Jaffna Monitor - Unafraid and Unbowed

Douglas Devananda Slams Tamil Leaders for “Wasting” Meeting With Indian Vice President

COLOMBO — Douglas Devananda, a former minister and leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party, has sharply criticized fellow Tamil leaders for what he described as a missed opportunity during a recent meeting with C. P. Radhakrishnan, saying they failed to effectively press the needs of the Tamil people. Mr. Douglas Devananda said the discussions appeared to focus more on internal disagreements among Tamil politicians than on substantive demands affecting their constituents. Speaking to rep

Our Reporter

Apr 22, 2026 — 2 min read

Vijay’s TVK Turns Tamil Nadu Race Into Three-Way Contest, Analyst Says

April 2026 Monitor Memo

Our Reporter

Apr 22, 2026 — 3 min read

Tamil Leader Says Indian Vice President Raised Concerns Over Political Fragmentation

April 2026 Monitor Memo

Our Reporter

Apr 22, 2026 — 2 min read

Sumanthiran Shares Kamal Haasan Video Criticizing India’s Central Government and Backing DMK, Stirring Debate

April 2026 JM Exclusive

Our Reporter

Apr 21, 2026 — 2 min read

Prabhakaran’s Nephew Urges Tamil Nadu Voters to Reject Seeman

Karthic Manoharan, a nephew of the slain LTTE founder, accuses the Naam Tamilar Katchi leader of fabricating his ties to the rebel chief and profiting from his name. JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — April 22, 2026 A nephew of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the slain founder of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, has issued a blistering public appeal to voters in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, urging them to reject Seeman, the Tamil nationalist politician, days before a round of polling in the state assembly el

April 2026 JM Exclusive

Our Reporter

Apr 22, 2026 — 3 min read

Court Orders Chemmani Mass Grave Excavation to Resume as E.U. Delays Visit

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Excavation at the Chemmani mass grave site in northern Sri Lanka will resume on April 27 after the Ministry of Justice released funding for an estimated eight-week dig, the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court confirmed on Tuesday, reopening an investigation that has become a test of the government’s willingness to confront civil-war-era atrocities. Magistrate S. Lenin Kumar, presiding over proceedings on Tuesday, said the ministry had approved the budget submitted by the Judicial Medi

April 2026 JM Exclusive

Our Reporter

Apr 21, 2026 — 3 min read

Blinded in War, a Former LTTE Fighter Now Guides Others in Sri Lanka’s North

By M.R. Narayan Swamy At 37, Vijayalathan leads an active life that appears, in many ways, no different from that of others in Sri Lanka. But he is completely blind, the result of a severe injury he sustained as a Tamil Tiger guerrilla in the final stages of the war. Yet he stands as a rare example of someone who has overcome profound adversity and now helps lead a nongovernmental organization working to rebuild the lives of those affected by the separatist conflict that ended in 2009. “I don

April 2026 Exclusive

M.R. Narayan Swamy

Apr 21, 2026 — 4 min read

The Strait of Malacca: The First Trade War That Shaped Asia

By Abbi Kanthasamy Stand on the bridge of a ship crossing the Strait of Malacca at night, and you will see the modern world moving past you. Oil tankers carrying Middle Eastern crude glide east toward China, Japan, and Korea. Container ships loaded with Asian exports head west toward the Indian Ocean and eventually the Suez Canal on their way to Europe. Somewhere between Singapore and Sumatra, nearly a third of the world’s maritime trade squeezes through a channel barely wide enough in places

April 2026 Guest Column

Abbi Kanthasamy

Apr 21, 2026 — 4 min read

Unafraid and Unbowed

Archbishop, Archbishop, why hast thou forsaken us in our hour of sorrow and slaughter?

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." - Isaiah 58:1 His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo and chief shepherd of the Catholic flock in all of Sri Lanka, has recently marked fifty years in the sacred priesthood. As the highest-ranking prelate whose dominion spans the entire island, he now stands as a mighty voice crying for justice, calling upon the nations of the earth for interv

Editorial July 2025

Kaniyan Pungundran

Jul 14, 2025 — 12 min read

Jaffna Library Burning: The Day They Burned the buddha and his dhamma

Why South Asia Reveres Books-and Fears Their Destruction Irrespective of religion, across the Indian subcontinent, books have long held an exalted status. In the indigenous spiritual traditions that emerged from this land-Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism-knowledge is not merely valued; it is venerated in the highest order. In homes, temples, and schools across the region, people treat books with profound reverence-never touching them with their feet, and if done accidentally, offering a

Cover Story June 2025

Kaniyan Pungundran

Jun 16, 2025 — 14 min read

Chemmani: Where Justice Was Buried

The dead do not speak - but the earth does A few years ago, I visited Cambodia. My original aim was to see the Angkor Wat temple complex. But, as always, my journalistic instincts led me deeper into rural Cambodia, where I found myself in quiet conversations with a few former soldiers of the Pol Pot regime, now living ordinary lives as toddy tappers, farmers, and small shop owners. One of them - a former henchman of the Khmer Rouge - opened up after a few glasses of toddy. In a hauntingly calm

Editorial June 2025

Kaniyan Pungundran

Jun 16, 2025 — 7 min read

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Sri Lankan Muslim Leader Backs DMK Alliance in Tamil Nadu, Drawing Questions at Home

COLOMBO — Rauff Hakeem, leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, has publicly expressed confidence that the alliance led by M. K. Stalin and his Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will secure a decisive victory in Tamil Nadu’s state assembly elections, extending advance congratulations to candidates contesting under the coalition. In letters sent to leaders of parties aligned with the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance — including the Indian Union Muslim League — Mr. Hakeem cited opinion polls s

April 2026 JM Exclusive

Our Reporter

Apr 21, 2026 — 1 min read

India Expands Footprint in Sri Lanka as Radhakrishnan Announces OCI Plan for Tamils

By M.R. Narayan Swamy India has taken a strategic decision to help tens of thousands of Sri Lankans obtain Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status during a packed two-day visit to the island nation by Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan, a move that Tamil leaders across the political spectrum described as positive and emotionally fulfilling. Although the visit saw India and Sri Lanka deepen their growing bilateral ties, Tamil leaders from the country’s North and East, along with representatives

April 2026 OP-ED

M.R. Narayan Swamy

Apr 20, 2026 — 4 min read

A Refugee’s Protest Exposes the Long Shadow of Sri Lanka’s Conflict in India

By M.R. Narayan Swamy A Sri Lankan Tamil man in penury staged an emotive protest in Tamil Nadu demanding that he be sent back to his country, at a time when Indian Vice President CP Radhakrishnan was discussing in Colombo the fate of thousands of Tamil refugees from the island nation in India. Policemen took away the weeping man shortly after he told the media and curious bystanders that he decided to squat outside the office of the Collector in Mayiladuthurai district on Sunday because he had

April 2026 JM Exclusive

M.R. Narayan Swamy

Apr 20, 2026 — 3 min read

A Cultural Centre Without a Living Culture: Jaffna’s Silent Promise

By Sidhartha Thamby This is a USD 12 million gift from the Government of India. But let us be clear about what a gift of this scale actually is: it is not merely money transmuted into concrete. It is an act of civilisational faith. India looked at Jaffna — a city that has survived what few cities in the world have been asked to survive — and said: we believe you are worth building for. The only adequate response to that faith is activation. And activation, so far, has not come. There is a part

April 2026 Guest Column