Farmers in Mayilathamadu and Mathavanai districts in Batticaloa have reported that at least six farmers were tied up, beaten and taken to a distant and unidentified place by Sinhalese members of the community on Saturday morning.

All their contacts have since been disconnected after their phones were seized.

The leader of the farmers who was present at the scene said that fellow farmers who went to look for the abducted farmers were threatened and chased away by the Sinhalese men.  

University Grants Commission Chair Prof. Sampath Amaratunga has claimed that the Mullaiviakal memorial at Jaffna university, which commemorates the tens of thousands of Tamil lives lost Sri Lanka’s military offensive, “threatened North-South unity”.

He further claimed that the decision was to avoid a rift between students and that there are 1000 Sinhalese students in the Jaffna University and several Tamil students from the North studying in universities in the South.

The Jaffna magistrate's court has released on bail two students who were arrested during the protest against the demolishment of the Mullivaikkal memorial at the University of Jaffna. 

Students, political representatives and locals began to protest at the main gate of the university after hearing of the memorial being demolished on the orders of the university administration on Friday night. 

During the protests, the two university students were arrested by the police and charged with trespassing on the university campus and causing a riot. 

European Parliament member, Nikolaj Villumsen, has expressed his solidarity with Eelam Tamils following the destruction of the Mullivaikal monument at Jaffna University yesterday and has called on Denmark and the EU to condemn the act as well as to intensify the pressure exerted on Sri Lanka for an independent investigation into the genocide of Tamils.

Jaffna MP and leader of the Tamil Makkal Desiya Kootani (TMTK) leader C.V Wigneswaran said the demolition of the Mullivaikkal memorial at the University of Jaffna forms part of the Sri Lankan government's wider agenda to erase memory of past injustices perpertrated against Tamils.  

"Totally erasing memories of the injustices and massacres perpetrated against Tamils is the agenda of the present government. The demolition of the Mullivaikkal memorial is part of the administration's larger agenda. This is one of the most perilous items in the programme of the government. It is understood that many such plans profilerate with the administration," Wigneswaran said in a statement condemning the demolition

Tamil newspapers in Jaffna have denounced the destruction of the Mullivaikkal memorial at the University of Jaffna this morning as they printed black front pages in their morning editions.

The Kaalaikathir, Yarl Thinakkural, Uthayan and Eelanadu newspapers all ran the destruction as their lead stories this morning, as protests continued outside the university campus.

See the front pages of the newspapers below.

Updated 23:00 GMT

A group of students have embarked on a hunger strike outside the University of Jaffna, demanding that the Mullivaikkal memorial is reconstructed after it was bulldozed by authorities yesterday evening. 

Braving surveillance by the Sri Lankan police, the students continued their fast in the rain after being refused permission by the police to erect a tent to stage their protest. 

Jaffna University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sivakolundu Srisatkunarajah claims that the demolition of the Mullivaikkal memorial in the university campus ensured protection of older monuments. 

Last night, dozens of Tamils demonstrated in front of the university premises as authorities bulldozed a memorial monument erected in 2019 by the University Students Union, dedicated to the tens of thousands of Tamils killed in Mullivaikkal by the Sri Lankan state. 

Responding to the protests at Jaffna University,  Canada's Minister for Foreign Affairs and several MPs have condemned the destruction of a Mullivaikkal memorial, commemorating the lives lost during the Tamil liberation struggle.  

As protests continue outside the University of Jaffna over the destruction of a remembrance monument, the Vice-Chancellor responded by claiming the memorials must be taken down and slammed the demonstrations at the gates.

"They have come because they are over-enthusiastic," said Vice-Chancellor S Srisatkunarajah, as protests took place outside the campus gates. "It is illegal for them to threaten us. If they do not go by themselves we will deal with them.”