The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) commemorated senior Tamil politician Joseph Pararajasingham who was assassinated by armed Sri Lankan government-aligned paramilitary men in 2005.

Eelam Tamils are celebrating Christmas in churches across the homeland today. 

See photographs from various celebrations below. 

Batticaloa 

Midnight mass was held at St Mary's church in Batticaloa. 

Pro-government paramilitary leader Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, also known as Karuna Amman, was seen leaving Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department in Colombo last week after giving a statement over the disappearance of former Eastern University Vice Chancellor Prof. Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath. 

According to the local press who had arrived at the CID office, Karuna had been grilled for several hours. Speaking to media Karuna said he was asked to give a statement over the disappearance of the VC. 

Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) is set to visit China next month, marking his second scheduled foreign visit after his recent trip to New Delhi. 

During a press briefing in Beijing, AFP inquired about the planned visit, to which Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning responded by reaffirming the strength of Sino-Sri Lankan relations.