April 2026

Blinded in War, a Former LTTE Fighter Now Guides Others in Sri Lanka’s North

Blinded in War, a Former LTTE Fighter Now Guides Others in Sri Lanka’s North

By M.R. Narayan Swamy At 37, Vijayalathan leads an active life that appears, in many ways, no different from that of others in Sri Lanka. But he is completely blind, the result of a severe injury he sustained as a Tamil Tiger guerrilla in the final stages of the war. Yet he stands as a rare example of someone who has overcome profound adversity and now helps lead a nongovernmental organization working to rebuild the lives of those affected by the separatist conflict that ended in 2009. “I don
April 2026 Exclusive
M.R. Narayan Swamy

M.R. Narayan Swamy
The Strait of Malacca: The First Trade War That Shaped Asia

The Strait of Malacca: The First Trade War That Shaped Asia

By Abbi Kanthasamy Stand on the bridge of a ship crossing the Strait of Malacca at night, and you will see the modern world moving past you. Oil tankers carrying Middle Eastern crude glide east toward China, Japan, and Korea. Container ships loaded with Asian exports head west toward the Indian Ocean and eventually the Suez Canal on their way to Europe. Somewhere between Singapore and Sumatra, nearly a third of the world’s maritime trade squeezes through a channel barely wide enough in places
April 2026 Guest Column
Abbi Kanthasamy

Abbi Kanthasamy
Sri Lankan Muslim Leader Backs DMK Alliance in Tamil Nadu, Drawing Questions at Home

Sri Lankan Muslim Leader Backs DMK Alliance in Tamil Nadu, Drawing Questions at Home

COLOMBO — Rauff Hakeem, leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, has publicly expressed confidence that the alliance led by M. K. Stalin and his Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will secure a decisive victory in Tamil Nadu’s state assembly elections, extending advance congratulations to candidates contesting under the coalition. In letters sent to leaders of parties aligned with the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance — including the Indian Union Muslim League — Mr. Hakeem cited opinion polls s
April 2026 JM Exclusive
Our Reporter

Our Reporter
Mother of Singapore’s President, With Roots in Jaffna, Dies at 99

Mother of Singapore’s President, With Roots in Jaffna, Dies at 99

Sarvambikai Shanmugaratnam, daughter of a Jaffna physician and wife of Singapore’s “father of pathology,” is remembered as a quiet iconoclast who chose her own path. JAFFNA — Sarvambikai Shanmugaratnam — known to her family as Ambikai, and to the Singaporean public as the mother of President Tharman Shanmugaratnam — died on Sunday afternoon at her home in Singapore. She was 99. Though she was born in Kuala Lumpur and never lived in Sri Lanka, her roots were firmly in Jaffna, and, according to
April 2026 Monitor Memo
Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Aruliniyan Mahalingam
India Expands Footprint in Sri Lanka as Radhakrishnan Announces OCI Plan for Tamils

India Expands Footprint in Sri Lanka as Radhakrishnan Announces OCI Plan for Tamils

By M.R. Narayan Swamy India has taken a strategic decision to help tens of thousands of Sri Lankans obtain Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status during a packed two-day visit to the island nation by Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan, a move that Tamil leaders across the political spectrum described as positive and emotionally fulfilling. Although the visit saw India and Sri Lanka deepen their growing bilateral ties, Tamil leaders from the country’s North and East, along with representatives
April 2026 OP-ED
M.R. Narayan Swamy

M.R. Narayan Swamy
A Refugee’s Protest Exposes the Long Shadow of Sri Lanka’s Conflict in India

A Refugee’s Protest Exposes the Long Shadow of Sri Lanka’s Conflict in India

By M.R. Narayan Swamy A Sri Lankan Tamil man in penury staged an emotive protest in Tamil Nadu demanding that he be sent back to his country, at a time when Indian Vice President CP Radhakrishnan was discussing in Colombo the fate of thousands of Tamil refugees from the island nation in India. Policemen took away the weeping man shortly after he told the media and curious bystanders that he decided to squat outside the office of the Collector in Mayiladuthurai district on Sunday because he had
April 2026 JM Exclusive
M.R. Narayan Swamy

M.R. Narayan Swamy
A Cultural Centre Without a Living Culture: Jaffna’s Silent Promise

A Cultural Centre Without a Living Culture: Jaffna’s Silent Promise

By Sidhartha Thamby This is a USD 12 million gift from the Government of India. But let us be clear about what a gift of this scale actually is: it is not merely money transmuted into concrete. It is an act of civilisational faith. India looked at Jaffna — a city that has survived what few cities in the world have been asked to survive — and said: we believe you are worth building for. The only adequate response to that faith is activation. And activation, so far, has not come. There is a part
April 2026 Guest Column
Jaffna Monitor

Jaffna Monitor
India’s Vice President Calls for Unity as Tamil Leaders’ Divisions Spill Into the Open

India’s Vice President Calls for Unity as Tamil Leaders’ Divisions Spill Into the Open

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A meeting between India’s Vice President, C. P. Radhakrishnan, and Sri Lankan Tamil political leaders in Colombo on Sunday highlighted internal tensions within ITAK, with participants describing moments that strained political decorum. At the outset of the meeting, the seven representatives of Tamil political parties introduced themselves. During the introductions, Sivagnanam Sritharan, who is engaged in an ongoing leadership dispute with M. A. Sumanthiran, said he had been
April 2026 JM Exclusive
Our Reporter

Our Reporter