“Unless the Central Government and Provincial Government Ministers or proper officials discuss initially about the purpose of the meeting and its use to the general public in the Northern Province and jointly come to a conclusion and decide to have a meeting of this sort, it is inappropriate for you to expect me or my ministers to attend such a meeting.”

Photographs: K Amirthalingam

As many as 500 Tamil protestors went on hunger strike at the Kiliveddy refugee camp in Trincomalee on Tuesday, demanding to be resettled in their original village in Sampur – land that has been seized by the Sri Lankan military for a High Security Zone.

'Give our lands back' and 'stop atrocities on Sampur people' read placards held by the protestors, who had gathered at the camp entrance and joined the hunger strike.

"We voted for regime change hoping resettlement," the Tamil Civil Society Forum reported the protestors as saying. "But our issues doesn't figure on the 100 day programme".

In addition to being immediately resettled, they also demanded that they be allowed to reopen the Sampur Mahavidyalayam school, which is being occupied by the Sri Lankan navy. The school building is currently being used a base for the security forces.

The Tamil Nadu state government said meeting with Sri Lanka to discuss the voluntary repatriation of Eelam Tamil refugees was premature due to ongoing issues affecting Tamils on the island, The Hindu reported.

Governor K. Rosaiah said to the state assembly that any talks should be deferred due to the prevailing atmosphere of fear and intimidation, the militarisation of Tamil areas, non-settlement of internally displaced people and the absence of any concrete and credible measures taken by the Sri Lankan government.

He said the government was committed to the “peaceful, just and honourable resettlement of the refugees”, but added that “voluntary repatriation can be countenanced only after proper rehabilitation of the internally displaced Sri Lankan Tamils”.

(Photos: BBC Sinhala)

Tens of thousands of supporters of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa staged a rally in Nugegoda, calling on him to stand as a prime ministerial candidate in elections later this year.

In a written statement, read out by former government official Dayan Jayatillake, Mr Rajapaksa said he could not ignore their wishes and will make a return to politics.

"What we are experiencing today is not a defeat but a result of a conspiracy," he said in the message. "I say firmly that I am in anyway unable to ignore the wishes of those of you who think about the country and are committed for the country."