Photograph Uthayan SL Army personnel and police officers have been seen deployed around the University of Jaffna, since last night with two military vehicles stationed close by, the day before the Tamil national remembrance day, Maaveerar Naal, reports the Uthayan newspaper. The University of Jaffna was closed suddenly today, with university administrative officials saying the university would remain closed until December 1st. Students living in hostels have been ordered to vacate the premises until then.
An Australian Greens senator for New South Wales, speaking in parliament, issued a statement remembering Tamils in Sri Lanka that had been killed by “more than 60 years of systematic Sri Lankan state orchestrated brutality towards them.” Lee Rhiannon went on to condemn the government of Australia’s handling of Tamil asylum seekers reaching the shores of Australia, and reminded MPs of the need to consult the Tamil diaspora and multiple international human rights organisations to combat misinformation provided by Sri Lankan government propaganda. Noting that the world had “woken up” to the crimes of the Sri Lankan government, the senator ended by warning the Australian government that Australia could be one of the last standing countries to give “cover to a President and government accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and ongoing human rights abuses." Full transcript reproduced below.
The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) said it "severely condemns" the issuing of death threats against four Jaffna University students and one lecturer, warning them against remembering Tamil national remembrance day, Maaveerar Naal on November 27. "Posters have been posted inside Jaffna University's premises including the names of four students and a lecturer, threatening to shoot and kill them. The names listed in the posters are english department's dean and the University Teachers’ Union Leader, Amirthalingam Rasakumaran, as well as 3rd year media studies students, Thurairasa Thamilselvan, Kanesalingam Nivas, and Thangarasa Ayngaran, and 3rd year geography student Philipeiris Britto," the TNPF said in a statement . "The poster, written in inaccurate Tamil, warned not to observe Maaveerar Naal events, and if observed, [the students and staff] will be shot and killed. As only the Sri Lankan government and the army have been continuously making threats not to hold remembrance events, we suspect that the posters published between 21 and 27 during Maaveerar remembrance week were posted by Sri Lanka military intelligence officers," the TNPF said.
A New Democratic Party (NDP) MP in a statement commemorating "Remembrance Day and Tamil Heroes Day," urged Canadian parliament to work towards peace and justice at "home and abroad" whilst highlighting injustices that ethnic communities faced in Sri Lanka. Rathika Sitsabaiesan, an MP for Scarborough Rouge River, spoke on the ongoing injustices and discrimination that ethnic and religious communities in Sri Lanka continued to face. Full transcript reproduced below.
The office of the TNA Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member, Ananthy Sasitharan is under military surveillance, locals sources said. "The army is involved in unusual patrol activities in front of my office in Sulipuram and military intelligence are monitoring the office from shops opposite," Sasitharan told the Uthayan . The heightened military activity comes amid the Tamil nation's annual remembrance day commemoration on November 27 - Maaveerar Naal. Earlier in the day, trees were planted in the North-East in memory of fallen LTTE cadre.
Photograph: www.news.lk Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa called on members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to unite and resist against 'external manipulations' at the 18th SAARC summit this week. Addressing the summit, being held in Kathmandu, Nepal, Rajapaksa said , "While SAARC practice has been to abstain from involvement in bilateral issues of a political nature, we must resist external manipulations."
Schools in Jaffna received anonymous letters urging them to commemorate Maaveerar Naal on Thursday, reports Uthayan . Prominent schools in and around the centre of Jaffna received the flyers bearing Tamil national symbols of remembrance such as the karthigaipoo or gloriosa lily. The flyers also featured poetic tributes to Maaveerar who "sowed their lives as seeds", saying “your dreams will come true, the Tamil nation will emerge”.
Mano Ganesan, leader of the Democratic People’s Front and former MP, has posted a message of remembrance, ahead of Maaveerar Naal, on his Facebook page.
The 60th birthday of LTTE leader Veluppillai Prabhakaran was marked today, with celebrations reportedly being held across the North-East and the rest of the world. Jaffna-based newspaper Uthayan reported that in locations across the North-East, Tamils distributed sweets to neighbours and relatives to mark the occasion. Secret celebrations were also reportedly held in Jaffna University, where students lit candles and cut a cake. Jaffna Celebrations were also held across Europe including the UK, Denmark and France, with cakes being cut and fireworks lit. In Tamil Nadu MDMK leader Vaiko also cut a cake, whilst students across the state in Kovai, Pondy and Chidambaram held events to mark the occasion. See photos from the various events below.
The United Kingdom has condemned Sri Lanka’s continued refusal to co-operate with a United Nations investigation into mass atrocities, during a debate in the House of Lords on Monday. Responding to a question on the refusal of the Sri Lankan authorities to grant visas to the United Nations team which was to investigate the atrocities committed, Lord Wallace of Saltaire, Government Whip acting as government spokesperson on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said , “My Lords, the UK was a sponsor of the resolution of the UN Human Rights Council. We are actively concerned in this issue. We are not at all happy about the refusal of the Sri Lankan authorities to co-operate with the attempts to have an external inquiry, because of our concerns that the internal inquiry’s recommendations have not yet been implemented”. Lord Wallace went on to say that the UK has “actively made our position clear to the Sri Lankan Government and will continue to do so.”