Jeevan Thiyagaraja - Jaffna Monitor

A Strategic Framework for Sea Transport and Tourism in the Northern Provin

By: Jeevan Thiagarajah The High Price of Neglect For the residents of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, the Palk Strait and the Jaffna Lagoon are not merely bodies of water; they are lifelines. The islands of Delft, Kayts, Karainagar, Pungudutivu, and Nainathivu are tethered to the Jaffna mainland by a fragile network of ferries. Every day, students, patients, and traders entrust their lives to these vessels. Yet, despite the existence of comprehensive maritime laws, the reality of compliance in

March 2026 OP-ED

Jeevan Thiyagaraja

Mar 11, 2026 — 5 min read

The Cultural Heritage and History of Kataragama

Historical Context and Religious Co-existence According to Professor Ellawala in Social History of Early Ceylon, the conditions of pre-Buddhist Ceylon mirrored those of contemporary India. He suggests that due to this proximity, the people of Ceylon likely adopted forms of worship such as Saivism, which existed alongside Brahmanism [1]. With the subsequent spread of Buddhism to the villages, Buddhist viharas were often established near earlier Hindu shrines, symbolizing a long-standing traditio

February 2026 Guest Column

Jeevan Thiyagaraja

Feb 20, 2026 — 7 min read

The toll of the missing: narratives of impunity, homicides and grief

People becoming unaccounted for as a direct result of, or in connection with armed conflicts and other situations of violence is unfortunately, a common phenomenon throughout the world. The continuous emotional struggle endured by families of missing persons is an incomparable suffering. Absence of credible answers on the fate and whereabouts of their missing relatives drives the families to search relentlessly for meaning and for: knowledge of the exact circumstances of the disappearance; Fami

June 2025 Guest Column

Jeevan Thiyagaraja

Jun 15, 2025 — 5 min read