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.


French Embassy Brings Global Music Festival to Colombo and Kandy

French Embassy Brings Global Music Festival to Colombo and Kandy

COLOMBO — The Embassy of France in Sri Lanka and the Maldives will stage two free public concerts this month, in Colombo on June 21 and in Kandy on June 23, as part of the Fête de la Musique, the annual French music festival now celebrated in more than 120 countries. The French singer and writer Kelly ou moi, whose work draws on the blues, will headline both evenings, the embassy said. She will be joined by the disc jockey Chandana and the Sri Lankan band DotDotay. The Colombo concert will beg


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Physicians Question Why Sallay Was Fed Through Veins Instead of Stomach

Physicians Question Why Sallay Was Fed Through Veins Instead of Stomach

COLOMBO — Several physicians have raised concerns about the nutritional management of Suresh Sallay, Sri Lanka’s former intelligence chief, who has been on a hunger strike since June 7 and was later admitted to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka. The physicians question the reported use of intravenous nutrition rather than feeding through his digestive tract, saying the approach may have exposed him to complications that might otherwise have been avoided. The physicians, who spoke on condition


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Archchuna Removes Slipper-Garlanded Cutout After Heated Clash With Gajendrakumar

Archchuna Removes Slipper-Garlanded Cutout After Heated Clash With Gajendrakumar

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — A day after a bitter confrontation with fellow Tamil lawmaker Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam at a local government coordination meeting, Member of Parliament Archchuna Ramanathan on Friday removed a protest cutout bearing his image that had been adorned with a garland of slippers. The incident followed a tense exchange on Thursday at a coordinating committee meeting in Tellippalai, where Mr. Ramanathan and Mr. Ponnambalam, leader of the Tamil National People’s Front, engaged in a


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

U.S. and Sri Lanka Hold Disaster Response Drill in Galle, Drawing Lessons From Cyclone Ditwah

U.S. and Sri Lanka Hold Disaster Response Drill in Galle, Drawing Lessons From Cyclone Ditwah

GALLE, Sri Lanka — Disaster-management officials from the United States and Sri Lanka concluded a three-day workshop in the southern coastal city of Galle on Thursday with a simulated emergency exercise aimed at strengthening coordination during major natural disasters and humanitarian crises. The workshop, held from June 16 to 18, was organized by the U.S. Embassy in Colombo in partnership with the U.S. military’s Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, the Mo


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Court Leaves Door Open to Arrest of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Easter Bombings Inquiry

Court Leaves Door Open to Arrest of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Easter Bombings Inquiry

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal on Thursday postponed until June 24 a petition by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa seeking to prevent his arrest under the country’s anti-terrorism law in connection with the investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. The court declined to issue interim relief restraining investigators from taking action against Mr. Rajapaksa while the case is pending, leaving open the possibility of his arrest before the next hearing. Mr. Rajapaksa


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

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


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


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


Our Reporter

Our Reporter