According to Jaffna-based newspaper Uthayan, pistol carrying intelligence officers from the Sri Lankan army have increased their presence in Jaffna university.

The paper reported that students were threatened with pistols and warned against partaking in events to commemorate National Heroes Day.

On Monday evening students at Jaffna University reportedly posted several posters commemorating National Remembrance day which were taken down by military personnel immediately.

See the report from Uthayan here.

Updated 22:10 GMT

Decorated in the nation's colours of red and yellow, the venue had a replica Thuyilum Illam in front of the stage, with a wall of photographs of Maaveerar along either side. A trio of life size tombstones with a flame flying in the centre, was ceremoniously draped with the national flag. At the back, a huge revolving column mosaiced with the faces of the nation's Maaveerar was suspended above the entrance.

The event commenced with the hoisting of the British flag by Gowsi Ananthasigamany of the Tamil Youth Organisation UK (TYO UK), followed by Tamil Eelam's national flag, hoisted by Mr Thanam of the Tamil Coordination Committee UK (TCC UK) as the nation's flag song played.

Standing up for a moment of silence, all those present stood and remembered the nation's fallen and their sacrifice.

The flame of sacrifice was lit by the parents of the Maaveerar Captain Raj, after which tens of thousands of little candles were lit as the Thuyilum Illam song played and images of the now destroyed resting homes of the Maaveerar in the North-East played. It was a moving scene, that reduced several to tears as they held their candle in remembrance.

See updated report with photos below.

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Photographs Uthayan

The Sri Lankan military and intelligence personnel raided the Balasingham hostel and Ananthakumaraswamy hostel at Jaffna university, after students lit a lamp of sacrifice to commemorate Maaveerar Naal, reports Uthayan.

According to the newspaper, the military had been roaming the university through out the day since students celebrated the birthday of V. Prabhakaran on Monday.

At 6:05pm, as the students lit the lamp of sacrifice, military personnel, armed with guns and batons stormed the two boys' hostels attacked everyone they came across.

An Uthayan reporter, who arrived at the seen after receiving a call from one of the students, was also attacked by the military.

Later in the evening, after seeing candles being lit within the adjacent girls' hostels, the military officers entered the hostel, demanding that the girls open their dormitary doors. According to Uthayan, the screams of girls were audible, with several currently in a state of inconsable tears.

Speaking at the recently held "Youth Maaveerar Naal" in London, Imperial College London student Visakan Balakumar called on his fellow university students to intensify the struggle against genocide during a speech on behalf of his university's Tamil Society.

The speech has been reproduced in full below.

"Dear ladies and gentleman. We gather here today to remember those brave souls who gave their lives. Those brave souls who gave their lives for us, for our homeland and our nation. Their selfless acts of bravery in the line of duty mark some of the greatest achievements in the history of the Eelam Tamil nation, our Eelam Tamil nation.

On battlefields across the North-East they threw themselves into enemy fire, without a thought for their own safety, to safeguard our people, our language, and our way of life. Our soldiers fought the genocidal Sri Lankan army with the prowess of a sovereign state’s military and some respite for the people of our nation was won. In the land which our heroes liberated from occupation, the Tamil nation flourished.

We established our own police forces, banks and judicial system. We stood shoulder to shoulder with the countries of the world. Since then the Tamil nation has been subjected to the most intense and indeed, continuing, part of the genocide committed by the Sinhala nation. Tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters were murdered with chemical weapons and cluster bombs by the Sri Lankan army. Those who survived were imprisoned in squalid Nazi-style concentration camps with little food or medicine and now they are being abducted, detained without charges and tortured, both violently and sexually. This is the life of the Tamil people without our brave Maveerar to protect them.

Our heroes’ guns may have been silenced, but the thirst for freedom of the Tamil nation is undiminished. As our ever adored Maveerar showed us, when we, the Eelam Tamil nation, strive for that which is most fundamental of all rights, freedom, we are capable of all manner of ingenuity and success in the face of adversity. Today, the Tamil homeland is more heavily occupied and militarised than ever. For every 10 people in the Northeast of the island of Sri Lanka, there is a Sinhala soldier. Our kith and kin are choked, unable to express their feelings. Those who speak out go missing and many have.

My fellow Eelam Tamils, I ask you today, is remembrance enough?

Even amidst the increasing military occupation, there have still been acts of defiance in our homeland, by our battered people. Almost a year to this day, some brave souls climbed a building in Jaffna and lit a fire to honour our Maveerar on last year’s Tamil national heroes’ day. As the Sinhala nation celebrated their genocidal military victory on May 18th of this year, university students in Jaffna, against the orders of the occupying Sri Lankan army, went out onto the streets to protest and mourn our dead. Small protests have been organised by the civil society, in the face of the terrible wrath of the Sri Lankan military. When our people at home, living in virtual open prisons can display this valour and dedication to our nation’s freedom, we, the Tamil diaspora, should focus our efforts to support their struggle.

There have been encouraging signs amongst the London University’s Tamil societies. After a successful campaign last year, “Breaking the Silence” has already happened at Kings, Brunel and Imperial so far this year. But when our fellow students in the Tamil homeland cannot even express themselves, the onus is on us to make them heard. The year ahead is an important one for the Tamil Eelam struggle. Our kith and kin back home are increasingly humiliated, assaulted and silenced. Our people cannot express their political aspirations.

It is up to every Tamil student and Tamil society to take it upon themselves to help recover some kind of basic rights for our brothers and sisters. Soon after May 2009 and Mullivaikal, a resolution was passed in Queen Mary university’s union, calling for a boycott of Sri Lankan products. This has since expired but we should aim to pass similar ones in unions all over London. By focussing our efforts on highlighting the genocide, we must continue to push for action on all levels.

About this time next year the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is due to be held in Sri Lanka. The Canadian and British heads of state have already expressed the possibility of boycotting the meeting if Sri Lanka’s human rights situation does not improve. Sri Lanka’s genocide of the Tamil nation will never abate. International human rights groups, including Amnesty Intl, Human Rights Watch and Intl. Crisis Group have come out calling for a venue change. By getting the support of other commonwealth societies and our respective unions and contacting the Foreign Office directly, we could make this venue change a reality. That would be a good place to start.

What we must all keep in mind is that this is not the end. Not the end of the genocide, neither the end of the struggle against it. We may take hope from the pressure that is on Sri Lanka from many angles, but we must not be complacent with our own efforts. This is our homeland, our people and our freedom, and no matter who decides to take up our cause we must always remember that the real power to effect change is with us. Thank you."

Published 00:32 GMT

Tamil students across Canada came together to remember the nation's great heroes on 25th November and mark the commencing of Tamil Eelam Heroes Remembrance Week.

The remembrance event started at 6pm local time.

Watch the event live here.

“Sri Lanka is deeply concerned and disturbed at the recent serious escalation of violence in Gaza and deeply regrets the loss of lives and the great suffering experienced by the people of Palestine.

Sri Lanka strongly believes the use of force and militaristic threats should be halted and that there is no alternative to the peaceful resolution of the conflict through peace talks.

We call upon both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to display restraint and avoid civilian casualties. It is hoped that the parties would continue to demonstrate leadership and political courage and keep open the door to peace.”

Photographs Uthayan

In another bold act of defiance by Tamil students in the North-East, posters commemorating Tamil Eelam National Remembrance Day were seen posted around Jaffna University's campus on the eve of November 27th.

The posters, which had been posted in various faculties, as well as the Student's Union and canteen read slogans such as:

"The shape of the struggle may change but the goal of the struggle will never change."

"No matter how many obstacles come our way, we have vowed to revive the ambitions of our martyrs."

"We will rise and rise again after every fall. Does the valour of the tigers know any bound?"

"We will stand in the path of our leader (Annan) to achieve Tamil Eelam."

The posters were taken down shortly after being discovered.

Similar posters of remembrance have also been seen at Vantharamullai Eastern university and Trincomalee reports LankaSriNews. The posters were taken down my military personnel the newspaper alleges.

Photographs LankaSriNews

The Sri Lankan Students Association of the University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA, organised an awareness event on Sri Lanka’s conflict and ‘post-conflict developments’, reported Colombo page.

The president of the society, Kasun Frenando, said that the event was organised to combat  “a malicious propaganda campaign carried out by the Amnesty International against Sri Lanka.”

The Sri Lankan society event screened the film “Freedom Speaks – Thee unspoken ground realities of Sri Lanka’s Conflict”

The organisation also released a press statement, that disapproved of Amnesty International’s stance, and that urged other Sri Lankan student groups in the U.S and elsewhere to organise events that attempted to improve the image of Sri Lanka.

Referring to Amnesty’s portrayal of footage from a refugee camp in Sri Lanka, the statement read,

“We were shocked and appalled by what we saw. Camps for refugees were made to appear places only for animals to live in. The impression given is totally biased and prejudicial to the reputation of our country.”

Incidentally, the Sri Lankan student’s rebuttal of Amnesty’s stance on the Sri lankan government’s unacceptable demeanour during the final stages of the war, coincided with the release date of the report on the UN actions in Sri Lanka, which outlined several instances of the Sri Lankan government’s disregard for the Tamil civilians.

The newly built memorial stone to mark the grave of Murugathasan Varnakulasingham - the Tamil youth who, outraged at international apathy and inaction in the face of the genocide of Tamils, self-immolated in protest outside the United Nations in Geneva on 12th February 2009 - was unveiled formally on Sunday by his mother, Mrs Varnakulasingham.

A tearful Mrs Varnakulasingham prayed at her son's grave before placing a flower garland over the tombstone.

Candles and flowers were placed on the memorial stone by those present.

The memorial stone was specially designed by the Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO UK) and erected with the support of the Tamil Coordination Committee UK (TCC UK). In a book sculpted at the end of the grave, Murugathasan's parting words are engraved: "the flames over my body will be a torch to guide you through the liberation path."

Speaking to Tamil Guardian on Friday, a TYO UK representative said:

"Murugathasan anna's outrage and agony at seeing the events of 2009 moved Tamil youth around the world. His death is, and always will be a great loss to our nation. Yet, we remain humbled by his conviction, and his passion."

"His determination to speak out against injustice.. against the genocide of our nation, is an inspiration to all of us. Especially to us the youth, and that's why we wanted to honour his memory."

The Sri Lankan President’s visit to Malaysia has been cancelled following strong discontent surrounding the initial announcement of the visit.

The Malaysian Sri Lankan High Commission’s, media affairs counsellor, Rizvi Hassen, confirmed that,

“President Rajapaksa will not be coming due to unavoidable circumstances.”

Rajapaksa was invited to attend the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIFE) in Malaysia.

The invitation caused several protests, from various leaders in the Malaysian Indian Congress community, who also held positions as ministers in parliament.

Commenting on the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib’s decision, Deputy Chief Minister, P Ramasamy said,

“Najib should be criticised for inviting Rajapaksa in the first place.”

The Sri Lanka War Victim Concerned Team (Api) also launched protests in front of the Sri Lankan High Commission. An Api representative, S Barathidasan, voiced strong disapproval of Malaysian links with Sri lanka, stating,

“We want Malaysia to cut its diplomatic ties with Sri Lanka. Malaysia must not recognise that country.”

Sri Lanka has agreed a deal with Iran that allows it to pay Tehran money for oil without breaking the US-led sanctions.

Over Rs 2 billion in unpaid bills will be used for an irrigation project which is funded by Iran.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad pledged $450 million to fund the scheme during his visit in 2008, but Iran has been unable to do so due to a lack of funds.

“Because of the US sanctions there is a delay in transferring funds from Iran to Sri Lanka but both governments have decided to use the money which is to be paid off for the fuel we bought from that country to go ahead with the project,” said Ivan de Silva, Secretary for the Irrigation and Water Resources Management Ministry to the Sunday Times.

“this Report seems to seek to endorse the baseless and discredited allegations in the Darusman Report [UN Panel of Experts report], of an exaggerated civilian casualty figure during the last stages of the terrorist conflict”

"Maaveerar naal serves not only as a reminder for us to call for the end of oppression of Eelam Tamils, but for us, as a Tamil nation, to stand strong and united as we always have to commemorate our brothers and sisters who have sacrificed their lives, their youths and their ambitions for our homeland.

Today, we students have once again reunited to honour thousands of our fallen heroes who have sacrificed their lives for the freedom of Tamil Eelam. It’s heartbreaking to say that all of their graves have now been desecrated and destroyed by the Sri Lankan state. However, our maaveerar will never remain unmarked pages in our history. Each one of these courageous men and women will remain forever engraved in our hearts, serving as pillars of our nation.

To cause the premature death of an innocent person is murder. To cause the premature deaths of large numbers of innocent people on racial and ethnic grounds, to destroy the very fabric of a nation, that is genocide. Faced with this genocide, this massive onslaught against our nation, these men and women displayed a bravery that has been unmatched, and rose up stand as our protectors, our guardians.

We, away from the Sri Lankan government, who live secure in our warm houses, who return in the evening to find hot food and familiar faces waiting for us, are blessed by those who have laboured in the mud, who have known no peace and fought for a crust of bread. This is something that us Tamils should never forget because without their suffering, we will never be where we are today.

Let me remind you that it is me and you who are held hostage, it is me and you who are tortured, it is our brothers and sisters being abducted and raped and the blood dripping from their hands, its mine and yours.

As the future of our homeland, it is our duty to pass on what we have today to our tomorrow especially when our identity is under threat. When so many young men and women made such valiant sacrifices... gave up everything they had for us... we need to ensure that our lives here are not pettily squandered... and the sacrifices that they made were not in vain.

Bearing this in mind, when we all walk out this door today and someone asks us, ‘Why are there events such as Breaking the Silence and youth Maveerar Naal’, our answer to their question will be ‘we do such events because We ask you not to turn a blind eye, but we ask you to break the silence’."

 - A speech delivered on behalf of King’s College London’s Tamil Society, at this week's Youth Maaverar Naal held in London.