Whilst Tamils across the North-East celebrated the Tamil harvest festival of Thai Pongal this month, locals had to contend with the occupying Sri Lankan military holding several events of its own across the heavy militarised Tamil homeland.

The events across the North-East come despite continued criticism over the military’s involvement in civilian affairs, as tens of thousands of stationed remain stationed in the region.

Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa said he was in a “struggle against neo-imperialism” and vowed never to allow “terrorism” on the island, in a wide ranging interview with The Week earlier this month.

Rajapaksa, who oversaw a military offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamils, said that there “are elements, both local and foreign, who do not want to see me coming back to power”.

^{Keppapulavu families marking 500 days of protest in July 2018} 

Over 100 Tamil families from the Mullaitivu village of Keppapulavu are planning to occupy their lands tomorrow after a decade of delays and false promises from the Sri Lankan government. 

The families made this decision after the government repeatedly failed to release the lands despite almost two years of protests, demanding the land to be returned today. 

Although almost ten years have passed since the end of the armed conflict the Sri Lankan military continues to control and occupy vast swathes of land in the Tamil homeland, forcing families to remain displaced. 

Students from a Jaffna school yesterday rallied against the increasing and widespread use of illicit drugs and associated violence. 

The rally comes as a number of Tamil politicians in the North-East accused the Sri Lankan military of tacit involvement or actively running drug cartels through gangs. 

<p>British MPs have welcomed the issuing of an arrest warrant for a Sri Lankan brigadier who was filmed motioning a death threat to Tamil protestors in 2018.</p> <p>The Westminster Magistrates Court issued an arrest warrant for Brigadier Priyanka Fernando of the Sri Lankan army earlier this week, after finding him guilty of committing public order offences whilst stationed in London.</p> <p>Fernando was found guilty of violating sections 5 and 4A of the Public Order Act, with the court stating that his actions were threatening, caused harassment, and that he intended them to be so.</p>

The Mullaitivu court has ordered an interim injunction on works to a disputed Buddha statue being constructed by a Tamil Hindu temple in Neeraviyadi in Semmalai.

The case regarding the legality of the statue, which was hurriedly declared open by Sinhala Buddhist monks on Wednesday, was heard before the Mullaitivu magistrates judge Lenin Kumar on Thursday.

The judge adjourned the case until February 12, until which an injunction has been placed on building works to the Buddha statue. The judge also ordered the Director General of the Sri Lankan archaeology department to appear before the court on this date.

The Sri Lankan military further consolidated its presence in the North-East with the construction of yet another army building in Mullaitivu this month.

An official military website announced the opening of “a recreational centre” for troops, fully equipped with “newspapers and reading materials, TVs, indoor games and other recreational tools”.

^{Photograph: ColomboPage}

At least two American nationals have been arrested by Sri Lankan Special Task Force after the reported seizure of over 90kg of heroin from a hotel room in Colombo.

The two Americans were held alongside an Afghan national and a Sri Lankan after 95.88 kg of heroin worth more than Rs.1 billion was seized by the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) and the STF in Kollupitiya earlier this week.

<p>The British government has said that it looks to Sri Lanka to deliver on commitments made to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) "in full” after calls to refer the island to the International Criminal Court (ICC).</p> <p>Over 18,000 British citizens and UK residents have signed a petition calling on Sri Lanka to be referred to the ICC, stating that Colombo has “failed to implement the resolution and brazenly repudiated its commitments to the UNHRC and victims of the war”.</p>

Parents in Vavuniya protested on Monday, criticising the local authorities' failure to ensure adequate sports facilities at the village school, forcing children to walk long distances for the use of sports grounds. 

Students and staff at Vipulanantha College in Vavuniya joined parents at the protest.