthy democracy, the relationship between a leader and the citizen is that of a responsible employer and a hired manager. We, the employers, are supposed to evaluate performance based on deliverables. Is
Is Vijay the Hero Sri Lankan Tamils Didn’t Ask For?
I need to start this with a confession. Those who know me, they know how big a Thalapathy Vijay fangirl I am. The kind of hype I create around each release. Knew the lyrics to his songs. His punch dialogues by heart.
WILL GEN Z’S RAGE BECOME SOUTH ASIA’S RENAISSANCE?
Politics in South Asia has always been a dirty inheritance. In Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, entire nations were passed around like family heirlooms among elites. Parliament seats weren’t won; they
Sri Lanka’s Women’s Rights: All Talk, No Action?
Let’s pre-empt the eye-roll. Let’s address the sigh that comes with yet another article on women’s rights. “Here comes a feminist rant,” some will think. “Another anti-government tirade,” others will conclude.
Is Charlie Kirk a Victim or the Voice That Mocked Gaza’s Victims?
The shot that killed Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University did more than end a life; it triggered a familiar, suffocating script. The pundits rushed to their cameras; their faces etched with performative gravity. The statements poured in, decrying the “tragic loss of a vibrant voice.” The machinery of collective, uncritical mourning whirred to life, ready to airbrush a controversial figure into a martyred saint. We are expected to play our part.
The Truth That Came Too Late: A Mother’s FGC Testimony
Disclaimer: This story contains graphic descriptions of female genital cutting practices. It is based on a real survivor’s account and her mother’s testimony, shared with full consent. Names have been changed to protect their identity.
Who is Actually Worth Protecting in Sri Lanka?
Behind closed doors these days, there’s a peculiar music playing in the corridors of power. A sudden harmony where discord once reigned.
Did You Know Israel Counts Gaza’s Calories to Genocide?
Let me tell you about a spreadsheet that calculates death. Not metaphorically. Literally. Diving into Israeli government data, you’ll find there isn’t just evidence of war crimes, there’s an instruction manual for genocide, complete with calorie counts, mathematical formulas, and bureaucratic efficiency that would make the Nazis proud. And before you clutch your pearls at that comparison, understand we have the receipts. We have their own numbers
From Childhood Cutting to Marital Pain A Survivor’s Story of FGC Trauma
Her blood dripped on the bedroom floor. Not a few drops. Not the expected bleeding. It spread beneath her feet as she stood, shaking, staring at her husband who looked back with equal horror. This was her first time. This was supposed to be passionate. Love. Instead, it was the beginning of a nightmare that would destroy her sense of self, and nearly her sanity, all because someone had taken a blade to her genitals when she was too young to screa
Is Female Genital Cutting Patriarchy’s Worst-Kept Secret in Sri Lanka?
There are louder ways to be silenced, but my favorite is the quiet kind. A call you’re not copied in. A question disguised as concern. A reminder, subtle but firm: “The author is targeting one particular
Why Does Gaza’s Genocide Still Need Explaining?
For months, we’ve danced around the word. Politicians have carefully avoided it. Media outlets have sanitized it as ’’conflict’’ or ’’war.’’ Even genocide scholars, those whose life’s work is to identify and
Is Making History Optional the Problem or What’s Actually Taught?
Some of you may be wondering why this week’s column shifts from my ongoing series on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) to something seemingly distant, Sri Lanka’s history curriculum
