Fifty Years Later: Remembering the Night India’s Democracy Was Switched Off

Fifty Years Later: Remembering the Night India’s Democracy Was Switched Off

The month of June marked the 50th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency and media censorship by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi — the most serious blow to the world’s largest democracy. The Emergency rule from 1975 to 1977 was a direct assault on India’s democratic ethos, with media censorship at its core. Although India eventually emerged from that dark chapter with its democratic spirit intact, the episode remains a stark reminder that the freedoms of a free press must never be taken for gra


Sugeeswara Senadhira

Sugeeswara Senadhira

Emotions
Image created using DALL-E-3 https://labs.openai.com

Emotions

Translated from the original Tamil short story uṇarccikaḷ (உணர்ச்சிகள்) from the 1976 collection of short stories titled kōṭukaḷum kōlaṅkalum (கோடுகளும் கோலங்களும்) by Kuppilan Ai. Shanmugan. The original collection is available at noolaham.org. If you have any questions, please contact ez.iniyavan@gmail.com. She was sitting next to him. He peered at her intently with curiosity. Her proximity made him fidget. He breathed in the scent of the perfume that wafted from her and delighted in the gent


Eḻuttukkiṉiyavaṉ

Eḻuttukkiṉiyavaṉ

Bringing Stroke Care Home: A Quiet Revolution in Post-Conflict Jaffna

Bringing Stroke Care Home: A Quiet Revolution in Post-Conflict Jaffna

When I began my Family Medicine training in 2022 as a Registrar, I moved between clinics, hospital wards, community camps, and even patients’ homes. These journeys gave me a front-row seat to the deep inequalities within Sri Lanka’s healthcare system—nowhere more visible than in stroke care. In the government sector, stroke treatment is still woefully inadequate. Time is critical in managing stroke, yet delays in diagnosis and intervention are far too common. I’ve watched stroke survivors—many


Dr. Shane Halpe

Dr. Shane Halpe

“Forcing Religion on Children Creates Lasting Cognitive Dissonance”: Michael Jeh to Jaffna Monitor

“Forcing Religion on Children Creates Lasting Cognitive Dissonance”: Michael Jeh to Jaffna Monitor

Michael Pradeep Williams Jeh is a man of many journeys—born in Sri Lanka as a Sri Lankan Tamil, raised in Australia, and shaped by cricket, Oxford philosophy, and a fierce sense of justice. A former professional cricketer turned scholar, wildlife ranger, and educator, he brings a rare blend of grit and grace to all he does. Today, he is a powerful voice against domestic violence and racial injustice—and a proud father to rising cricket star Zanden Jeh. This is Jaffna Monitor’s exclusive conversa


Sports Desk

Sports Desk

The Return of Zahran!

The Return of Zahran!

Introduction The Sri Lankan public, police, intelligence community, and the criminal justice system deserve praise for their swift response in protecting Sri Lanka and its communities. When a former member of the Islamic State and supporter of the Islamic State Sri Lanka Branch, Fasrool Rahman Mohamed Zahran, alias “Podi Zahran” or “Little Zahran, filmed the Husaini Masjid Complex—Dawoodi Bohra Mosque—the intelligence surveillance teams deployed on the ground immediately identified and alerted


Rohan Gunaratna

Rohan Gunaratna

The Siege Within: How to Rob a Country and Call It Nation Building

The Siege Within: How to Rob a Country and Call It Nation Building

Leslie Lopez’s The Siege Within isn’t just another retelling of the 1MDB scandal. It’s an unflinching autopsy of Malaysia’s political carcass – a place where stolen billions are treated like family silver and leaders loot with the polite smile of a country club chairman. Lopez, a veteran journalist with the scars to prove it, turns his scalpel on the thick, toxic hide of Malaysian politics to reveal the anatomy of the world’s greatest financial heist. His subject? The rise and fall of Najib Raz


Abbi Kanthasamy

Abbi Kanthasamy

Zanden Jeh: A Sri Lankan Tamil Legacy Faces the Sri Lankan Team

Zanden Jeh: A Sri Lankan Tamil Legacy Faces the Sri Lankan Team

A 21-year-old left-arm spinner of Sri Lankan Tamil descent, Zanden Jeh recently earned his maiden Australia A call-up for the series against Sri Lanka A—facing the land of his heritage at the international level for the first time. Ironically, it’s the same land his father and grandparents narrowly escaped following the brutal anti-Tamil violence of July 1983. The surname “Jeh” is a shortened form of “Jehoratnam,” adopted by the family during their life in the diaspora. Zanden Jeh, who also wor


Sports Desk

Sports Desk

“Sri Lankans Are Hilarious, Creative, Sharp - And We’re Finally Getting to Show That to the World”: Sri Lankan Diaspora Comedian Sath Nadesan Speaks to Jaffna Monitor

“Sri Lankans Are Hilarious, Creative, Sharp - And We’re Finally Getting to Show That to the World”: Sri Lankan Diaspora Comedian Sath Nadesan Speaks to Jaffna Monitor

When you scroll through your social media feed and burst into laughter at the unapologetically absurd sketches of Yeah Mad, chances are you’re catching a punchline from Sath Nadesan. Or rather, Sathya Nadesan—as he was named at birth. Born to a Tamil father, Vasanth Nadesan of Kandy, and a Sinhalese mother, Araliya de Silva of Mount Lavinia, Sath grew up straddling identities in Sri Lanka before making his way to Australia. Today, he’s a Sydney-based stand-up comedian, a full-time cast member o


Our Special Correspondent

Our Special Correspondent