The Unmet Mental Health Needs of the North
The ramifications of Sri Lanka’s civil war live on in the north, especially in the matter of mental health where the lack of human, physical and financial resources to address complex trauma…
Jaffna
Former Female LTTE Cadres Face Challenges with Reintegration
With the end of the war 15 years ago, thousands LTTE fighters surrendered to the government and were sent to rehabilitation camps, which they refer to as detention camps. The government considers…
Presidential Elections: A View from the North
For the first time, Sri Lanka’s presidential election in October will have three main contenders – President Ranil Wickremesinghe contesting under an independent symbol, the SJB represented by Sajith Premadasa and the…
Muslims Returning to Jaffna Face Many Challenges to Exist
In October 1990 some 75,000 to 100,000 Muslims in the Northern Province, about five percent of the province’s total population, were forcibly expelled from their homeland by the LTTE. In some places,…
Women in the North Fight Against a Patriarchal Society for Survival
In all conflicts around the world, women are deeply affected. Sri Lanka’s 26 year civil war is no exception. Women in the war torn areas have faced violence, sexual abuse, displacement and…
Kanesh Thabendran: Remembering the Past and Uncovering the Truth
For most of his life, 35 year old artist Kanesh Thabendran has lived in a war zone where every day was a struggle for survival amid exploding bombs and falling artillery shells.…
Poetry and Photography Reveal the North’s War Trauma
Sarath Chandrajeewa’s first impressions of Jaffna came from his father’s stories about the north where he was stationed as a police officer. His father spoke of the friendliness of Jaffna people, their…
July 83: A Mission of Revenge Takes Life of Activist
I was in Jaffna in July 1983, staying with a few friends of mine at the boy’s hostel of the University of Jaffna. The hostel was situated right by the Kokkuvil train…
Jaffna Today
How to select keys for the door when you know the gatekeeper all too well, when chance and destiny carry the same code words, when love no longer depends on…
Refusing a Neoliberal Peace in The Incomplete Thombu
Today Sri Lanka faces its worst economic crisis since independence. In the coming months, people’s hardships will only worsen as more austerity is forced on them. The present crisis is a result…
Who Will Punish the Perpetrators?
The images are stark and compelling. The STF men are stoic and menacing. They stand unmoving, machine guns clasped tightly to their chests, their faces obscured by motorcycle helmets. The women are…
The Brother Who Never Came Back: 15 Years Since the Disappearance of Subramaniam Ramachandran
“Even today I believe he will return but if he doesn’t, let him remain missing. If you want to report that he disappeared on the 15th, you can do that. We would…
Water Pumps and Chickens: Rhetoric vs Reality in the North
December 19, 2021. Jaffna town. 6 am. Three motorcycles parked one behind the other at an angle with headlights on. Two armed military personnel, clad in black, on each motorcycle. Women headed…
Tracing the Roots of Drug Addiction in the North
Drug abuse is a menace that many societies are attempting to come to grips with. There has been a global rise in the number of drug users while accessing the substances has…
The Gradual Renaissance of Arts and Crafts in the North
A destructive civil war, social upheaval, market forces and plastic have all played a part in the gradual erosion of Jaffna’s rich legacy of arts and crafts. A major dyeing and weaving…