Jaffna Monitor - Unafraid and Unbowed

Three Years On, Rajnath Singh’s Sri Lanka Visit Takes on New Significance

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — India’s defence minister, Rajnath Singh, is preparing to visit Sri Lanka, three years after a planned trip was abruptly deferred, as the two neighbors move to deepen a security partnership that was formalized last year with their first broad agreement on defence cooperation. The itinerary has not been finalized, and New Delhi has not announced dates for the visit. Mr. Singh is expected to hold talks in Colombo, with a possible stop in Trincomalee. Preparations are already

Our Reporter

Aug 20, 2026 — 2 min read

Government Refuses to Return Kilinochchi Press Club Site, Citing Security

JM Exclusive August 2026

Our Reporter

Aug 19, 2026 — 3 min read

Will the Rains Fail in Jaffna? Two Forecasts Point in Opposite Directions

JM Exclusive August 2026

Jaffna Monitor

Aug 19, 2026 — 5 min read

Ranil Warns Sri Lanka Could Face Bankruptcy Again After 2028

August 2026 Exclusive

Our Reporter

Aug 18, 2026 — 3 min read

Facing a Fight for His Seat, Archchuna Turns to Muslim Rights

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A Tamil member of Sri Lanka’s Parliament accused the director of a government hospital in the country’s east on Wednesday of discriminating against Muslim employees. The lawmaker, Ramanathan Archchuna, an independent representing Jaffna District, said nine Muslim women employed as health assistants had been prevented from working at Kalmunai North Base Hospital because of a dispute over their attire and were subsequently transferred to the nearby Ashraff Memorial Hospital.

August 2026 Monitor Memo

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Aug 20, 2026 — 4 min read

Chemmani Excavation Stops Today With 582 Sets of Human Remains Identified

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Excavations at the Chemmani mass grave end on Wednesday with 582 sets of human remains identified, among them those of children, and no decision on whether digging will resume before a court date in October. Wednesday is the 56th and final day authorised by the court for the third phase of the excavation, and the 110th day of digging at the site on the outskirts of Jaffna since work began in May last year. Whether a fourth phase goes ahead rests on a hearing set for Oct. 14,

August 2026 Exclusive

Our Reporter

Aug 19, 2026 — 2 min read

Sri Lanka Can Tame Inflation if Oil Holds Near $80, Central Bank Chief Says

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka can return inflation to its 5 percent target if global oil prices hold near $80 a barrel, the country's central bank governor said, while warning that a fresh energy shock would strain a recovery that remains vulnerable to forces beyond the island's control. Nandalal Weerasinghe, governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, spoke in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Sydney, where he is leading an investor roadshow intended to draw foreign money into Sri Lanka's stock m

Economics August 2026

Our Reporter

Aug 18, 2026 — 2 min read

Sri Lanka Braces for a Powerful El Niño as Reservoirs Run Low

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's weather authority says an unusually powerful El Niño is likely to develop by the end of the year, arriving just as reservoirs across the country are running low. The Department of Meteorology now puts the probability of a "very strong" El Niño at about 90 percent, said Ajith Wijemanna, the department's director general. He said there was roughly a 70 percent chance the event would exceed the intensity of any El Niño recorded since 1950. The forecast tracks closely with re

August 2026

Our Reporter

Aug 18, 2026 — 2 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

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New E.U. Packaging Rules Now Apply to Sri Lankan Exports

COLOMBO — European rules governing packaging began to apply on 12 August, and they cover imports. Sri Lankan exporters of tea, spices, seafood and processed food must now be able to show that the pouches, cartons and wrappers they ship to Europe meet binding requirements on recyclability, recycled content, labelling and chemical safety. The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation entered into force in February 2025 after years of negotiation in Brussels. It draws no distinction between packagi

Economics August 2026

Our Reporter

Aug 18, 2026 — 2 min read

Sri Lanka Moves to Oust Chennai Envoy After Government Loses Confidence in Him, Sources Say

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s government has decided to replace Dr. Ganesanathan Geathiswaran, the country’s Deputy High Commissioner for Southern India in Chennai, after losing confidence in his conduct in one of Sri Lanka’s most sensitive diplomatic postings, senior government and Foreign Ministry sources told Jaffna Monitor. Dr. Ganesanathan Geathiswaran, a political appointee who is not a career diplomat, is expected to be removed once Colombo identifies a successor, sources said. A government mini

JM Exclusive August 2026

Our Reporter

Aug 18, 2026 — 4 min read

India’s Defence Minister Heads to Sri Lanka for High-Level Security Talks

COLOMBO — India’s defence minister, Rajnath Singh, is expected to visit Sri Lanka next week for talks with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in what would be the most senior Indian defence visit to the island since the two countries signed their first formal defence cooperation agreement last year. Mr. Singh is also expected to meet Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha, the secretary to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence, according to people familiar with preparations for the visit. Mr. Dissanay

August 2026 Exclusive

Our Reporter

Aug 18, 2026 — 2 min read

Tamil Lawmaker Questioned by Police Over Remarks on Federalism and Land

COLOMBO — Sri Lankan police questioned a senior Tamil lawmaker for about four hours over public remarks on power-sharing, federalism and land, in an inquiry examining whether his statements amounted to promoting separatism or stirring hostility between ethnic communities. R. Shanakiyan, the parliamentary group leader of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi, known as ITAK, was summoned after a complaint over comments he made to reporters following a meeting between the party’s lawmakers and President

August 2026 Monitor Memo

Our Reporter

Aug 18, 2026 — 2 min read