August 2026

KANDY, Sri Lanka — One of Sri Lanka’s most senior Buddhist prelates said President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has not responded to a letter from the country’s chief Buddhist monks concerning the government’s proposal to extend the retirement age of senior judges. The Most Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera, the Mahanayake of the Malwatte Chapter, said the chief prelates had not received even an acknowledgment that their letter had reached the President. “When the Mahanayake Th

NEGOMBO, Sri Lanka — A Tamil police officer attached to the Negombo Police Station has been removed from the force over social media posts said to be supportive of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, according to the group that campaigned for action against him. The group, The Sri COM, said this week that the officer, Jenistran Coonghe, was dismissed after an investigation. Sri Lanka Police has made no public announcement of any dismissal, and Jaffna Monitor could not independently verify the

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan security forces continue to occupy at least 12,861 acres of state and privately owned land across the five districts of the Northern Province, according to written responses from district authorities obtained under the country’s Right to Information law. But that figure captures only part of the military’s land footprint in the former war zone. The District Secretariats supplied figures for land classified as state or privately owned. The tally does not include t

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s dispute over a government proposal to extend the retirement age of senior judges widened this week after an opposition leader accused the administration of concealing a letter from the country’s most senior Buddhist prelates expressing concern over the plan. Patali Champika Ranawaka, a former cabinet minister and leader of the United Republican Front, said the Mahanayake Theras had written to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake setting out their position on the proposed con