Our Reporter

Our Reporter

‘Our Reporter’ is a collective byline representing a team of Jaffna- and Sri Lanka-based journalists and editorial staff who contribute to Jaffna Monitor.


U.N. Says Sri Lanka Risks Losing Its Chance to Break With a Past of Impunity
U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk visits the Chemmani mass grave site in Jaffna in June 2025.

U.N. Says Sri Lanka Risks Losing Its Chance to Break With a Past of Impunity

GENEVA — Nearly two years after Sri Lankans elected a government that promised to dismantle the machinery of impunity, the United Nations human rights office said Thursday that the opening for change was closing. In a report to the Human Rights Council, the office credited the government with moving against corruption and reopening several political killings and disappearances. But it found that Colombo has gone on detaining people under the counterterrorism law it pledged to abolish, has made


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

London Businessman Gives Rs. 5 Million to Expand Fertility Care at Kilinochchi Hospital

London Businessman Gives Rs. 5 Million to Expand Fertility Care at Kilinochchi Hospital

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka — A London-based businessman has donated 5 million Sri Lankan rupees to help expand fertility treatment services at Kilinochchi General Hospital, providing support for a specialized area of care at one of the Northern Province’s main public hospitals. The donation, from Thangarajah Kalamohan, was formally presented at the hospital on Thursday as part of a project undertaken by Kili Makkal, Tamil for “Kilinochchi People”, an organization founded by members of the Kilinochc


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Sri Lanka and India Move Closer to Agreement on Kankesanthurai Port

Sri Lanka and India Move Closer to Agreement on Kankesanthurai Port

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka and India moved closer on Thursday to finalizing an agreement to redevelop the Kankesanthurai port in the island’s north, with officials from the two countries saying they had made progress on outstanding issues that have delayed the Indian-funded project. The talks were held at the Ministry of Energy, Ports and Civil Aviation in Colombo and led by the minister, Anura Karunathilaka. India was represented by a delegation that included Maitrey Kulkarni, the deputy h


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

‘TELO Killed My Father’: Siddharthan Confronts the Bloody Past Behind Today’s Tamil Alliances

‘TELO Killed My Father’: Siddharthan Confronts the Bloody Past Behind Today’s Tamil Alliances

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Dharmalingam Siddharthan, the leader of the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), has publicly accused TELO, a fellow Tamil political group, of killing his father 41 years ago, saying there was no uncertainty over who was responsible. “There is no confusion whatsoever,” Mr. Siddharthan said Wednesday at a memorial for his father, V. Dharmalingam, a former member of Parliament. “Those responsible for his death were members of the TELO. Everyone knows that.”


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

M.K. Sivajilingam Moved to Intensive Care in Colombo

M.K. Sivajilingam Moved to Intensive Care in Colombo

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — M.K. Sivajilingam, a veteran Tamil nationalist politician and former member of Parliament who underwent a kidney transplant in June, has been moved to the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Colombo, according to people familiar with his condition. Mr. Sivajilingam, who currently serves as chairman of the Valvettithurai Urban Council, had remained in Colombo for continuing treatment after undergoing the transplant. He was admitted to the hospital again last week and


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

A Small School in Mallakam Produces Sri Lanka’s Tamil-Medium Topper

A Small School in Mallakam Produces Sri Lanka’s Tamil-Medium Topper

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — A 10-year-old student from a small primary school in Mallakam has secured the highest Tamil-medium score in Sri Lanka’s 2026 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination. Surendar Sabin, a student at Dr. Thangamma Appakutty Junior School, scored 188 marks, the highest result among students who sat the examination in the Tamil medium. The result has brought national attention to a modest school in Mallakam, a town about 10 miles north of Jaffna. Dr. Thangamma Appakutty Junior School, whi


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Our Reporter

Bimal Does It Again: New Development Remark Revives KKS, Palaly Questions

Bimal Does It Again: New Development Remark Revives KKS, Palaly Questions

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Transport Minister Bimal Rathnayake said Wednesday that Sri Lanka would not pursue development projects that failed to benefit ordinary people, remarks likely to renew scrutiny of the government’s approach to two Indian-backed gateways in the Tamil-majority north: Jaffna International Airport at Palaly and Kankesanthurai Port. “Economic development projects must be connected to the everyday lives of the people,” Mr. Rathnayake said. “We will not pursue development projects


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

U.S. Reveals Wider Role Behind Colombo’s 463-Kilogram Meth Seizure

U.S. Reveals Wider Role Behind Colombo’s 463-Kilogram Meth Seizure

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The seizure of 463 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine at the Port of Colombo this week grew out of a weeks-long international intelligence operation involving American, Pakistani and Sri Lankan authorities, according to new details released Wednesday by the United States Embassy, offering a fuller account of an interdiction initially described largely through the actions of Sri Lankan investigators. The Embassy said the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Delhi Cou


Our Reporter

Our Reporter