Charith: The Cost of War, Carried for Life

Charith: The Cost of War, Carried for Life

By: Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke I first met Charith in the early hours of 19th November 2008, in Ward 8 of Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital. He arrived as a wounded soldier from the war front, bearing injuries that would change the course of his life forever. For three months he remained under my care, during which time our relationship grew beyond that of surgeon and patient. Years later, Charith recognizes me not by sight but by the sound of my voice. Sadly, he lives in permanent darkness. C


Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke

Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke

A Guest List, Not a Policy Signal

A Guest List, Not a Policy Signal

By: K. Selvarathnam In a recent commentary for Jaffna Monitor, the veteran Indian journalist M. R. Narayan Swamy argued that the exclusion of Douglas Devananda from India’s Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan’s April 19 meeting with Sri Lankan Tamil leaders at the Taj Samudra was more than an oversight. It was, he suggested, a slight to the Eelam People’s Democratic Party leader and, by extension, evidence of a “gaping hole” in New Delhi’s Sri Lanka policy. With due respect to the writer, howev


Jaffna Monitor

Jaffna Monitor

Rhetoric and Reality Collide in Jaffna During Minister’s Visit

Rhetoric and Reality Collide in Jaffna During Minister’s Visit

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s minister of transport, highways, and urban development, Bimal Rathnayake, declared on Wednesday that his government had no place for “racism” and would not indulge what he called demands from southern voters for an anti-Tamil administration — even as journalists invited to cover one of his own meetings in the northern capital were ordered out of the room. Critics said the two episodes — unfolding just hours apart during the same ministerial visit to the Northern


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Black holes in India’s Sri Lanka Tamil policy

Black holes in India’s Sri Lanka Tamil policy

By M.R. Narayan Swamy When Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi prepared to fly to Colombo in July 1987, Tamil politicians and militants from Sri Lanka were invited to New Delhi to approve a proposed bilateral pact that sought to end Tamil separatism. Velupillai Prabhakaran, the founder leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and his team were put up in the five-star Hotel Ashok, no doubt because the Tigers were the most formidable force in the military arena, even if they were a


M.R. Narayan Swamy

M.R. Narayan Swamy

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


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

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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Douglas Devananda Slams Tamil Leaders for “Wasting” Meeting With Indian Vice President

Douglas Devananda Slams Tamil Leaders for “Wasting” Meeting With Indian Vice President

COLOMBO — Douglas Devananda, a former minister and leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party, has sharply criticized fellow Tamil leaders for what he described as a missed opportunity during a recent meeting with C. P. Radhakrishnan, saying they failed to effectively press the needs of the Tamil people. Mr. Douglas Devananda said the discussions appeared to focus more on internal disagreements among Tamil politicians than on substantive demands affecting their constituents. Speaking to rep


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Prabhakaran’s Nephew Urges Tamil Nadu Voters to Reject Seeman

Prabhakaran’s Nephew Urges Tamil Nadu Voters to Reject Seeman

Karthic Manoharan, a nephew of the slain LTTE founder, accuses the Naam Tamilar Katchi leader of fabricating his ties to the rebel chief and profiting from his name. JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — April 22, 2026 A nephew of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the slain founder of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, has issued a blistering public appeal to voters in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, urging them to reject Seeman, the Tamil nationalist politician, days before a round of polling in the state assembly el


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Vijay’s TVK Turns Tamil Nadu Race Into Three-Way Contest, Analyst Says

Vijay’s TVK Turns Tamil Nadu Race Into Three-Way Contest, Analyst Says

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — On the eve of a Tamil Nadu election that could reshape the southern Indian state’s political landscape, one of the most closely followed Tamil-language commentators has described the contest as a volatile three-way race with no clear frontrunner, as the entry of actor Vijay’s new party challenges the long-standing dominance of the state’s two Dravidian heavyweights. The assessment, first aired in a televised interview and later distilled into a social media post by Samas, ed


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Tamil Leader Says Indian Vice President Raised Concerns Over Political Fragmentation

Tamil Leader Says Indian Vice President Raised Concerns Over Political Fragmentation

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — India's vice president has privately voiced concern about the proliferation of Tamil political parties in Sri Lanka's Northern and Eastern Provinces, urging that the crowded field be brought to "some level of order," a senior Tamil leader said on Tuesday. C. V. K. Sivagnanam, the acting president of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) , said Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan made the remarks during a meeting with seven Tamil party representatives in Colombo on Sunday, on


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

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