Aruliniyan Mahalingam - Jaffna Monitor

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

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Mar 20, 2026 — 11 min read

“The Diaspora Must Move Beyond Remittances to Structured Investment,” Says Ana Pararajasingham

Ana Pararajasingham, the author of Uprooted — a work that documents the journeys and successes of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora across the world — is an independent researcher and writer based in Australia. His work has long engaged with questions of justice, displacement and identity. His earlier publication, Sri Lanka: A Victor’s Peace (2019), brought together a series of essays originally published in international journals and newspapers, offering a critical perspective on post-war Sri Lank

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Mar 20, 2026 — 16 min read

“Tamil Elites May Call the NPP ‘Old Sinhala Nationalism in Disguise,’ but Ordinary Tamils See a Progressive Force” — Jayadeva Uyangoda

Jayadeva Uyangoda, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Colombo, is one of Sri Lanka’s leading scholars on ethnic conflict, peace processes, nationalism, democracy, and leftist politics. Before becoming one of the country’s most influential political scientists, Uyangoda had been briefly involved with the early Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) movement founded by Rohana Wijeweera and was imprisoned after the 1971 uprising. A former activist with a Ph.D. from Colombo, he h

Exclusive Interview March 2026

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Mar 8, 2026 — 24 min read

Invited, Then Turned Away: The 11-Hour Wait That Preceded IRIS Dena’s Sinking.

COLOMBO, March 6 — In the final days before it was destroyed by a United States submarine in the Indian Ocean, the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was sailing toward Sri Lanka in response to what sources say was a diplomatic invitation extended weeks earlier by Sri Lankan authorities during a multinational naval gathering in India. The IRIS Dena, a domestically built Moudge-class frigate commissioned into the Iranian Navy in 2021, was part of the country’s Southern Fleet. The vessel was torpedoed so

Exclusive March 2026

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Mar 6, 2026 — 4 min read

400 Kilometres for a Fingerprint

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — At the Jaffna bus stand, the overnight service to Colombo fills steadily. Some passengers carry small backpacks; others clutch thick plastic folders secured with elastic bands. Many have made this journey before. They are not travelling for work or leisure. They are heading south to fulfill a visa requirement — specifically, to provide biometric fingerprints at a visa application centre. The appointment itself may take only a few minutes. The journey will consume most of a n

Article February 2026

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Feb 21, 2026 — 4 min read

‘Because I Loved It’: The Jaffna Tamil Hailed as ‘Father of Italian Cricket’ Speaks to Jaffna Monitor

Italy’s recent victory over Nepal — a side widely regarded as far superior in the associate cricketing world — has raised more than a few eyebrows. For many, it was an upset. For those who know the deeper story of Italian cricket, it was something else entirely: a reminder of a forgotten past making itself heard once again. Cricket was once a visible presence in Italy. One of the country’s oldest sporting institutions, the Genoa Cricket and Football Club, founded in 1893, still carries the name

Exclusive Interview February 2026

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Feb 14, 2026 — 10 min read

Peiris Warns Proposed Terror Law Threatens Press, Minorities and Trade

Sri Lanka’s proposed counterterrorism legislation would significantly erode democratic safeguards, expose journalists and civic activists to prosecution under broadly framed provisions, and potentially endanger the country’s preferential trade access to European markets, former Foreign Minister and constitutional law scholar Prof. G. L. Peiris said this week in his most detailed critique of the draft to date. The Protection of the State from Terrorism Act (PSTA), published on the Ministry of Ju

February 2026

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Feb 13, 2026 — 8 min read

“Had Prabhakaran Accepted the International Rescue Plan, Thousands — Including Himself — Would Have Survived” — Erik Solheim

For a generation of Sri Lankans who came of age during the ceasefire years, the name Erik Solheim was never far from the headlines. As Norway’s chief peace facilitator in Sri Lanka’s conflict, he was a constant presence. For me personally, his name was woven into my teenage years. He was on the news almost daily — praised by some, vilified by others — yet always central to the unfolding drama of a country at war and searching, however briefly, for peace. Today, Solheim is known globally as an

Exclusive Interview February 2026

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Feb 8, 2026 — 29 min read