Northern Central Hospital Convicted Over Expired Medicines in Jaffna

Northern Central Hospital Convicted Over Expired Medicines in Jaffna

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — A private hospital in Jaffna has been fined 300,000 Sri Lankan rupees after pleading guilty to charges of possessing expired medicines and surgical supplies, while a private medical clinic was fined 100,000 rupees for charging patients above the government-approved maximum fee for a routine blood test, according to Sri Lanka’s Consumer Affairs Authority. The Jaffna Magistrate’s Court imposed the penalties on Aug. 4 after both institutions admitted the offences. In a further


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

MP Questions Government's Reliance on 'National Security' to Retain Civilian Lands

MP Questions Government's Reliance on 'National Security' to Retain Civilian Lands

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam on Tuesday accused the Government of continuing to rely on outdated wartime justifications to retain civilian lands under military occupation in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, arguing that nearly 17 years after the end of Sri Lanka's civil war, it could no longer invoke "national security" to deny displaced people the return of their properties. Raising a series of questions in Parliament, Mr. Rasamanickam sought detailed


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Government Seeks Royal Pardon for Anojan After Saudi Sentence

Government Seeks Royal Pardon for Anojan After Saudi Sentence

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka is pursuing both legal and diplomatic efforts to assist Sivarasa Anojan, the Sri Lankan migrant worker sentenced by a Saudi Arabian court over a Facebook comment deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad, with officials confirming that discussions are underway on filing an appeal while seeking clemency from the Saudi government. Cabinet spokesman and Minister of Health and Mass Media Nalinda Jayatissa said Tuesday that the government was consulting Anojan's family a


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Our Reporter

Opposition Lawmaker Questions Exclusion of Sirisena From Easter Bombings Prosecution

Opposition Lawmaker Questions Exclusion of Sirisena From Easter Bombings Prosecution

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A Sri Lankan opposition lawmaker on Tuesday accused the Attorney General's Department of deliberately failing to prosecute former President Maithripala Sirisena and former State Intelligence Service Director Nilantha Jayawardena in the criminal case over the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, despite both having previously been found responsible by the Supreme Court for failing to prevent the attacks. Speaking during a parliamentary debate on a supplementary appropriation bill, M


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

UNAFRAID AND UNBOWED

Archbishop, Archbishop, why hast thou forsaken us in our hour of sorrow and slaughter?

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


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

Jaffna Library Burning: The Day They Burned the buddha and his dhamma

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


Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Chemmani: Where Justice Was Buried

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


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

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PMD and Tamil Leaders Emphasize Different Priorities After Dissanayake Talks

PMD and Tamil Leaders Emphasize Different Priorities After Dissanayake Talks

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Monday reaffirmed his government's commitment to introducing a new Constitution and abolishing the Executive Presidency, but said constitutional reform should proceed only after building "a new national consensus," according to a statement issued by the President's Media Division following talks with representatives of six Tamil-speaking political parties. The official account of the nearly two-hour meeting at the Presidential Secretari


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Our Reporter

They Found Justice for Easter. Why Can’t They Find It for Mullivaikkal?

They Found Justice for Easter. Why Can’t They Find It for Mullivaikkal?

By Che Ran The Easter Sunday bombings were one of the darkest days in Sri Lankan history. On 21 April 2019, suicide bombers walked into churches filled with families celebrating the resurrection of Christ and into luxury hotels serving breakfast. More than 260 people were killed. Hundreds more were injured. Children died in their mothers’ arms. Entire families disappeared in a matter of seconds. It was an atrocity. The people responsible—whether they built the bombs, funded them, or knowingl


Che Ran

Che Ran

How the LTTE Hollowed Out Tamil Society Long Before Its Military Defeat

How the LTTE Hollowed Out Tamil Society Long Before Its Military Defeat

By M.R. Narayan Swamy At a workshop for teenage Tamil girls in Jaffna, a teacher wanted to know who Nelson Mandela was. Several hands went up. Mandela fought for South Africa’s freedom and to end apartheid. The answer was apt. Okay, who was Mahatma Gandhi? Again, several hands went up. Gandhi led the Indian independence movement against the British. He was an apostle of non-violence. Correct. A third question followed: Who was (Appapillai) Amirthalingam? There was a silence in the classroo


M.R. Narayan Swamy

M.R. Narayan Swamy

One Spoke of Karma. The Other Named a Conspiracy.

One Spoke of Karma. The Other Named a Conspiracy.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Moments before a Colombo court sentenced them to death on Friday for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, Sri Lanka's former police chief and former defence secretary were each invited, as the law requires, to explain why they should not receive the death penalty. Their answers could hardly have been more different: one was a quiet surrender to fate; the other, a defiant insistence that the men he said truly bore responsibility for the massacre remained shield


Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

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