JM Exclusive

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

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

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

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

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — India’s Vice President, C. P. Radhakrishnan, said he had personally urged Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to hold long-delayed provincial council elections without further postponement, during a meeting between the two leaders on Sunday. Mr. Radhakrishnan disclosed this during a subsequent discussion with representatives of Tamil political parties at the Taj Samudra in Colombo on Monday afternoon, a source who participated in the meeting told Jaffna Monitor.