The first mortar shell screamed just after dawn on 10 June 1990. It tore through the coral-stone ramparts of Jaffna Fort, the blast rattling every window in the city. Inside the pentagonal walls, 130 men—soldiers of the Sinha Regiment and young police recruits—looked at one another and knew: this was no skirmish. This was a siege. For 107 days, the old Portuguese-Dutch-British fortress became the eye of a storm that swallowed the peninsula. Outside, LTTE snipers hid in the Public Library, mort

In a sobering reflection of how old prejudices continue to shadow modern Sri Lanka, Robert Rajeswaran—better known behind the turntables as DJ Rob R—says he is shutting down his newly launched Indian restaurant, Tiffins, in the southern coastal town of Ahangama following weeks of intimidation, death threats, and physical assault from locals. The decision has left the 30-something artist questioning whether a Tamil entrepreneur can feel truly safe in a Sinhala-majority area, even 16 years after