Special Article

A Mission Called Journalism: Then and Now
M.R. Narayan Swamy interviewing LTTE cadres in Kaluthavalai, Batticaloa, soon after Eelam War II began in 1990.

A Mission Called Journalism: Then and Now

When the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster killed thousands and left many more maimed for life, the heart-wrenching tragedy was covered on a per diem of, believe it or not, a pathetic ₹45 (INR) a day! It was then the world’s worst industrial disaster, blamed on lethal doses of a highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) which leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide factory on the night of December 2-3. When I flew into Bhopal from New Delhi to add strength to the local bureau of the United News of India (UN
November 2025 Special Article
M.R. Narayan Swamy

M.R. Narayan Swamy
Fifty Years Later: Remembering the Night India’s Democracy Was Switched Off

Fifty Years Later: Remembering the Night India’s Democracy Was Switched Off

The month of June marked the 50th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency and media censorship by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi — the most serious blow to the world’s largest democracy. The Emergency rule from 1975 to 1977 was a direct assault on India’s democratic ethos, with media censorship at its core. Although India eventually emerged from that dark chapter with its democratic spirit intact, the episode remains a stark reminder that the freedoms of a free press must never be taken for gra
Special Article July 2025
Sugeeswara Senadhira

Sugeeswara Senadhira
Bringing Stroke Care Home: A Quiet Revolution in Post-Conflict Jaffna

Bringing Stroke Care Home: A Quiet Revolution in Post-Conflict Jaffna

When I began my Family Medicine training in 2022 as a Registrar, I moved between clinics, hospital wards, community camps, and even patients’ homes. These journeys gave me a front-row seat to the deep inequalities within Sri Lanka’s healthcare system—nowhere more visible than in stroke care. In the government sector, stroke treatment is still woefully inadequate. Time is critical in managing stroke, yet delays in diagnosis and intervention are far too common. I’ve watched stroke survivors—many
Medical Special Article
Dr. Shane Halpe

Dr. Shane Halpe
The Return of Zahran!

The Return of Zahran!

Introduction The Sri Lankan public, police, intelligence community, and the criminal justice system deserve praise for their swift response in protecting Sri Lanka and its communities. When a former member of the Islamic State and supporter of the Islamic State Sri Lanka Branch, Fasrool Rahman Mohamed Zahran, alias “Podi Zahran” or “Little Zahran, filmed the Husaini Masjid Complex—Dawoodi Bohra Mosque—the intelligence surveillance teams deployed on the ground immediately identified and alerted
Special Article July 2025
Rohan Gunaratna

Rohan Gunaratna
They Tried to Silence a Language - These Publishers Fought Back:Belarus’s Literary Rebellion

They Tried to Silence a Language - These Publishers Fought Back:Belarus’s Literary Rebellion

A Suitcase and a Mission On a brisk Lillehammer evening in June 2025, Dmitri Strotsev stood under the bright lights of the World Expression Forum (WEXFO) stage, speaking in his native Belarusian. Just moments earlier, he had been handed the IPA Prix Voltaire – a prestigious international award for courage in publishing – jointly with fellow Belarusian publisher Nadia Kandrusevich. Accepting the honor, Strotsev recounted the day he fled Belarus: “In March 2022, I left for the West with one small
June 2025 Special Article
Jaffna Monitor

Jaffna Monitor