Sri Lankan soldiers at the Koppay army camp which is partly built over an LTTE cemetery have been increasing security and surveillance around the camp and blocking access to surrounding public roads.

- Thusiyan Nandakumar, Jaffna.

As the sun began to set over the Vanni last November, thousands of locals stood before the crumbled remains of gravestones at an LTTE cemetery in Kilinochchi. The graves had been bulldozed by the Sri Lankan military years before. Few had ventured to the site since, fearful of reprisals from security forces. But last year, with the military seemingly restrained, residents of the town cleared the rubble and constructed a makeshift monument with the remains. At 18:05 precisely, they lit lamps and played a song in remembrance of those buried there. It marked the first time since the brutal end of the armed conflict on the island that Tamils had gathered to publicly mark Heroes' Day – or Maaveerar Naal.

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils called on Sri Lanka’s government to allow Tamils to freely remember their war-dead in the North-East.

Condemning the government’s destruction of cemeteries in the North-East, the cross-party group of British parliamentarians said they stood with the Tamil community as they “rebuild their destroyed cemeteries as part of ongoing remembrance efforts.

In a statement released for Maaveerar Naal, the Chair of the parliamentary group, Paul Scully MP said,

The UNP minister, Sajith Premadasa called for anyone who does not accept the Sri Lankan flag to be denied citizenship. 

Highlighting the Northern Province Minister of Education's refusal to hoist the flag at a public event in Vavuniya earlier this month, Mr Premadasa told an audience in Hambantota said, "those unwilling of the country’s national anthem and flag should be denied citizenship."

"If an individual makes such statements then he or she does not have the right to be a citizen of this country," he was quoted by News Radio as saying. 

The Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchu on Friday held a public discussion on the proposed new Sri Lankan constitution. 

The meeting, led by the TNA leader, R Sampanthan and the ITAK leader Maavai Senathiraja, was heated with youth present criticising the ineptitude of older members who were elected for internal administrative bodies previously. 

Students at the University of the Jaffna on Friday decorated the grounds in red and yellow flags ahead of the Tamil National Remembrance Day (Maaveerar Naal) on November 27, with banners in remembrance of the Maaveerar. 

The number of arrests in connection with gang violence in Jaffna that police have reported do not match up with court registrar records in the district, giving rise to further criticism by local civil society that security forces are using the ruse of heightened criminal activity to justify a heavy police and military presence in the run up to Maaveerar Naal.

Last week, the police spokesperson Ruwan Gunawardene said that 41 individuals had been arrested in relation with gang violence and sword attacks. Later, Jaffna District’s Assistant Deputy Inspector General of Police stated that 81 had been arrested so far in recent crackdowns on gang violence.

Tamil fishermen in Batticaloa protested on Tuesday demanding their rights and livelihood be protected from tourism and encroachment from non-native fishermen.

The leader of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi, Maavai Senathirajah on Wednesday called on Tamils across the world to commemorate Maaveerar Naal on November 27 as a sacred day, inviting Tamils in the North-East to honour those who sacrificed their lives to the Tamil nation at Thuyilum Illams. 

"Without mixing politics into it, people should together to commemorate Maaveerar Naal as a sacred day," he told a press conference in Jaffna. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will double its sovereign assistance during 2018-2022 said the bank’s vice-president Wencai Zhang.

Speaking ahead of his official tour of Sri Lanka, Mr Zhang said,

“ADB proposes to double its sovereign assistance to $800 million -$1 billion per year during 2018-2022. Hence the ADB will continue to invest in programs and projects in sectors where we have strong operational experience while exploring new areas that will put the country further towards reaching an Upper Middle Income Country (UMIC) status.”

Outlining the ADB’s two main focus points in Sri Lanka, Mr Zhang said,