May 2026 - Jaffna Monitor (Page 10)

Vijay Ends Six Decades of Dravidian Rule, Set to Become Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister

By M.R. Narayan Swamy Popular Tamil film actor Vijay triggered a political tsunami in Tamil Nadu on Monday as his two-year-old TVK party was on its way to an unexpected but history-making victory in elections, burying six decades of Dravidian rule in one of India’s most economically developed states. The 51-year-old star pulled off a sensational performance as his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) appeared set to win more than 100 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, where a party or coal

May 2026

M.R. Narayan Swamy

May 4, 2026 — 3 min read

Sri Lankan President Accepts Tamil Cultural Honor, Drawing Both Praise and Sharp Criticism

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake accepted an award from one of Sri Lanka’s leading Tamil literary organizations on Sunday, using the occasion to pledge his commitment to eradicating racism and building lasting ethnic reconciliation — but the honor also triggered immediate praise alongside sharp controversy, with critics questioning both the president’s record and the decision to confer such recognition at a time when many longstanding Tamil grievances remain unresolved. Mr. Dissanayake was pr

May 2026 Monitor Memo

Our Reporter

May 4, 2026 — 4 min read

Valikamam North Council Chief Accuses Police of Threats Over Effort to Reclaim Road Occupied by Thaiyiddy Vihara

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Tensions are escalating in Jaffna after S. Sugirthan, chairman of the Valikamam North Pradeshiya Sabha, accused police of attempting to obstruct efforts to reclaim a public road allegedly occupied by Tissa Rajamaha Viharaya, a Buddhist shrine constructed on disputed civilian land in Thaiyiddy. Mr. Sugirthan said he was summoned by Palaly Police and warned to abandon efforts to recover Bhavani Veethi, a road legally belonging to the local council but currently enclosed within

Guest Column May 2026

Our Reporter

May 3, 2026 — 1 min read

Sri Lanka's Unfinished Promise on Language Rights

By Jeevan Thiyagaraja From the riots of 1958 to a Charter that awaits— the long arc of a promise made, deferred, and still owed. Language is never merely a tool for communication. It is the vessel through which a person experiences dignity — or its absence. It was this question, left dangerously unanswered, that ignited the riots of July 1958. Decades of armed conflict followed. The path to healing has, in fact, been laid — in Parliament, in the Constitution, and in a Language Charter that n

Guest Column May 2026

Jeevan Thiyagaraja

May 3, 2026 — 11 min read

A Treasury Breached, a Witness Dead

KULIYAPITIYA, Sri Lanka — On the afternoon of April 30, the daughter of Abeysinghe Mudiyanselage Ranga Nishantha Rajapaksa noticed her father walking toward the back of their house. He carried a knife. His wife, a schoolteacher, was at work. Sometime between that moment and 2:00 p.m., she found him near a banana tree, bleeding from severed veins in both legs and his left hand. A blood-stained knife lay nearby. By nightfall, Sri Lanka was confronting a new and deeply disturbing chapter in an alr

April 2026 JM Exclusive

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

May 2, 2026 — 8 min read

Sri Lankan Think Tank Seeks Closer Ties With Indonesia in Indian Ocean Push

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Milinda Moragoda, founder of the Colombo-based Pathfinder Foundation, met this week with Indonesia’s ambassador to Sri Lanka, Dewi Gustina Tobing, to explore avenues for collaboration as Sri Lanka seeks to strengthen strategic ties with Southeast Asia’s largest economy. According to a statement released by the foundation, discussions focused on Indonesia’s growing geopolitical and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific, including its status as the world’s fourth most populo

May 2026

Our Reporter

May 1, 2026 — 1 min read