Across the North-East, Tamils are marching from Pottuvil to Polikandi (P2P) to raise awareness of the repression of Tamils and Muslims on the island and to urge the international community to act.

At the Vavuniya bus stand, police were shown recording vehicle and motorcycle numbers of the public supporting those marching. The police also engaged in harassment and intimidation of the protesters.

India’s High Commission has reportedly rejected an extension to a $400 million currency exchange agreement, set to expire on 1 February, stating that it would be impossible unless “Sri Lanka having successfully negotiated staff-level agreement for an IMF programme”.

^{Accused war criminal and Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa} 

Across the Tamil homeland as Tamil and Muslims marched in unison and raised ‘black flags’ protesting state oppression and families of the disappeared began hunger strikes; Gotabaya Rajapaksa delivered his speech flanked by accused war criminals in the south to mark a heavily militarised independence day.

UN human rights experts have expressed their deep concern about the worsening human rights situation in Sri Lanka and have called on the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the international community to keep the human rights situation in Sri Lanka under continuous scrutiny and to explore all possible options for advancing accountability in the country, including the possibility of establishing an impartial and independent international accountability mechanism, and for UN member states to emphasise human rights obligations in their engagement with Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) carried out an 'Independence day' rally attended by SLFP members and supporters in Jaffna, despite the Sri Lankan police pushing for court bans against the justice walk protest organised by Tamils. 

The ‘Pottuvil to Polikandi’, which is currently on its course towards Jaffna and has been attended by Tamil and Muslim citizens of the North-East, was opposed by the Sri Lankan police citing COVID-19 concerns.

While Tamils in Sri Lanka boycotted SL Independence day, both US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina B. Teplitz, publicly congratulated Sri Lanka on their “democratic traditions” and “shared principles” of “equality for all” in their Independence Day wishes.

A group of Tamils are set to welcome the Pottuvil to Polikandy (P2P) protesters near Nayarthu bridge, Mullaitivu, despite attempts by the Sri Lankan police to disrupt the rally. 

Swiss Tamils joined Tamils in the homeland to reject Sri Lanka's 73rd Independence Day and marked the day as a 'black day' for the Tamil nation. 

Tamil civil society organisations across the North-East outlined the demands of the Pottuvil to Polikandy protesters in a letter to the United Nations. 

In their appeal to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), they highlighted that they will be participating in a peaceful walk from Pottuvil to Polikandi  to draw attention to key issues faced by the Tamil community in their homeland.

Students at the University of Jaffna joined Tamils across the North-East in declaring Sri Lanka's 73rd Independence Day as a 'black day'. 

A banner was erected on one of the campus gates as Tamils in the North-East raised black flags across the North-East, marking the day as a day of protest.