The People for Relief and Equality in Lanka (PEARL) highlights that on Maaveerar Naal,  Eelam Tamils commemorate fallen LTTE cadres but also “reinforce their nationhood and the shared understanding of the political paradigm where they choose their own future and live free of state oppression.” 

Commemorations have been taking place across Jaffna as the Tamil nation marks the 36th Maaveerar Naal. 

Hundreds gathered at a memorial dedicated to Lt Col Thileepan in Nallur this evening to mark the day. 

Impunity in Sri Lanka has deepened, given the Government of Sri Lanka’s failure to ensure any kind of accountability for those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed at the end of the civil war in May 2009.

While the war may have ended, the persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka and abroad continues.

Sri Lankan police were seen tearing down red and yellow flags in Alampil, Mullaitivu, just hours before Maaveerar Naal commemorations are set to begin. 

Thousands of Tamils defied the Sri Lanka security forces and gathered across the Tamil homeland, and around the world today, to mark Maaveerar Naal - Great Heroes Day - and remember those who sacrificed their lives in the Tamil struggle for liberation. 

Commemorations took place despite a Sri Lankan crackdown this week, which intensified this morning. Riot police armed with shields and batons were sent to shut down a memorial event in Batticaloa, whilst in other parts of Eelam Tamils were blocked from commemorating their heroes.

British Tamils have hoisted Tamil Eelam flags outside their businesses in London ahead of Maaveerar Naal. 

Maaveerar Naal - or Great Heroes Day - is marked on November 27, in memory of the first death of a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadre, Lt. Shankar who died in combat on November 27, 1982. Tamils in the homeland and the diaspora will remember those who sacrificed their lives in the Tamil struggle for freedom. 

See more photographs below: 

Today tens of thousands of Tamils, from all ages and backgrounds, will gather across the homeland to pay tribute to those who laid down their lives in the armed struggle. The lighting of candles and silent bowing of heads comes despite another year of repeated intimidation and harassment from the Sri Lankan state. Regardless, the nation continues to gather en masse to honour the men and women who fought for it. In paying tribute to the sacrifice of their heroes, the resilience of the nation and its unbowed resistance to destruction is reaffirmed. It cannot be broken.

A memorial to Lieutenant Shankar, the first fighter from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to lose his life in the armed struggle, was renovated and freshly unveiled this week, ahead of the anniversary of his death on Monday.

On 23rd November, the University of Nottingham’s Tamil Society held a memorial event to commemorate Maaveerar Naal.

Events were held in the UK, Canada, and other places across the Tamil diaspora this week to honour the families of cadres who gave their lives in the struggle for Tamil Eelam.

In the run-up to Maaveerar Naal on November 27, the families of fallen fighters are traditionally honoured.

Such events have already taken place in the Tamil homeland, despite the intimidation of the Sri Lankan security forces.