Tamil newspapers on the island carried articles on Sunday to mark the 69^th birthday of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

“Leader Prabhakaran’s birthday today,” read the Uthayan front-page headline, above a photograph of the LTTE leader.

A blood donation drive was held at Abisha hospital in Mulliyawalai, Mullaitivu today to mark the sixth day of Maaveerar remembrance week. 

 
Drone footage shows preparations for the 36th Maaveerar Naal have been completed at Kanagapuram Thuyilum Illam in Kilinochchi this evening. 

Kanagapuram, a short distance from Kilinochchi town was one of the largest Thuyilum Illams built and maintained by the LTTE in the North-East. It was bulldozed over by the Sri Lankan state following the end of the armed conflict.

Sri Lankan police have prohibited the use of the karthigai poo - the Tamil national flower - at Maaveerar Naal commemorations in Mullaitivu. 

Former Northern Provincial Council member Thurairasa Ravikaran alongside other Maaveerar Naal organiseers were at Iraddai Vaikkal Thuyilum Illam when they were approached by Sri Lankan police officers. 

The Mullaitivu Magistrates Court issued an order on Friday 24 November 2023, prohibiting all remembrance events and places in Mullaitivu dedicated to fallen Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres ahead of Maaveerar Day (27 November 2023). The order, prompted by complaints made by the Mullaitivu police department, specifically targets several individuals and organisations involved in organising the commemorative events in the district. 

In advance of the 36th Maaveerar Naal commemoration, Tamils across the homeland are preparing cemeteries to pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives in the armed struggle.

The 69^th birthday of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was marked at several locations in Jaffna earlier today, including outside his childhood home.

Former MP M K Shivajilingam cut a cake in Valvettithurai, the leader's hometown, to mark the day.

Sri Lanka’s Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Director of the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) pledged to take legal action against those who attempted to mark Maaveerar Naal, as Tamils across the North-East geared up to commemorate their fallen fighters on Monday.

A book titled 'Enathu Makkalin Viduthalaikkaga' (translated as 'For the Liberation of My People'), a compilation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran's memoirs from 1984 to 2009, was launched in London, United Kingdom on Sunday 12 November 2023.

The event was attended by representatives of various Tamil entities in London, families of fallen LTTE cadres, associations, Tamil Eelam activists, journalists, and members of the diaspora. 

The Tamil nation, in the homeland and in the diaspora, holds steadfastly to records of the liberation struggle. The well-known dates and the lesser known dates are tirelessly observed. Heroes are canonised in the Maaveerar Naal calendar.

But with the destruction of LTTE records and cemeteries, it becomes inevitable that some names are lost to us, at least momentarily.

The record of Muslim fighters remains incomplete. Their contribution to the Tamil struggle for liberation is often overlooked in the mainstream commemoration of Maaveerar Naal.