Ceylon Teachers Union today said it "strongly condemned" the decision by Hatton National Bank to suspend two employees over the commemoration of the Mullivaikkal massacre on May 18. 

"The bank needs to understand that this issue is related to the Tamil people's sentiments," the CTU's general secretary, Joseph Stalin said in a statement. 

"The bank suspending employees for remembering their loved ones who were killed is like the bank punishing the employees," he said, adding that the bank's decision had deeply hurt the Tamil people.

On Saturday, May 26^th the Human Rights Advocacy (HRA) council of the Canadian Tamil Youth Alliance (CTYA) launched the official website for Thazhambakam: Tamil Genocide during an event titled, The Macabre of the Silenced, in Toronto.

Increasing its reach within Hindu temples in the North-East, the Sri Lankan military on Saturday planted and coconut trees to devotees. 

At an event at Valipuram Aalvar temple, Major General Darshana Hettiarachchi presided over the planting of 50 coconut trees. 

Thirty-six families were then given 5 trees each. 

Major General Darshana Hettiarachchi said he plans to plant 1 lakh coconut trees across the district. 

Displaced families in Maampirai and Mangkolai, Valikaamam North returned to their homes after 30 years of military occupation to find their houses destroyed beyong recognition. 

The military released 35 acres of land in the two villages to 85 families. Whilst all the land in Maampirai has been released, the military continues to hold onto several acres of land in Mangkolai, including the land where the Narasimba Vairavar temple is situated.

Two former LTTE cadres who are now members of the political party, Crusaders for Democracy, have been called for questioning by Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Division (TID). 

The party's secretary, Kathir was called to the TID's 4th floor office in Colombo on May 14 where he was questioned from dawn till dusk. He was released on the condition that he should be able to respond to a summons at any time in future. 

The party leader, Venthan has since received a summons, ordering him to attend an inquiry at the 4th floor on May 28. 

Another demonstration was held in Jaffna on Friday as Tamils expressed solidarity with protesters in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu and condemned the police violence against them.

Journalists reporting on continuing land grabs in Mullaitivu were photographed by plain-clothed military personnel this week. 

The media workers had travelled to Ottisuddaan, Mullaitivu on Thursday to accompany the Vanni politician, Shanthy Sriskantharajah during a meeting at the army camp regarding the military's continued occupation of land. 

In a recent feature by the state owned Daily News, the Sri Lankan Army was commended for being at the forefront of nurturing Buddhism across the country.

The article titled, “SL Army’s dedicated service to Buddhism,” praises the army’s “unstinted commitment [to Buddhism] since 1949” by recounting recent projects.

As calls for the Sri Lankan military to demilitarise the Vanni continue, the army announced that it had refurbished the ‘Corporal’s Club’ building at its headquarters in Kilinochchi last month.

The Pacific Command Augmentation Team of the Embassy of the United States visited the Sri Lankan security forces headquarters in Kilinochchi last month, reports an official military website.