September 2025


JVP Still Denies the Tamil Ethnic Question: Sharika Thiranagama Speaks to Jaffna Monitor
JVP Still Denies the Tamil Ethnic Question: Sharika Thiranagama Speaks to Jaffna Monitor

JVP Still Denies the Tamil Ethnic Question: Sharika Thiranagama Speaks to Jaffna Monitor

Photos by A. Priyakumar It feels like yesterday. As a student, I remember flipping through Amuthu, a Tamil-language magazine published by Lake House. One day, I came across an article about Dr. Rajani Thiranagama—her brilliant career, and how she was cowardly and mercilessly assassinated. More than the tragedy of that brave woman, what seared itself into me was the image of her two young daughters standing beside their mother. Even as a boy, I felt a deep and overwhelming compassion for them. T


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

Can Sri Lanka Really Go Mine-Free by 2028?
Can Sri Lanka Really Go Mine-Free by 2028?

Can Sri Lanka Really Go Mine-Free by 2028?

In Sri Lanka, landmines claimed countless lives and left many more—combatants and civilians alike—crippled, limbless, or permanently scarred. Yet their true infamy is often traced to one shattering moment: the first-ever landmine explosion in Jaffna on 23 July 1983, an event that many regard as the spark that ignited the civil war. On that fateful day, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) buried a landmine on the Jaffna–Palaly main road, barely two kilometers from the heart of the city.


Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke

Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke

Sixteen Years After War, Valikamam North Families Still Await Resettlement — Shritharan Raises Issue in Parliament
Sixteen Years After War, Valikamam North Families Still Await Resettlement — Shritharan Raises Issue in Parliament

Sixteen Years After War, Valikamam North Families Still Await Resettlement — Shritharan Raises Issue in Parliament

Sixteen years after Sri Lanka’s civil war officially ended, the people of Valikamam North remain barred from returning to their ancestral lands. The issue reverberated in Parliament this week when Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) president-elect and Jaffna–Kilinochchi MP Sivagnanam Shritharan demanded answers from the government on why resettlement continues to be delayed.. A Question to the House Raising a special statement under Standing Order 27(2) during Wednesday’s sitting, Shritharan


Jaffna Monitor

Jaffna Monitor

Ali Uthuman’s Memory Revived: Truth and Poetry Beyond Assassination
Ali Uthuman

Ali Uthuman’s Memory Revived: Truth and Poetry Beyond Assassination

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauff Hakeem sparked controversy this week when, during a condolence speech for former Deputy Minister Cegu Issadeen, he claimed that Ali Uthuman — a former member of the merged North–East Provincial Council — had been killed by the LTTE. The claim was swiftly challenged on social media by members of both the Muslim and Tamil communities. Users pointed out that the statement was factually incorrect: Ali Uthuman, a respected provincial politician and commu


Our Reporter

Our Reporter

Jaffna MP Archchuna  Accuses Fisheries Minister of Corruption, Demands Resignation if Proven

Jaffna MP Archchuna  Accuses Fisheries Minister of Corruption, Demands Resignation if Proven

Jaffna District MP Ramanathan Archchuna has leveled serious corruption allegations against Fisheries Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekar in Parliament, demanding his resignation if the charges are proven. Speaking during a recent parliamentary session, Archchuna accused the minister of failing to take action against illegal fishing practices and overseeing widespread corruption within the fisheries sector. Allegations of Inaction on Illegal Fishing The controversial MP questioned what concrete


Jaffna Monitor

Jaffna Monitor

Portrait of Rohana Wijeweera in Jaffna NPP Library Sparks Controversy
Portrait of Rohana Wijeweera in Jaffna NPP Library Sparks Controversy

Portrait of Rohana Wijeweera in Jaffna NPP Library Sparks Controversy

The newly opened library at the NPP/JVP office on Palaly Road, Jaffna. In the background, portraits of JVP founder Rohana Wijeweera are displayed alongside leftist icons. The newly opened, small yet symbolically significant public library at the National People’s Power (NPP) / Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) headquarters in Jaffna has already stirred controversy within the local Tamil community. While it may be the first library in Jaffna to house a notable collection of leftist literature, wha


Jaffna Monitor

Jaffna Monitor

“Is Tilvin Silva the Real President?” — Shanakiyan’s Question in Parliament
“Is Tilvin Silva the Real President?” — Shanakiyan’s Question in Parliament

“Is Tilvin Silva the Real President?” — Shanakiyan’s Question in Parliament

What some political observers described as a “naïve question,” Batticaloa District parliamentarian Shanakiyan of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) recently asked in Parliament whether JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva had effectively become the country’s President. His query came during the debate on the motion to approve a trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates, where he noted that Silva’s pronouncements often contradict those of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, yet still emerge


Jaffna Monitor

Jaffna Monitor