ABSTRACT
The Facebook campaign witnessed in the 2015 general election of Sri Lanka too suggests the fostering of a 'new' form of political communication underpinned by the divide as well as the bridge between virtual and real, and online and offline scenarios. This chapter aims to use the cases to demonstrate the interconnectedness between the physical and networked publics. It seeks to emphasize the bewildering fragments constituting the intertwined online and offline practices. This follows the arguments on the fragmentary nature of politics in postcolonial societies. The chapter emphasizes the religious–secular divide and surveillance-resistance dynamics that drive online politics in this region. To explore manifold divides, the chapter evaluates the political significance of blogging, social media use and online politicking in contemporary South Asia. The objective is to understand as to how the nature of politics takes shape in the context of online activism in the region, with a focus on three country contexts, namely Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bangladesh.
