Jaffna Monitor - Unafraid and Unbowed

Iran Says Sri Lanka Invited Warship Before U.S. Strike, Confirming Jaffna Monitor Report

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — March 24 — Iran’s ambassador to Sri Lanka said Monday that Sri Lankan naval authorities had invited Iranian vessels — including the ill-fated IRIS Dena — to visit the island, reinforcing an account first reported by Jaffna Monitor earlier this month. Speaking at a media briefing in Colombo on March 23, the ambassador, Dr. Alireza Delkhosh, said the invitation was extended during MILAN 2026, a multinational naval exercise held in Visakhapatnam, India. “During the exercise i

Our Special Correspondent

Mar 24, 2026 — 2 min read

Global Surgeon Honoured in Jaffna, Calls for Pride in Local Medical System

March 2026 Monitor Memo

Our Special Correspondent

Mar 23, 2026 — 4 min read

Jaffna Lecturer Killed in Alleged Family Plot Laid to Rest

JM Exclusive March 2026

Our Reporter

Mar 22, 2026 — 3 min read

Government Signals Fresh Delays in Provincial Elections as Panel to Submit Only ‘Initial Report’

JM Exclusive March 2026

Our Special Correspondent

Mar 22, 2026 — 3 min read

Anura Calls Modi as Iran Remarks Complicate Sri Lanka’s Position

COLOMBO, — March 24 — Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake spoke by telephone with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, with both leaders emphasizing the need to keep vital global shipping routes open amid rising tensions in West Asia. According to India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, the call was initiated by Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The two leaders “reiterated the importance of keeping shipping lines open and secure in the interest of the whole world,” it said i

JM Exclusive March 2026

Our Reporter

Mar 24, 2026 — 1 min read

Trincomalee Oil Farm and Energy Hub: Sri Lanka’s Missed Opportunity Returns

By: Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke The Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm stands today as one of the most strategically significant yet historically underutilized energy assets in South Asia. Located in the deep natural harbour of Trincomalee, the facility embodies a convergence of history, geopolitics, and economic potential. In the current global context—marked by energy insecurity, shifting geopolitical alliances, and regional competition—the Trincomalee oil farm offers Sri Lanka a renewed opportunity

Guest Column OP-ED

Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke

Mar 24, 2026 — 10 min read

The Levantine Hummus Wars

By: Abbi Kanthasamy A dispatch from a tired restaurant owner watching cousins argue over the same recipe. If the conflict in Jerusalem had been about food instead of religion, it would have ended centuries ago. Because food fights — real ones — are easy. You gather everyone in a room. You put the dishes on the table. People shout a bit. Someone’s grandmother intervenes. And eventually everyone eats. Peace, or something very close to it. Religion, unfortunately, has proven far less coop

Guest Column March 2026

Abbi Kanthasamy

Mar 23, 2026 — 4 min read

Sri Lanka Fuel Prices Rise by Up to 30%, Adding Pressure on Cost of Living

March 21, 2026, COLOMBO — The ruling National People’s Power (NPP) government sharply raised fuel prices from midnight on Saturday, with increases ranging from roughly 21 to 26 percent — a move expected to ripple through transportation networks, food supply chains, and household budgets across a country still struggling to recover from a crippling economic collapse. The price hike is likely to intensify pressure on ordinary Sri Lankans, whose incomes have largely stagnated and are unlikely to k

March 2026 Monitor Memo

Our Reporter

Mar 21, 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

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

Explore our archive of articles, interviews, and creative projects

JVP may move towards one-party rule, says Tamil leader

By M.R. Narayan Swamy Sri Lanka faces the risk of its dominant Marxist ruling party pushing the country toward a one-party state, M.A. Sumanthiran, Acting General Secretary of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), said, adding that the government is already setting up a parallel power structure in the Tamil-majority North. At the same time, lawyer-cum-politician M.A. Sumanthiran underlines that while President Anura Dissanayake is pragmatic, he is surrounded by some who the former Tami

JM Exclusive March 2026

M.R. Narayan Swamy

Mar 21, 2026 — 4 min read

University of Jaffna Lecturer Killed; Daughter and Partner Arrested

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — March 21, 2026 — A senior lecturer at the University of Jaffna, who was reported missing earlier this week, has been confirmed killed, with police arresting her daughter and the daughter’s partner in connection with the case. The victim, Dr. (Mrs.) Thayalini Thileepan, a Senior Lecturer (Grade I) attached to the Department of Samooga nala Maruthuvam (Community Health Medicine) at the Faculty of Siddha Medicine, was reported missing from her residence in the early hours of

March 2026 Monitor Memo

Our Reporter

Mar 21, 2026 — 2 min read

At Jaffna Hindu College, a Former Student Returns With a Message on Resilience

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — March 20, 2026 — “They tried to silence this ground once… but tonight, listen carefully — it is still speaking.” With that line, Abethan “Abbi” Kanthasamy brought a hushed sports field to stillness on Friday evening, addressing students, teachers, and alumni gathered at the grounds of Jaffna Hindu College. Nearly four decades after he last stood there as a schoolboy, Abbi Kanthasamy — now a Malaysia-based entrepreneur and managing director of the Cinnamon Group — returned a

March 2026 Monitor Memo

Our Reporter

Mar 21, 2026 — 3 min read

Patience, Policy Consistency and Inclusive Growth Drive Viet Nam’s Success, Envoy Tells Jaffna Monitor

Viet Nam—a country that endured one of the most devastating wars of the 20th century and one of the heaviest aerial bombardments in modern history, its cities reduced to rubble and its society fractured by ideology and superpower rivalry—today stands among the fastest-growing economies in the world. The war left behind not only physical destruction but also enduring human images, none more searing than that of nine-year-old Phan Thị Kim Phúc, captured running in agony after a napalm attack. Nea

Exclusive Interview JM Exclusive