Jaffna Monitor - Unafraid and Unbowed

Sri Lanka Tables Bill to Scrap PTA. Critics Say Its Replacement Retains Abusive Powers

By Aruliniyan Mahalingam COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's government on Tuesday introduced legislation to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the 47-year-old security law that Tamils, Muslims and critics of successive governments have long associated with arbitrary detention and torture. Human rights groups, lawyers and the country's own Human Rights Commission say the replacement keeps many of the old law's worst features and adds new ones. The bill sets out a broad definition of terroris

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Oct 6, 2026 — 7 min read

After Four Months in Hospital, Suresh Salley to Return to CID Custody

October 2026

Our Reporter

Oct 6, 2026 — 1 min read

Oncologist Wants Health Officials Prosecuted After RTI Order Goes Unheeded

JM Exclusive October 2026

Jaffna Monitor

Oct 6, 2026 — 4 min read

Jaffna Hospitality Teacher Is Stabbed to Death at Home; Suspect Dies on Rail Line

October 2026 Monitor Memo

Our Reporter

Oct 6, 2026 — 2 min read

‘How Can Thileepan Be Commemorated?’ Dayasiri Challenges Government

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Dayasiri Jayasekara, an opposition lawmaker, challenged the government in Parliament on Tuesday over commemorations for Thileepan, a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who died on a hunger strike in 1987, asking why such events were permitted while the separatist group remains banned in Sri Lanka. Mr. Jayasekara, who represents Kurunegala District for the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, put the question to Aruna Jayasekara, the deputy minister of defense, during the cha

October 2026

Our Reporter

Oct 6, 2026 — 2 min read

The Island as One Living Museum

By Jeevan Thiagarajah Few countries carry as much history to the square kilometre as Sri Lanka. More than 250,000 archaeological sites have been identified. Eight places are on the World Heritage list. The forest meditation monasteries of Ritigala and Arankele, the Pancha Ishwarams of Shiva on our coasts, the Dutch-era Wolvendaal Church, the Ketchchimalai Mosque at Beruwala where Arab traders are said to have first landed, and Sri Pada, venerated by Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims ali

Guest Column October 2026

Jeevan Thiyagaraja

Oct 6, 2026 — 6 min read

Once Stripped by Protesters, Kahandagama Now Held Over ‘Ice’

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Mahinda Kahandagama, the former Colombo municipal politician whose torn red shirt became one of the most recognizable images of Sri Lanka's 2022 political upheaval, was arrested on Monday night on suspicion of possessing crystal methamphetamine, the police said. Officers from the Colombo Central Crime Investigation Bureau detained Mr. Kahandagama near a restaurant in Mirihana and said they recovered a quantity of the drug, known in Sri Lanka as "Ice," from him. The location

October 2026 Monitor Memo

Our Reporter

Oct 6, 2026 — 2 min read

Karuna Amman Questioned for More Than Four Hours in Abduction Inquiry

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Detectives in Colombo questioned Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, the former Tamil Tiger eastern commander known as Karuna Amman, for more than four hours on Monday in connection with an abduction inquiry. Mr. Muralitharan appeared at the Criminal Investigation Department in the morning after being summoned and left around noon after investigators recorded his statement. The authorities did not immediately disclose which case prompted the questioning or what connection, if any

October 2026

Our Reporter

Oct 6, 2026 — 1 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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“தண்ணீர் தண்ணீர்” (වතුර වතුර): From Wells to Nation Building in Sri Lanka

Prof. Mahesh Nirmalan MD, FRCA, PhD, FFICM In the legendary film director K Balachander’s 1981 film ‘Thanneer Thanneer’ (or Water Water), a village’s struggle for water becomes a parable of neglect. Four decades later, this parable is being replayed in parts of the Northern province in Sri Lanka. For generations, the people of Jaffna have lived amidst water scarcity. Walking approximately 2 miles daily to a common well (‘Aththai well’ or அத்தாய் கிணறு or අත්තායි ලිඳ in Karainagar) or ca

Guest Column October 2026

Prof. Mahesh Nirmalan

Oct 5, 2026 — 11 min read

Gnanasara Returns to Prison as Court Hears Why He Went Silent

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A lawyer for Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, the Buddhist nationalist monk arrested over the weekend after Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court invalidated his presidential pardon, told the Court of Appeal on Monday that the monk had been unable to contact his legal team because of a weak telephone signal at the meditation hermitage where he was staying. The explanation came in response to a question from Justice Lakmali Karunanayake, who asked why, if the monk had not been evading t

JM COURTS October 2026

Our Reporter

Oct 5, 2026 — 3 min read

14 Years After Land Was Set Aside in Mankulam, Youth Office May Move Elsewhere

MULLAITIVU, Sri Lanka — Young people and community activists in Mullaitivu District are opposing a proposal to move the district office of the National Youth Services Council from Mankulam to Oddusuddan, and are calling on the government to build the office on land in Mankulam that was set aside for it in 2012. The land, a plot along the A9 highway, was cleared and fenced for a district office 14 years ago, but no building was ever put up. The council's Mullaitivu office still operates from ren

Monitor Memo October 2026

Shanmugam Thavaseelan

Oct 5, 2026 — 2 min read

Six Kilinochchi Groups Seek Fresh Police Inquiry Into Samarazhagi’s Death

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka — Six community organizations in Uruthirapuram have jointly appealed to a senior police official for a fresh investigation into the death of Samarazhagi, a teenage girl whose death last week has shaken the village and prompted allegations that she had been threatened and sexually pressured by a young man living nearby. In a letter dated Oct. 5 and addressed to the Deputy Inspector General of Police for the Kilinochchi Division, the organizations said they were dissatisfie

October 2026

Our Reporter

Oct 5, 2026 — 2 min read