Why Extremism Never Found a Home: The Bohra Approach to Faith and Scripture

Why Extremism Never Found a Home: The Bohra Approach to Faith and Scripture

"Tell me something," said a dear friend of mine—an expert in security studies—as we spoke about the Dawoodi Bohras over coffee one evening. "Have you ever heard of a Bohra being involved in a bomb blast? A shooting? Any terrorist group claiming to defend Islam through violence that had Bohra links?" He paused. "No, right?" "That's not a coincidence," he continued. "It's actually one of the most remarkable things about the Bohras—whether in Sri Lanka, South Asia or anywhere in the diaspora. Whil


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

MP = Minimum Payer: How Sri Lanka’s Lawmakers Made Tax Evasion Legal

MP = Minimum Payer: How Sri Lanka’s Lawmakers Made Tax Evasion Legal

A political grenade was lobbed into the tax debate when Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Jagath Withana casually dropped his salary slips on Facebook—only to reveal that Sri Lankan MPs are paying as little as 1% in income tax. While average citizens cough up tax rates three times higher, our honourable lawmakers seem to enjoy a VIP pass through the tax maze. The revelation raised not just eyebrows but also blood pressure across both the public and private sectors. Irritated and clearly not amused, the


Jaffna Monitor

Jaffna Monitor

Chettiar’s Head Bears All Sins

Chettiar’s Head Bears All Sins

From a Facebook post by Siva Ramasamy | Translated by JM Amid the ongoing controversy over whether Sara, also known as Pulastini, is alive or dead, MP Mujibur Rahman stated in Parliament that a SIM card was recently obtained in her name. Upon hearing this, it wouldn’t be surprising if Ishara Sewwandi—allegedly the mastermind behind the courtroom assassination of underworld figure Ganemulla Sanjeewa—also ends up with a SIM card in her name. Though I sometimes consider avoiding political commen


Jaffna Monitor

Jaffna Monitor

Fifty Years Later: Remembering the Night India’s Democracy Was Switched Off

Fifty Years Later: Remembering the Night India’s Democracy Was Switched Off

The month of June marked the 50th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency and media censorship by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi — the most serious blow to the world’s largest democracy. The Emergency rule from 1975 to 1977 was a direct assault on India’s democratic ethos, with media censorship at its core. Although India eventually emerged from that dark chapter with its democratic spirit intact, the episode remains a stark reminder that the freedoms of a free press must never be taken for gra


Sugeeswara Senadhira

Sugeeswara Senadhira

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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Emotions
Image created using DALL-E-3 https://labs.openai.com

Emotions

Translated from the original Tamil short story uṇarccikaḷ (உணர்ச்சிகள்) from the 1976 collection of short stories titled kōṭukaḷum kōlaṅkalum (கோடுகளும் கோலங்களும்) by Kuppilan Ai. Shanmugan. The original collection is available at noolaham.org. If you have any questions, please contact ez.iniyavan@gmail.com. She was sitting next to him. He peered at her intently with curiosity. Her proximity made him fidget. He breathed in the scent of the perfume that wafted from her and delighted in the gent


Eḻuttukkiṉiyavaṉ

Eḻuttukkiṉiyavaṉ

Bringing Stroke Care Home: A Quiet Revolution in Post-Conflict Jaffna

Bringing Stroke Care Home: A Quiet Revolution in Post-Conflict Jaffna

When I began my Family Medicine training in 2022 as a Registrar, I moved between clinics, hospital wards, community camps, and even patients’ homes. These journeys gave me a front-row seat to the deep inequalities within Sri Lanka’s healthcare system—nowhere more visible than in stroke care. In the government sector, stroke treatment is still woefully inadequate. Time is critical in managing stroke, yet delays in diagnosis and intervention are far too common. I’ve watched stroke survivors—many


Dr. Shane Halpe

Dr. Shane Halpe

“Forcing Religion on Children Creates Lasting Cognitive Dissonance”: Michael Jeh to Jaffna Monitor

“Forcing Religion on Children Creates Lasting Cognitive Dissonance”: Michael Jeh to Jaffna Monitor

Michael Pradeep Williams Jeh is a man of many journeys—born in Sri Lanka as a Sri Lankan Tamil, raised in Australia, and shaped by cricket, Oxford philosophy, and a fierce sense of justice. A former professional cricketer turned scholar, wildlife ranger, and educator, he brings a rare blend of grit and grace to all he does. Today, he is a powerful voice against domestic violence and racial injustice—and a proud father to rising cricket star Zanden Jeh. This is Jaffna Monitor’s exclusive conversa


Sports Desk

Sports Desk

The Return of Zahran!

The Return of Zahran!

Introduction The Sri Lankan public, police, intelligence community, and the criminal justice system deserve praise for their swift response in protecting Sri Lanka and its communities. When a former member of the Islamic State and supporter of the Islamic State Sri Lanka Branch, Fasrool Rahman Mohamed Zahran, alias “Podi Zahran” or “Little Zahran, filmed the Husaini Masjid Complex—Dawoodi Bohra Mosque—the intelligence surveillance teams deployed on the ground immediately identified and alerted


Rohan Gunaratna

Rohan Gunaratna

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