Rain Fails to Deter Tamil Families Protesting Decades-Long Military Occupation of Valikamam North Lands

Rain Fails to Deter Tamil Families Protesting Decades-Long Military Occupation of Valikamam North Lands

Braving torrential rain, displaced Tamil residents of Valikamam North gathered for the fourth consecutive Friday outside the gates of the Sri Lanka Army’s Commando bungalow in Jaffna, demanding the return of approximately 651 acres of ancestral land from which they were forcibly displaced in June 1990 and to which they have been denied access for 34 years. The demonstration, which began on April 24 as a weekly series, is being carried out by landowners belonging to Grama Sevaka divisions 248, 2


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Reforming Healthcare in Sri Lanka for Equity and Excellence

Reforming Healthcare in Sri Lanka for Equity and Excellence

By: Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke The Ministry of Health is the government institution responsible for governing the entire health system in Sri Lanka, playing a vital role in protecting public health, ensuring that all organizations providing health-related products and services comply with safety regulations, and guaranteeing that individuals and communities receive quality healthcare without financial hardship. Its vision is “a healthier nation that contributes to its economic, social, mental an


Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke

Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke

Pain

Pain

Translated from the original Tamil short story vali (வலி) from the 1976 collection of short stories titled kōṭukaḷum kōlaṅkalum (கோடுகளும் கோலங்களும்) by Kuppilan Ai. Shanmugan. The original collection is available at noolaham.org. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact ez.iniyavan@gmail.com. The intermittent shooting pain struck the lower right part of his chest. He could never predict when the pain would hit. It could come any time, even in the dead of night when he was fast


Eḻuttukkiṉiyavaṉ

Eḻuttukkiṉiyavaṉ

Sri Lankan National Among 17 Foreign Citizens Held for Illegal Voting in Tamil Nadu Elections

Sri Lankan National Among 17 Foreign Citizens Held for Illegal Voting in Tamil Nadu Elections

CHENNAI — Tamil Nadu police have registered cases against at least 17 foreign nationals, including a Sri Lankan citizen, on suspicion of casting votes in the state’s recently concluded Legislative Assembly elections despite holding foreign passports and having no legal right to vote in India, officials said. The individuals, passport holders from Sri Lanka, Canada, and Australia, were detained at Chennai and Madurai airports by immigration officers who noticed indelible election ink marks on th


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

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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Humble versus Arrogant: Indian Spiritual Guru, FARC, LTTE

Humble versus Arrogant: Indian Spiritual Guru, FARC, LTTE

By M.R. Narayan Swamy When Indian spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar flew into Colombia in 2015, the peace process in the South American country was on the verge of collapse. President Juan Manuel Santos had announced he was freezing negotiations with the notorious Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) after it killed some young and unarmed soldiers, sparking nationwide outrage. That was when Gurudev, as Ravi Shankar is addressed, reached Bogotá to meet President Santos following app


M.R. Narayan Swamy

M.R. Narayan Swamy

What Nordic Leaders Can Learn From Narendra Modi

What Nordic Leaders Can Learn From Narendra Modi

By: Erik Solheim On Monday, 18 May, the world’s most popular politician will visit Norway. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be received by King Harald, promote Indian business, meet with the Indian diaspora and attend an India-Nordic prime ministers’ meeting. The Nordic prime ministers should listen carefully. They have a lot to learn from their Indian counterpart. Whilst Nordic prime ministers barely enjoy a domestic approval rating of 30 per cent, Modi stands at around 70 per cent i


Erik Solheim

Erik Solheim

Sri Lanka’s State Tamil Daily Editor Suspended Amid Major Fraud Probe

Sri Lanka’s State Tamil Daily Editor Suspended Amid Major Fraud Probe

R. Senthil Velavar, the Editor-in-Chief of Sri Lanka’s state-run Tamil daily Thinakaran, was suspended by Lake House management this week over allegations of financial misconduct, according to sources within the institution. The suspension follows an internal investigation into claims that Senthil Velavar misappropriated advertising revenue by personally collecting payments for advertisements but, instead of publishing the paid advertisements as contracted, allegedly replacing them with news co


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Cabinet Trust for India-Funded Jaffna Cultural Center Sparks Fears of Colombo Control

Cabinet Trust for India-Funded Jaffna Cultural Center Sparks Fears of Colombo Control

Sri Lanka's Cabinet last Monday approved the establishment of a trust fund to manage the Jaffna Thiruvalluvar Cultural Centre, an 11-storey landmark built with approximately $12 million in Indian grant assistance — a move critics say effectively places a centre intended for Tamil cultural life under the influence of a Colombo ministry responsible for Buddhist, religious and cultural affairs, while marginalising the elected local authority on whose land the facility stands. The Cabinet decision,


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Our Reporter

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