JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — The family of Arul Payas, the youth killed in a police shooting in Jaffna’s Allaipiddy area earlier this year, publicly accused Sri Lankan authorities on Wednesday of denying them justice, alleging intimidation, institutional indifference, and political abandonment in the months following his death. Speaking through tears at a press conference held at the Jaffna Media Centre, relatives said their efforts to seek accountability, including a visit to Colombo in hopes of meetin

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has formally congratulated Tamil film star-turned-politician C. Joseph Vijay on his election as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, praising his rise as a “remarkable achievement” and expressing hope for stronger ties between Sri Lanka and the southern Indian state. In a letter dated May 6, 2026, addressed to Vijay, Kumaratunga acknowledged his electoral victory and highlighted the longstanding relationship between Ta

A Jaffna-based civil activist has used Tamil actor Vijay’s landmark electoral victory in Tamil Nadu as a launchpad for a biting satirical open letter that says far more about Sri Lankan Tamil political culture than it does about the film star himself — lampooning dynastic privilege, and caste hierarchy. Arun Siddharth, Jaffna District Coordinator of Sarvajana Balaya, addressed the letter to Vijay at his party’s Chennai headquarters, opening with a salutation to the “Honorable ‘Excellency’ Comma