Tamils gathered in front of the Jaffna Public Library this week to commemorate the 43^rd anniversary of the treasured institution being set ablaze by Sri Lankan security forces and state-sponsored mobs.

Ahead of Sri Lanka’s upcoming presidential election, the Tamil People’s National Front, has begun its campaign to call on Eelam Tamils to boycott the elections.

TNPF commences campaign in Jaffna calling on the Eelam Tamil nation to boycott Sri Lanka's Presidential election. pic.twitter.com/CRHYobya43

Recent weeks have seen several senior politicians from the two leading opposition parties in the UK, reiterate the importance of ensuring Sri Lanka is referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Keir Starmer, the man widely tipped to become Britain’s next prime minister, called on the ruling government to push through a referral two years ago. Support for such a move has since grown. As Starmer released a statement to commemorate the Tamil Genocide, Ed Davey of the Liberal Democrats committed his party to sending Sri Lanka to the ICC, “so at long last there can be accountability for the genocide committed against Tamil people”. No matter who occupies Downing Street next month, steps must be undertaken to ensure the situation in Sri Lanka is swiftly sent to The Hague. Justice for atrocities must finally be delivered.

A senior Sri Lankan official told reporters in Colombo that several US Congress members have been “bought over with money” by the Tamil diaspora and called for an extension of a ban on several US-based groups.

Sarath Weerasekera, the Chairman of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security and former Public Security Minister told reporters in Colombo that members of Congress had been “bought” after a resolution was introduced calling for self-determination for Eelam Tamils and a democratic independence referendum.

Tamil media workers across the North-East held remembrance events to mark 20 years since the assassination of Tamil journalist Aiyathurai Nadesan.

The Sri Lankan government officially announced a ‘day of mourning’ for the Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi earlier this month, with Colombo’s foreign minister leading a high level delegation to Tehran to attend the funeral.

The announcement of the “national mourning day” on May 21, came just three days after the North-East marked Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. Commemoration activities to remember the Tamil war dead were marred by Sri Lankan police attempting to intimidate, disrupt and even arrest Tamils.

May 31, 1981 marked not only the burning of the Jaffna Public Library, but the beginning of a week-long rampage of violence by Sri Lankan security forces and Sinhala mobs which devastated the peninsula.

The violence and devastation was largely ignored by the island’s mainstream press, and even in Tamil Nadu reports did not reach the media for many days, as a result of the shutdown of press throughout the North and general censorship imposed by the Sri Lankan government. Notably, the office and presses of Eelanadu, a prolific Tamil daily coming out of Jaffna since 1959, were burnt to the ground by the mobs. The famous Poobalasingam Book depot was also burnt.

At midnight on May 31, 1981, the Jaffna Public Library, the crucible of Tamil literature and heritage, was set ablaze by Sri Lankan security forces and state-sponsored mobs. The burning has since been marked by Eelam Tamils as an act of genocide.

‘Ray of Hope’, a documentary detailing the journey of former Canadian MP for Scarborough- Rouge River, Rathika Sitsabaiesan, to Sri Lanka’s and the island’s troubled history with genocide and accountability, was screened for at the Frontline Club in London on Tuesday night.

Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) parliamentarian Kulasingam Thileeban has reportedly allocated nearly Rs 1 million in aid of development activities that will allow Sinhalese settlers to relocate to the army-sponsored Nandimithragaama in Vanni.