July 2026

By M.R. Narayan Swamy Six political parties representing Tamils and Muslims in Sri Lanka have come together for the first time in years to pressure the government on issues concerning the minorities ahead of Provincial Council elections expected next year. But even as commoners voice scepticism about the grouping’s viability, one of its key leaders asserts that the front will “advance the historical responsibilities” towards the Tamil-speaking people that transcend elections. Political pundit

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — A decision to invite M.A. Sumanthiran, the acting general secretary of the ITAK and a politician widely blamed by his critics for the decline of both Tamil politics and the ITAK’s standing in Jaffna, to the 150th anniversary celebrations of Victoria College in Sulipuram drew protests from a group of former students on Saturday — before the school announced that he would not attend after all. The former students gathered outside the college to object to the invitation extende

By: Asela Kuruluwansha KANDY, Sri Lanka — China’s outgoing ambassador to Sri Lanka said Beijing was in full agreement with the policies of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government and would continue supporting the country’s development, as he prepared to leave the island after a six-year diplomatic posting. The ambassador, Qi Zhenhong, made the remarks during farewell visits on Friday to the chief Buddhist prelates of the Malwathu and Asgiri chapters in Kandy. Speaking to reporters a

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Leaders of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) and the Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA) met in Jaffna on Saturday to discuss a newly formed six-party grouping of Sri Lanka's Tamil-speaking parties — even as the two northern formations remain unable to forge an alliance of their own. The talks were held at the residence of C.V.K. Sivagnanam, the ITAK leader. He and M.A. Sumanthiran, the party's general secretary, represented ITAK. The DTNA delegation included Dhar

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — President Anura Kumara Dissanayake telephoned Fisheries Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekar on Friday morning to ask what had caused the turmoil that brought a district coordinating committee meeting in Kilinochchi to an abrupt end a day earlier, the minister said, as the fallout from the confrontation continued to reverberate across Sri Lanka’s north. “The president called me this morning and spoke to me,” Mr. Chandrasekar said at an event in Jaffna. “Yesterday’s incident had