Jaffna Monitor - Unafraid and Unbowed

Sri Lanka to Close Government Offices Every Wednesday to Save Fuel

Colombo, March 17, 2026 After days of assuring citizens that fuel supplies were sufficient, the Sri Lankan government said on Monday that it would close government offices, courts, state schools, and universities every Wednesday until further notice to manage fuel consumption. The announcement comes as rising tensions in the Middle East have stirred fresh concerns about energy supplies in a country still clawing its way back from one of the worst economic crises in its modern history. The orde

Our Reporter

Mar 17, 2026 — 3 min read

A Dangerous Precedent: When Tamil Leaders Use the Online Safety Act

Editorial March 2026

Kaniyan Pungundran

Mar 16, 2026 — 10 min read

Dutch Ambassador Says Russia Tried to Censor Ukraine War Photos in Sri Lanka

Exclusive Interview March 2026

Our Special Correspondent

Mar 14, 2026 — 3 min read

Northern Council’s Letter Backing U.S. War Effort Raises Questions for ITAK

JM Exclusive March 2026

Our Reporter

Mar 12, 2026 — 5 min read

QR Fuel Pass System Relaunch Faces Technical Glitches

COLOMBO — March 16 Sri Lanka’s reinstated National Fuel Pass system, intended to regulate fuel distribution amid global supply uncertainties, ran into significant technical problems on its first mandatory day, leaving many motorists unable to register their vehicles and triggering criticism of the digital platform developed by the technology firm MillenniumIT ESP. The system, which requires motorists to present a QR code linked to their vehicle in order to obtain fuel, became compulsory nation

JM Exclusive March 2026

Our Reporter

Mar 15, 2026 — 3 min read

Government Reinstates QR Fuel Pass System, but Registration Remains Incomplete

COLOMBO — March 15 — The government on Sunday reinstated the National Fuel Pass (QR code) system, requiring motorists to present a registered QR code in order to obtain fuel at filling stations, as authorities move to regulate distribution and maintain supply stability. The Ministry of Power and Energy said the measure came into effect at 6:00 a.m. on March 15, and that fuel will not be issued at any station without a valid QR code linked to a registered vehicle. The system, first introduced d

JM Exclusive March 2026

Our Reporter

Mar 15, 2026 — 3 min read

Voice of Tigers: The Rebel Radio That Echoed Through Sri Lanka’s War

By: M.R. Narayan Swamy Bettering the proverbial cat, the Tamil Tigers radio had two dozen lives! From its rudimentary beginnings in Jaffna, the Voice of Tigers (VOT), or Puligalin Kural, grew into a powerful radio station that broadcast news and other programmes in Tamil from the dense forests of Sri Lanka. The station chronicled the war fought by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), albeit with an inherent bias favouring the Tamil guerrillas, till May 2009 when the Sri Lankan m

Guest Column March 2026

M.R. Narayan Swamy

Mar 14, 2026 — 6 min read

ITAK Leadership Moves to Distance Itself From Controversial Resolution

COLOMBO — The leadership of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) has sought to distance the party from a controversial resolution passed by the Pachchilaipalli Pradeshiya Sabha, a local council controlled by ITAK, supporting what it described as United States efforts to “maintain world peace.” In a Facebook status posted on social media on Friday, the party’s acting general secretary, M. A. Sumanthiran, said the resolution adopted by the local council had no connection to the party’s official

March 2026 Monitor Memo

Our Reporter

Mar 14, 2026 — 3 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

Kaniyan Pungundran

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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“Sri Lanka Now Has No Foreign Policy,” Former Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris Says

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka- Former Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris delivered a blistering indictment of the Sri Lankan government Wednesday, accusing it of abandoning the nation's economic interests and diplomatic standing in the wake of the torpedoing of the Iranian warship IRIS Dena, declaring that the country now "has no foreign policy whatsoever." Speaking at a joint opposition media briefing on Wednesday, Mr. Peiris described the sinking of the IRIS Dena as an unprecedented event since World War II,

Monitor Memo

Our Reporter

Mar 12, 2026 — 5 min read

The Meccan Shawl

Translated from the original Tamil short story makkattuc cālvai (மக்கத்துச் சால்வை) from the eponymous 1992 collection of short stories by S.L.M. Hanifa. The original collection is available at noolaham.org. If you have any questions, please contact ez.iniyavan@gmail.com. “Thambi! Mammanifā, do you remember me, son? That day, your wāppā and everyone else remained mum. You were a little boy. But you spotted it like a vigilant crow. You shouted as if you were raise the alarm.” “He is hit, he i

March 2026 Story

Eḻuttukkiṉiyavaṉ

Mar 11, 2026 — 10 min read

Russia Defends Objections to Ukraine War Photos at Colombo Exhibition

COLOMBO — March 11, 2026 Russia’s ambassador to Sri Lanka has defended Moscow’s objections to photographs depicting the war in Ukraine that are currently displayed at an international photojournalism exhibition in Colombo, telling Jaffna Monitor that the images present a “biased and anti-Russian narrative.” In written comments to Jaffna Monitor, the ambassador said the photographs featured in the World Press Photo Exhibition 2025 ignore atrocities, which he says were committed by Ukrainian for

JM Exclusive March 2026

Our Reporter

Mar 11, 2026 — 3 min read

The Palestine issue and International Quds Day

Quds Day: From an Idea to an International Demand The last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan was designated as Quds Day several decades ago by the Founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This designation, more than being a mere political statement, was a call for the international community to pay attention to an issue that was gradually being forgotten: the displacement of a nation and the occupation of a land considered holy by the followers of three major divine religions. Today, Quds Da

March 2026 OP-ED