Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s former president and brother of current presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa, stated that his party would not concede to any demands made by the Tamil National Alliance, at a rally in Beliatta yesterday,

"There is no need to agree to any of the conditions,” Rajapaksa told the crowd. The country should come first. No one should be allowed to divide the country.”

Rajapaksa was eluding to a set of 13 demands put forward by five Tamil political parties to both leading candidates last week. Though Rajapaksa claimed his party did not receive any demands made by the Tamil parties, they would reject them regardless.

The Tamil Eelam football team managed to secure victory over Yorkshire last month, in a pulsating encounter at Ingfield Stadium in Ossett. 

The tight contest saw Tamil Eelam go ahead thanks to Thomas A, with a cross by Nirun from the left flank met by his surging run and finished off with a sliding right-footed shot. Tamil Eelam doubled their lead with a second half finish into the bottom left corner by Prashanth R, who was making his tenth appearance and scored his seventh goal for Tamil Eelam. Yorkshire scored a well worked goal in the latter stages of the game and pressed on as they searched for an equaliser. However, the Tamil Eelam defence held on and went on to take another win, as the team continues to grow.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) came out and declared it would not back the merging of the Northern and Eastern provinces, as demanded by Tamil parties, stating that it was the “ambition of separatists”.

JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath said the National People's Power (NPP) coalition which is led by the party, would not back the proposal.

Sri Lankan presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa said he was willing to “suffer any punishment on behalf of” the Sri Lankan military in order to protect troops from allegations of rights abuses.

The Daily Mirror reports Premadasa as telling a rally this week that he would “take full responsibility” over what he claimed were “allegations made against the Sri Lankan Security Forces”.

In an article for the Jacobin, former Australian senator Lee Rhiannon, draws upon Ben Hiller's new book "Losing Santhia: Life and Loss in the Struggle for Tamil Eelam", and argues the need to stand in solidarity Tamils who have faced genocide by the "exclusivist, chauvinist Sinhala-Buddhist state".

Extremist Buddhist monk, Gnanasara Thero, of the Sinhala nationalist Bodu Bala Sena organisation has been ordered to appear in court on November 8, for violating a court order. 

Tamils gathered in front of the Home Office, today, demanding an end to the deportation of Tamil asylum seekers. 

The protest follows news that a Tamil student in London has been refused asylum and may be subject to administrative removal.
 

Students at the University of Jaffna held a vigil in memory of two of their peers who were shot dead by Sri Lankan police three years ago.

Media faculty students Nadarajah Kajan and Vijayakumar Sulaxan were shot dead as they were on their way home on a motorbike by Jaffna police officers in Kokkuvil on October 20, 2016, sparking protests across the North-East, further around the island and internationally.

Sri Lanka's upcoming presidential election may bring a new face to power, but concerns remain from Tamils on the island and around the world that their plight may remain unchanged.