Write your memoirs now; tomorrow may be too late.

Write your memoirs now; tomorrow may be too late.

By M.R. Narayan Swamy “Sir, why don’t you talk to me at length about your early political history?” I made the plea to Appapillai Amirthalingam, leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), while he was perched on a sofa at the Tamil Nadu government guest house in Chennai. The year was 1988 when Indian troops were battling the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka’s north and east. I was on my way to Colombo, a trip I made frequently then. With no direct Delhi-to-Colombo flights, I used to take s
Guest Column May 2026
M.R. Narayan Swamy

M.R. Narayan Swamy
The Constitution They Promised to Defend

The Constitution They Promised to Defend

By Sidhartha Thamby There is a particular cruelty in watching a party that once raged against the abuse of power quietly settle into practicing it. Sri Lanka has seen this before. What is new is that we are watching it happen to Provincial Council elections — a decade overdue — and to the constitutional architecture of devolution itself, piece by piece, coordinator by coordinator, committee by committee. We are watching the slow installation of party-aligned coordinators, the bypassing of elec
Guest Column May 2026
Sidhartha Thamby

Sidhartha Thamby
Military Begins Assessments of Occupied Northern Lands, Raising Cautious Hopes

Military Begins Assessments of Occupied Northern Lands, Raising Cautious Hopes

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Senior Sri Lankan defense officials traveled to the country's Northern Province on Tuesday to inspect lands that have remained under military control for years, in what security sources described as early steps in a process that could eventually return some of those parcels to their civilian owners — though the scope, timeline, and ultimate outcome of any releases remain unclear. The Deputy Minister of Defense and the Commander of the Army conducted field inspections across
May 2026 Monitor Memo
Our Reporter

Our Reporter
Is the Next Pandemic Already Being Mismanaged?

Is the Next Pandemic Already Being Mismanaged?

In early April, a passenger aboard the Dutch expedition cruise ship MV Hondius fell ill with fever and respiratory distress while crossing the South Atlantic. He died on April 11. No tests were conducted. His body was removed from the vessel, and the ship continued its voyage. By early May, health authorities across three continents were scrambling to trace the movements of 147 people from 23 countries who had shared the same cabins and recirculated air. On 2 May 2026, WHO received a formal not
JM Exclusive May 2026
Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Aruliniyan Mahalingam
No Justification for holding the Strait of Hormuz Hostage by the Iranian regime

No Justification for holding the Strait of Hormuz Hostage by the Iranian regime

By Reuven Azar, Israel’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka and India. The following is submitted in response to the opinion article by Kazem Gharibabadi, Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs of Iran, titled "The Strait of Hormuz: New Arrangements Under International Law," published in Jaffna Monitor. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most vital maritime corridors. Roughly one-fifth of global oil trade passes through this narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to th
Letter to the Editor May 2026
Reuven Azar

Reuven Azar
Drug Use Confirmed in Deadly Kilinochchi Motorcycle Crash That Killed Mother

Drug Use Confirmed in Deadly Kilinochchi Motorcycle Crash That Killed Mother

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka — A youth hospitalized after a deadly motorcycle crash that killed a 32-year-old mother in Sri Lanka's Northern Province has admitted to police that he was riding the motorcycle involved in the collision, after initially claiming he had only been traveling as a pillion passenger, police sources told Jaffna Monitor on Tuesday. The crash, which occurred Monday on the Uruthirapuram-Karadipokku road in Kilinochchi district, killed Kagitha Shanmugam, who was on her way to pick
May 2026 Monitor Memo
Our Reporter

Our Reporter
Selective Justice and Sri Lanka’s Unfinished Republic — A Letter to the President
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake with Ampitiye Sumana Thero, who is facing an ongoing ICCPR case over alleged anti-Tamil remarks.

Selective Justice and Sri Lanka’s Unfinished Republic — A Letter to the President

Mr President, As Sri Lanka marked fifty-four years as a Republic a few days ago, it should have been a moment for honest reflection: on sovereignty, on democracy, and on whether this country has truly upheld its promise of equal dignity to all who call it home. It is in that spirit, and with deep disappointment, that I write this. I am an Attorney-at-Law. I am also one of the complainants in the ICCPR case against Ampitiye Sumanarathana Thera, now before the High Court of Batticaloa. And I am
May 2026
Dhanuka Rananjaka Kahandagamage

Dhanuka Rananjaka Kahandagamage
Sri Lanka Should Not Import the Middle East’s Hatreds

Sri Lanka Should Not Import the Middle East’s Hatreds

By: Soraya M Deen Sri Lanka is witnessing the rise of a dangerous ideology disguised as virtue: antizionism that increasingly spills into outright antisemitism. As a Muslim, I find it exhausting and deeply alarming. I have watched its ugly tentacles spread into my homeland thousands of miles away from the Middle East. First, there was hostility toward Israeli tourists visiting Sri Lanka. Then came campaigns against a Chabad house, as if Jewish worship itself was somehow offensive. Now Sri Lan
May 2026 Opinion
Soraya M. Deen

Soraya M. Deen