Jaffna Monitor - Unafraid and Unbowed

Thileepan Bust Seized in Jaffna, Exposing Rifts Over Tamil Remembrance

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan police removed a bust of Thileepan, a Tamil Tiger political leader who starved himself to death in 1987, from a memorial in Jaffna before dawn on Sunday, hours after the last of 12 days of commemorations had ended. The removal set off protests across the Tamil-majority north and left President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government, which won unprecedented Tamil support in recent elections, trying to explain an operation carried out by a police force it controls. I

Our Reporter

Sep 27, 2026 — 9 min read

Sri Lankan Tamil Refugee Sent by Britain to Eswatini Dies in Apparent First-of-Its-Kind Resettlement

JM Exclusive September 2026

Our Reporter

Sep 26, 2026 — 5 min read

After the Easter Verdict, Two Raised Fingers Stir an Old Fear

JM Exclusive September 2026

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Sep 26, 2026 — 6 min read

Sinhala Nationalist Pages Used AI and Mass One-Star Ratings to Target Maitreyi Ramakrishnan's Netflix Film

JM Exclusive September 2026

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Sep 21, 2026 — 9 min read

Eight Months On, Police Seek More Time in Assault Inquiry Against NPP Jaffna MP

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka — A magistrate in northern Sri Lanka on Monday gave the police one more month to finish investigating an allegation that a lawmaker from the governing party assaulted a village official who was carrying out relief work during Cyclone Ditwah last year. The complaint concerns K. Ilankumaran, a member of Parliament for Jaffna District from the National People's Power, the coalition led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. He is accused of assaulting a Grama Niladhari, or v

September 2026

Our Reporter

Sep 28, 2026 — 1 min read

U.S. Trains Sri Lankan Agencies to Detect Nuclear Smuggling

COLOMBO: The United States has trained officials from the Sri Lanka Navy and several civilian agencies to detect and respond to the smuggling of nuclear and radioactive materials, the U.S. Embassy in Colombo said on Monday. The five-day workshop, held from Sept. 21 to 25, was conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence in partnership with the navy. According to the embassy, American experts worked with Sri Lankan participants to draft standa

September 2026

Our Reporter

Sep 28, 2026 — 1 min read

Where Play Becomes Therapy: Inside Jaffna’s Neurodevelopment Programme

Dr. Shane Halpe At the reception area of Green Memorial Hospital, Manipay, a mother waits patiently while her child attends therapy. Around her, the atmosphere is calm but purposeful. In nearby rooms, children play, draw, move, listen, imitate, and learn. To an outsider, these may look like simple childhood activities. But for the children and families who come here every week, each sound, word, gesture, and small act of participation carries deep meaning. Mrs. Priya, a teacher whose name has

Medical Guest Column

Dr. Shane Halpe

Sep 28, 2026 — 7 min read

She Said, “I’m Tamil.” Two Thousand Years Ago, We Knew the Answer.

By Abbi Kanthasamy Thirty seconds of dialogue. That's all it took. "I'm Tamil. My family's from Sri Lanka." Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, 24, said it as a character in a Netflix comedy about a college dance team. It wasn't a speech or a protest. It was a throwaway line in a scene nobody would remember. Within days, Sinhala nationalist Facebook pages were telling their followers to rate Best of the Best one star, with no need to watch it. One page gave out a ready-made prompt, so ChatGPT or Gemini c

Guest Column September 2026

Abbi Kanthasamy

Sep 28, 2026 — 6 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

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

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

Explore our archive of articles, interviews, and creative projects

From ‘Indian Expansionism’ to New Delhi: JVP Courts BJP

NEW DELHI — A delegation from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, the Marxist-rooted party at the center of Sri Lanka's government, is in New Delhi this week for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, the latest sign of a turnaround for a movement that once treated India as a threat to Sri Lankan sovereignty. The five-member delegation, led by the JVP’s general secretary, Tilvin Silva, who is often regarded as the most powerful man in Sri Lanka, arrived on Sept. 27 at the

September 2026

Our Reporter

Sep 28, 2026 — 2 min read

Who Removed the Thileepan Bust? Jaffna Mayor Rejects Blame

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — The mayor of Jaffna on Sunday denied that the city council or her party had any part in the police removal of a bust of Thileepan, a Tamil Tiger political leader, and said the council had refused repeated police demands for a written promise that the memorial would be taken down. "We strongly condemn the removal," Mayor Mathivathani Vivekanandarajah told reporters at the Jaffna Municipal Council. "Neither the Municipal Council nor the leadership of our party was responsible

September 2026

Our Reporter

Sep 28, 2026 — 2 min read

Vasudeva Nanayakkara Finds a New Government to Defend

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka —Vasudeva Nanayakkara, a former cabinet minister who spent nearly two decades defending the Rajapaksas, has now rallied to the defence of Sri Lanka’s National People’s Power government, pledging to protect it against an alleged conspiracy by wealthy and “reactionary” forces angered by its crackdown on crime and the illegal flight of money overseas. "We will take every necessary step to defeat the conspiracies being carried out against the National People's Power government an

Special Article September 2026

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Sep 27, 2026 — 5 min read

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Sri Lanka’s Unfinished Ethnic War

By M.R. Narayan Swamy There can be little doubt that Tamil-Canadian actor Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is a victim of a section of Sri Lankans who detest her political views. The organised denunciation of her acting skills by Sinhalese-driven interest groups in Sri Lanka has succeeded in driving down the IMDb rating of the “Best of the Best”, the latest Netflix film starring the young Canadian woman. The attacks are directed primarily at her and less at the movie, which follows two childhood friends

Guest Column September 2026