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.

One Country, Different Rules: A Family Card Required Only in Sri Lanka’s North.

One Country, Different Rules: A Family Card Required Only in Sri Lanka’s North.

MULLAITIVU, Sri Lanka — For many families across Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, a document known as the 'Family Card' plays a central role in their dealings with the state. Residents say it is routinely required to collect Samurdhi welfare benefits, apply for housing under government schemes, and obtain certificates from village officers. In practice, they say, the card must be carried much like a national identity card. Yet the document is largely unknown outside the former war zone. According
JM Exclusive June 2026
Our Reporter

Our Reporter
Sri Lankan Monk Accused of Seeking Paid Sex in Boston Police Sting

Sri Lankan Monk Accused of Seeking Paid Sex in Boston Police Sting

BOSTON — The Buddha taught that tanhā, the Pali word for craving, is the origin of suffering. Police in Massachusetts allege that one Sri Lankan monk may have taken an unusually hands-on approach to studying the doctrine. Mahayaye Vineetha Thero, 32, a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk who served as the Buddhist chaplain at Tufts University in Massachusetts, was among seven men arrested on Saturday during an undercover Boston police operation targeting alleged purchasers of commercial sex, according to
JM Exclusive June 2026
Our Reporter

Our Reporter
Trincomalee Site Long Linked to Wartime-Era Abductions Is Sealed

Trincomalee Site Long Linked to Wartime-Era Abductions Is Sealed

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department has sealed an underground detention facility inside the Trincomalee Navy Camp, a site long known as the “Gun Site,” in a major development in one of the country’s most disturbing unresolved disappearance investigations. The Trincomalee magistrate is expected to visit the site for an official inspection, a step investigators believe could help preserve evidence and clarify how the facility was used during the final years of Sri L
June 2026 Monitor Memo
Our Reporter

Our Reporter
A Day After His Uncle Sought Shelter From Arrest, Mahinda Rajapaksa's Son Is Detained

A Day After His Uncle Sought Shelter From Arrest, Mahinda Rajapaksa's Son Is Detained

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A day after former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa asked a court to block his possible arrest under Sri Lanka’s anti-terrorism law, another member of the country’s once-dominant political dynasty was taken into custody. Yoshitha Rajapaksa, the second son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was arrested on Wednesday by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption after appearing before investigators in connection with a probe into his recruitment and tr
June 2026 Monitor Memo
Our Reporter

Our Reporter
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Who Wielded the PTA for a Decade, Now Seeks the Court's Protection From It

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Who Wielded the PTA for a Decade, Now Seeks the Court's Protection From It

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose years as defence secretary coincided with the extensive use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, has petitioned the Court of Appeal to prevent his arrest under the same law, which became a central pillar of the security apparatus he helped shape. The petition, filed through Attorney-at-Law Sanath Wijewardena, seeks an order barring investigators from arresting Mr. Rajapaksa under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, or PTA, in connectio
June 2026 Monitor Memo
Our Reporter

Our Reporter
Defenders of Bharatanatyam Record Say Costs Were Disclosed and Agreed in Writing

Defenders of Bharatanatyam Record Say Costs Were Disclosed and Agreed in Writing

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The organizers of a Bharatanatyam performance that set a Guinness World Record in the Sri Lankan capital recently have found defenders among people familiar with how the event was arranged, who say that the costs borne by participants and the process for obtaining official certificates were spelled out well in advance and accepted in writing. The pushback follows criticism from social activist Rajkumar Rajeevkanth, as well as several parents and activists, who argued in a s
JM Exclusive June 2026
Our Reporter

Our Reporter
CID Names Pillayan a Suspect in 2008 Killings as Easter Case Remains Uncharged

CID Names Pillayan a Suspect in 2008 Killings as Easter Case Remains Uncharged

BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka — The Criminal Investigation Department told a magistrate’s court in eastern Sri Lanka on Monday that Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, the former Eastern Province chief minister widely known as Pillayan, is one of three suspects in a string of shootings that left five people dead in Batticaloa District in 2008. According to details presented before Batticaloa Magistrate Annathurai Darshini, investigators are examining a series of fatal shootings carried out in 2008, several
JM Exclusive June 2026
Our Reporter

Our Reporter
Tamils Rally in Jaffna for Return of Land Held by Military for 36 Years

Tamils Rally in Jaffna for Return of Land Held by Military for 36 Years

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka – Hundreds of anguished Tamils staged a noisy protest outside the Jaffna District Secretariat, demanding the immediate return of their precious land, which the military seized 36 years ago to battle the Tamil Tigers. An estimated 500 men and women picketed the office complex for around three hours from 8.30 am, asking the authorities to press the military to surrender thousands of acres of land in Valikamam North area in Jaffna. A separate vigil was organised at the Palaly Ju
June 2026 Monitor Memo
Our Reporter

Our Reporter