A heavy Sri Lankan military presence blocked mourners across the North, with security forces arresting at least one prominent activist and assaulting a journalist, as a crackdown was launched today whilst Tamils attempted to mark Maaveerar Naal.

Despite a flurry of court orders across the North that rejected appeals from the Sri Lankan security forces to block remembrance events, the Sri Lankan military presence was out in full force across the North-East.

Sri Lankan military have been telephoning traders in Mullaitivu and threatening them to open their outlets today as the Tamil nation observes Maaveerar Naal. 

Armed personnel have stepped up their presence across the district to block any commemoration activites from taking place. 

A Sri Lankan navy nursing student a the Nursing Training College of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital severely attacked a Tamil nursing student for sending a photo of a cake in a Whatsapp group on Friday, coinciding with the LTTE leader’s birthday.

In an act of commemoration, British MPs and ministers, have issued statements marking Maaveerar Naal and stressing the right of Tamils to remember their war dead and the need for justice and accountability in Sri Lanka.

The statement comes as Sri Lanka's security forces ramp up their repression across the North-East and have brutally assaulted Tamil journalists for attempting to cover memorialisation events.

Sam Tarry, MP for Ilford South

The mother of a fallen LTTE fighter and former Northern Provincial Council member MK Shivajilingam were amongst those who paid tribute to Lt. Shankar this morning, the first Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadre, to die in combat on November 27, 1982. 

Shivajilingam and the mother of Captain Pandithar, another fallen cadre, were also joined by the former Valvettithurai Municipal Council Deputy Chairman and current member K. Sathees as well as others.

With the lifting of pandemic restrictions in some parts of the world, today many Eelam Tamils will once again gather in their masses to commemorate Maaveerar Naal, the day of remembrance dedicated to the tens of thousands who laid down their lives in the Tamil liberation struggle. Meanwhile, a familiar cloud hangs over the Tamil homeland, as the Sri Lankan state continues its efforts to stamp out the lingering memory of those sacrifices from the very land on which they fell. But despite using every weapon in its arsenal to clamp down on commemorations - from court orders to vandalising monuments, to roadblocks and supposed COVID-19 regulations - the Sri Lankan state has and will continue to fail in its mission to eradicate the Tamil nation’s spirit of resistance.

Tamils in New Zealand gathered today to commemorate Maaveerar Naal, as Tamils across the world remember those who lost their lives in the Tamil struggle for liberation. 

Flowers were scattered at Nandikadal lagoon at sunrise today by Former Northern Provincial Councillor T. Ravikaran amidst Sri Lankan military presence. 

Four Sri Lankan military personnel viciously attacked Mullaitivu journalist Vishvalingham Vishvachandran for taking a photo of a Mullivaikkal road sign.

On Thursday, the Canadian Tamil Youth Organisation paid tribute to those who gave their lives to the Tamil liberation struggle in an event marking the “commencement of Tamileelam Remembrance Week.” 

^{Speech by Chair of TYO Canada, Sakan Somaskantharajah}