Aruliniyan Mahalingam - Jaffna Monitor (Page 2)

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

Surgery Without Admission: Jaffna Launches Sri Lanka’s First Public Day-Surgery Model

The Jaffna Day Surgery Centre (JDSC) – Pilot Phase was formally inaugurated on Friday at the Clinical Training and Research Block of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, marking what clinicians describe as a structural recalibration of surgical care in Northern Sri Lanka. Developed through collaboration between the University of Jaffna, Teaching Hospital Jaffna (THJ), the Ministry of Health, and international partners, including the International Medical Health Organization (IMHO–USA)

February 2026 JM Exclusive

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Feb 7, 2026 — 10 min read

“Balasingham Saw the End — Prabhakaran Believed He Was Invincible”: G. L. Peiris on Sri Lanka’s Failed Peace Process

G. L. Peiris was at the epicentre of Sri Lanka’s peace negotiations with the LTTE and occupied senior office under three successive governments during one of the most consequential phases of the conflict. In his new book, The Sri Lanka Peace Process: An Inside View, he revisits that period with the benefit of temporal distance and retrospective clarity. In this interview with Jaffna Monitor, Peiris confronts the charge that his narrative assumes the posture of a detached observer and explains w

Exclusive Interview January 2026

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Jan 30, 2026 — 26 min read

“India Has Not Softened Its Position on the 13th Amendment”: Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha Tells Jaffna Monitor

On India’s 77th Republic Day, Jaffna Monitor sat down with Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha, for a wide-ranging conversation on constitutional devolution, cyclone relief, fishermen’s disputes, stalled port projects, and other key issues. Jha is no stranger to Sri Lanka's complex political terrain. He first served in Colombo from 2007 to 2010 as Counsellor at the High Commission, handling commercial and economic affairs during the critical post-conflict transition. It was durin

Exclusive Interview January 2026

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Jan 26, 2026 — 17 min read

“Colombo Was a Global Port—and a City of Inequality”: Ajay Kamalakaran

Few foreign writers understand Sri Lanka as deeply as Ajay Kamalakaran does. Since falling for the island in 2003, this Mumbai-born, Palakkad-rooted journalist—raised in New York and seasoned in Russia—has returned almost every year, travelling from Colombo to Jaffna, learning Sinhala, and excavating the forgotten histories that lie beneath Sri Lanka’s surface. Over time, his writing has brought back into view stories that quietly slipped out of public memory: the old Boat Mail that once carrie

Exclusive Interview January 2026

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Jan 21, 2026 — 18 min read