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.


Court Orders Chemmani Mass Grave Excavation to Resume as E.U. Delays Visit

Court Orders Chemmani Mass Grave Excavation to Resume as E.U. Delays Visit

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Excavation at the Chemmani mass grave site in northern Sri Lanka will resume on April 27 after the Ministry of Justice released funding for an estimated eight-week dig, the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court confirmed on Tuesday, reopening an investigation that has become a test of the government’s willingness to confront civil-war-era atrocities. Magistrate S. Lenin Kumar, presiding over proceedings on Tuesday, said the ministry had approved the budget submitted by the Judicial Medi


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Sri Lankan Muslim Leader Backs DMK Alliance in Tamil Nadu, Drawing Questions at Home

Sri Lankan Muslim Leader Backs DMK Alliance in Tamil Nadu, Drawing Questions at Home

COLOMBO — Rauff Hakeem, leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, has publicly expressed confidence that the alliance led by M. K. Stalin and his Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will secure a decisive victory in Tamil Nadu’s state assembly elections, extending advance congratulations to candidates contesting under the coalition. In letters sent to leaders of parties aligned with the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance — including the Indian Union Muslim League — Mr. Hakeem cited opinion polls s


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

India’s Vice President Calls for Unity as Tamil Leaders’ Divisions Spill Into the Open

India’s Vice President Calls for Unity as Tamil Leaders’ Divisions Spill Into the Open

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A meeting between India’s Vice President, C. P. Radhakrishnan, and Sri Lankan Tamil political leaders in Colombo on Sunday highlighted internal tensions within ITAK, with participants describing moments that strained political decorum. At the outset of the meeting, the seven representatives of Tamil political parties introduced themselves. During the introductions, Sivagnanam Sritharan, who is engaged in an ongoing leadership dispute with M. A. Sumanthiran, said he had been


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

India’s Vice President Urges Sri Lanka to Hold Provincial Elections Without Delay

India’s Vice President Urges Sri Lanka to Hold Provincial Elections Without Delay

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — India’s Vice President, C. P. Radhakrishnan, said he had personally urged Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to hold long-delayed provincial council elections without further postponement, during a meeting between the two leaders on Sunday. Mr. Radhakrishnan disclosed this during a subsequent discussion with representatives of Tamil political parties at the Taj Samudra in Colombo on Monday afternoon, a source who participated in the meeting told Jaffna Monitor.


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Colombo Eyes Control of Jaffna’s Cultural Centre

Colombo Eyes Control of Jaffna’s Cultural Centre

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s Cabinet is expected to consider a proposal to place the Jaffna Thiruvalluvar Cultural Centre under a new seven-member governing body dominated by central government representatives, according to officials familiar with the plan. If approved, the move would formalize national oversight of a complex built with Indian grant funding on land owned by the Jaffna Municipal Council — and presented, repeatedly, as a gift to the people of the North. The proposal has not b


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Indian Vice President to Visit Sri Lanka as Bilateral Ties Deepen

Indian Vice President to Visit Sri Lanka as Bilateral Ties Deepen

COLOMBO — India’s Vice President, C. P. Radhakrishnan, will undertake a two-day official visit to Sri Lanka from April 19 to 20, in a trip expected to highlight expanding cooperation between the two countries across energy, infrastructure and regional development. The visit, made at the invitation of the Sri Lankan government, is being coordinated through the Presidential Secretariat and the High Commission of India in Colombo, officials said. Mr. Radhakrishnan is scheduled to hold formal talk


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

After Assurances, Thaiyiddy Landowners Agree to Survey in Temple Dispute

After Assurances, Thaiyiddy Landowners Agree to Survey in Temple Dispute

THAIYIDDY, Sri Lanka — For more than three decades, Sarujan Sukumari and many others were unable to set foot on their family lands. Seized by the military and designated a High Security Zone, the area remained inaccessible even after the war ended in 2009. Years later, as the country settled into an uneasy peace, a Buddhist temple rose on what had once been their ancestral property. Recently, she and other landowners sat in a government conference room in Jaffna as a cabinet minister and senio


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Our Reporter

After Delays, Sri Lankan Government Releases Funds for Chemmani Mass Grave Investigation

After Delays, Sri Lankan Government Releases Funds for Chemmani Mass Grave Investigation

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — The Sri Lankan government has allocated 21 million rupees for the third phase of excavations at the Chemmani mass grave site, officials said. The release of funds follows repeated postponements caused by a lack of financial approval and adverse weather conditions that left the site waterlogged. The case is scheduled to be taken up again at the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court on April 21, when authorities are expected to indicate when excavation work will resume. Chemmani, a villa


Our Reporter

Our Reporter