April 2026

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s minister of transport, highways, and urban development, Bimal Rathnayake, declared on Wednesday that his government had no place for “racism” and would not indulge what he called demands from southern voters for an anti-Tamil administration — even as journalists invited to cover one of his own meetings in the northern capital were ordered out of the room. Critics said the two episodes — unfolding just hours apart during the same ministerial visit to the Northern

Karthic Manoharan, a nephew of the slain LTTE founder, accuses the Naam Tamilar Katchi leader of fabricating his ties to the rebel chief and profiting from his name. JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — April 22, 2026 A nephew of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the slain founder of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, has issued a blistering public appeal to voters in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, urging them to reject Seeman, the Tamil nationalist politician, days before a round of polling in the state assembly el

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — A video by actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan sharply criticizing India’s central government and calling for the re-election of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu was shared on social media by M. A. Sumanthiran, prompting debate over whether the move constitutes an official endorsement or simply a personal post. In the video, Mr. Kamal Haasan frames the Tamil Nadu election as a choice between decisions being made in Chennai or in New Delhi — a critique of th

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Excavation at the Chemmani mass grave site in northern Sri Lanka will resume on April 27 after the Ministry of Justice released funding for an estimated eight-week dig, the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court confirmed on Tuesday, reopening an investigation that has become a test of the government’s willingness to confront civil-war-era atrocities. Magistrate S. Lenin Kumar, presiding over proceedings on Tuesday, said the ministry had approved the budget submitted by the Judicial Medi