Jaffna Monitor - Unafraid and Unbowed

Monks' Hunger Strike Ends in Head Strike

ANURADHAPURA, Sri Lanka, Nov. 12: A protest that its organisers call a satyagraha, the word Gandhi coined for nonviolent resistance, ended in bloodshed on Thursday morning outside one of Sri Lanka's most venerated Buddhist monuments. Two groups led by clergy came to blows, and a controversial former monk was taken to hospital with a head wound. Rajanganaya Saddharathana, who was expelled from the monastic order last year but is still widely addressed as a thero, was allegedly struck with a clu

Our Reporter

Nov 12, 2026 — 3 min read

Subbulakshmi Kasinathan, Who Brought ‘Chellamani’ to Life, Dies at 84

Obituary November 2026

Our Reporter

Nov 12, 2026 — 4 min read

Anojan Sivarasa to Return to Sri Lanka After Saudi Arabia Drops Blasphemy Case

November 2026

Jaffna Monitor

Nov 11, 2026 — 2 min read

Jaffna-Born Minister Still Writes to Friend Killed in Norway’s 2011 Massacre

November 2026

Jaffna Monitor

Nov 11, 2026 — 8 min read

A Rare Childbirth Emergency Killed Sri Lankan YouTuber Nayomichan in Japan

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Nov. 12, 2026 — Asha Nayomi Weerawardhana, the Sri Lankan YouTube and TikTok creator known to her followers as Nayomichan, died in Japan during childbirth after amniotic fluid entered her bloodstream, her younger sister said, citing the post-mortem examination and the death certificate. She was 33. Her son, delivered during the emergency, survived and is recovering. Her sister, Ayesha Weerawardhana, a student in Japan, described what happened in a video posted on Facebook. S

November 2026

Our Reporter

Nov 12, 2026 — 5 min read

Two Rails but One Track: The God within and the God beyond in Religious Thought

By Prof. Mahesh Nirmalan, MD, FRCA, PhD, FFICM, University of Manchester Religion is often viewed as a collection of beliefs about god, divinity, creation, salvation, after-life, scripture, ritual and morality. Despite variations in how these concepts are perceived within each tradition, there lies a noticeable pattern in the evolution of religious thought that manifests across most major religions. At various moments, thinkers and reformers have challenged the dominant paradigm of their age.

Guest Column November 2026

Prof. Mahesh Nirmalan

Nov 12, 2026 — 10 min read

Weigh Risks, Not Just Returns, Central Bank Governor Tells Savers

By Asela Kuruluwansha PERADENIYA, Sri Lanka, Nov. 12 — People making financial decisions should weigh risks, future obligations and changing economic conditions, not only the returns they expect, the governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Nandalal Weerasinghe, said on Wednesday. Dr. Weerasinghe gave the keynote address at FinLit Expo 2026, a financial literacy exhibition at the Senate Building of the University of Peradeniya. The bank’s Matale regional office and the university organized t

November 2026

Asela Kuruluwansha.

Nov 12, 2026 — 1 min read

Sri Lankan Guide Shoved Off Boat Calls the Outrage ‘Fake News’

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The Sri Lankan boat guide seen being shoved into the sea by an Israeli tourist, in a video that drew outrage across the country, says the episode was a game among friends and has asked the public to stop making an issue of it. “A small thing happened. Don’t make it big,” the guide, Senura Rashmika, says in a video he recorded after the incident, according to BBC Sinhala, which obtained the clip from his brother. “I’m the one who pushed them. This is fake news. They have bee

November 2026

Our Reporter

Nov 11, 2026 — 4 min read

UNAFRAID AND UNBOWED

The Long Warning: Inside the Intelligence Trail That Preceded Easter Bombings

By Aruliniyan Mahalingam JAFFNA — On the evening of April 20, 2019, a man at his home in Puthukudiyiruppu took a WhatsApp call from an Indian police officer. The call came sometime between 5:15 and 5:45 p.m. The officer asked him an odd question: where were Sri Lanka's major churches? The man named the ones that came to mind. The Madhu shrine. St. Anthony's at Kochchikade in Colombo. The Tewatta church at Ragama. Then the officer told him that Zahran Hashim's group was preparing to strike Cat

JM Exclusive September 2026

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Sep 8, 2026 — 22 min read

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

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Sri Lanka’s Migrant Workers Sent Home $8 Billion Last Year. A New Bill Seeks to Protect Them

COLOMBO - Sri Lankans who run into serious trouble while working abroad could become entitled to free legal representation and a flight home at the state’s expense, under a Private Member’s Bill submitted to Parliament by Faiszer Musthapha, a President’s Counsel and member of Parliament. The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (Amendment) Bill would insert a new Section 48A into the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Act, No. 21 of 1985. At present, the state gives this help at its discr

November 2026 Economics

Our Reporter

Nov 10, 2026 — 6 min read

Daughter of Sri Lankan Tamil Parents Reaches Miss England Final

LONDON: Abbeyrame Laveniya Sriharan, a 27-year-old chartered accountant who competes as Abbey Laveniya, has reached the final of Miss England, days after entering the competition. She was born in Surrey to Sri Lankan Tamil parents. Ms. Sriharan secured her place among the 12 finalists by winning the contest’s sports round in Leicester on Oct. 4, a multi-stage fitness test of endurance, sprinting and general knowledge. The victory earned her the title Miss England Sportswoman 2026 and a direct r

November 2026

Our Reporter

Nov 10, 2026 — 2 min read

Police Tell Court Army Has Failed to Respond in Mandaitivu Disappearances Inquiry

JAFFNA: Police investigating an alleged mass grave on Mandaitivu, an island off the Jaffna Peninsula, told a court on Tuesday that the Sri Lankan Army had not answered their request for information about its presence on the island in 1990. Families say dozens of young Tamil men were detained by soldiers on Mandaitivu that year and never seen again. The police had asked the army for records showing whether it maintained a camp at the site named in the complaint, and for the names of officers sta

November 2026

Our Reporter

Nov 10, 2026 — 2 min read

Jaffna Marks 20 Years Since Raviraj’s Assassination as His Case Heads for Retrial

JAFFNA: Family members, politicians and activists gathered in Chavakachcheri on Tuesday to mark 20 years since the assassination of Nadarajah Raviraj, a Tamil member of Parliament who was shot dead in Colombo in 2006. No one has been convicted of the killing. Mourners garlanded his statue and scattered flowers at the Maamanithar Raviraj Memorial Square, in front of the Chavakachcheri Divisional Secretariat. His widow, Sasikala Raviraj, attended with other family members. The anniversary comes

November 2026

Our Reporter

Nov 10, 2026 — 4 min read