13: At the Intersection of Nationalism, Religion, and Social Media

Earlier this month, mob attacks on Sri Lanka’s minority Muslim community prompted a state of emergency in that country, and a temporary ban on Facebook and other social media applications. In Episode 13, V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell speak to Meera Srinivasan, The Hindu’s Sri Lanka correspondent, about her reporting on those incidents and the rise of Sinhala Buddhist hardliners in Sri Lanka, as well as the parallels she sees between that situation and the rise of populism in the U.S., Europe, India, and other parts of Asia. Writer Bill Lychack, a frequent visitor to Myanmar, joins the show to talk about what draws him to the country and how he views Aung San Suu Kyi in light of the nation’s treatment of its beleaguered Rohingya minority. Readings: "Letter from Burma: Captives of the Junta" by Bill Lychack in The American Scholar  Love Marriage, by V.V. Ganeshananthan  “It was not a Sinhala-Muslim clash, it was a mob attack on Muslims: Sri Lanka Minister Rauff Hakeem,” the Wednesday Interview by Meera Srinivasan, The Hindu “Banning Social Media Won’t Stop Hate Speech,” by Rohan Samarajiva in The New York Times

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