May 2026

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan police questioned two members of a Tamil music troupe this week after performers sang a song associated with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during a temple festival in northern Sri Lanka, according to police. The two performers, identified as Gokulan and Darwin, sons of the late Tamil singer S.G. Santhan, were summoned to the Kopay Police Station following the incident at a festival in Urumpirai, in Jaffna district. Police said the song performed during the

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, the leader of the Tamil National People's Front and a member of Parliament, on Wednesday accused the Sri Lankan government of creating false expectations among displaced communities in the country's north, saying military officials had rejected several requests for the return of civilian-owned land during a closed-door meeting earlier this week. Mr. Gajendrakumar's remarks directly contradicted public statements by Fisheries Minister Ramalingam Cha

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's Media Minister said Tuesday that future appointments to the top editorial position at the state-run Tamil daily Thinakaran would be made on the basis of qualifications, as the newspaper's management faces criticism over the interim appointment it made following the suspension of its Editor-in-Chief over alleged financial misconduct. The minister, Nalinda Jayatissa, made the remarks at a government media briefing held to announce Cabinet decisions, after journali

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Senior Sri Lankan defense officials traveled to the country's Northern Province on Tuesday to inspect lands that have remained under military control for years, in what security sources described as early steps in a process that could eventually return some of those parcels to their civilian owners — though the scope, timeline, and ultimate outcome of any releases remain unclear. The Deputy Minister of Defense and the Commander of the Army conducted field inspections across