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

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

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — A video by actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan sharply criticizing India’s central government and calling for the re-election of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu was shared on social media by M. A. Sumanthiran, prompting debate over whether the move constitutes an official endorsement or simply a personal post. In the video, Mr. Kamal Haasan frames the Tamil Nadu election as a choice between decisions being made in Chennai or in New Delhi — a critique of th


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

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

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


Abbi Kanthasamy

Abbi Kanthasamy

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

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


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

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

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


M.R. Narayan Swamy

M.R. Narayan Swamy

Unafraid and Unbowed

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

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


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

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

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


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

Chemmani: Where Justice Was Buried

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


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

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

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


Jaffna Monitor

Jaffna Monitor

India’s Vice President Calls for Unity as Tamil Leaders’ Divisions Spill Into the Open

India’s Vice President Calls for Unity as Tamil Leaders’ Divisions Spill Into the Open

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A meeting between India’s Vice President, C. P. Radhakrishnan, and Sri Lankan Tamil political leaders in Colombo on Sunday highlighted internal tensions within ITAK, with participants describing moments that strained political decorum. At the outset of the meeting, the seven representatives of Tamil political parties introduced themselves. During the introductions, Sivagnanam Sritharan, who is engaged in an ongoing leadership dispute with M. A. Sumanthiran, said he had been


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

India’s Vice President Urges Sri Lanka to Hold Provincial Elections Without Delay

India’s Vice President Urges Sri Lanka to Hold Provincial Elections Without Delay

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — India’s Vice President, C. P. Radhakrishnan, said he had personally urged Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to hold long-delayed provincial council elections without further postponement, during a meeting between the two leaders on Sunday. Mr. Radhakrishnan disclosed this during a subsequent discussion with representatives of Tamil political parties at the Taj Samudra in Colombo on Monday afternoon, a source who participated in the meeting told Jaffna Monitor.


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Accountability delayed is accountability denied.

Accountability delayed is accountability denied.

By: Lankan The resignations of Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody and Ministry Secretary Prof. Udayanga Hemapala are a welcome — if belated — step toward accountability. In a political culture where public office is often treated as a shield against scrutiny, stepping down to allow an unimpeded investigation is the appropriate course of action. The National People’s Power (NPP) government, elected on a platform of uncompromising integrity, could scarcely have done otherwise. But let us be clear:


Lankan

Lankan

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