A flame was lit in remembrance of the Maaveerar who gave their lives to the Tamil struggle for liberation at Pandivirichan Thuyilum Illam today. 

Families of fallen LTTE cadres, activists and parliamentarian Charles Nirmalanathan all paid tribute to the Maaveerar before they began cleaning the Thuyilum Illam to prepare for Maaveerar Naal.

More than 250 Maaveerar families gathered in Palai, Kilinochchi today to remember their family members who sacrificed their lives for the Tamil struggle for self-determination. 

The Sri Lankan police disrupted locals as they cleaned Kanchikudiyaru Thuyilum Illam in Amparai last week. 

Despite their interference, locals and parliamentarians S Kajendren and T Kalaiyarasan continued to clean the former cemetery in preparation of Maaveerar Naal. 

Students at the University of Jaffna paid tribute to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres who gave their lives to the Tamil struggle for liberation today to mark the first day of Maaveerar remembrance week. 

The Sri Lankan military have set up more checkpoints in the already heavily militarised North-East as Maaveerar remembrance week begins. 

The checkpoints have been set up on main roads, including the A9, with vehicles being subjected to intense searches. Checkpoints have also been set up in Elephant Pass, Mankulam and Omanthai where the military have been noting vehicle registration numbers and passenger details. 

The first day of Maaveerar remembrance week, the week leading up to Maaveerar Naal, was marked in Point Pedro this morning. 

Plaques inscribed with the names of all those who sacrificed their lives, have been erected at a memorial hall on Paruthithurai Court road.

Preparations for Maaveerar Week - or Great Heroes Week- have been completed at the University of Jaffna as the Tamil nation remember those who sacrificed their lives in the Tamil struggle for liberation. 

Speaking at Stanford University’s Centre for South Asia, Senior Lecturer of Political Economy at the University of Jaffna, Ahilan Kadirgamar, and Tamil Guardian editorial board member, Viruben Nandakumar, discuss Sri Lanka’s current economic crisis; the expansion of the military establishment; and the island’s international relations. 

Responding to the recent visit of Canada’s business delegation to Sri Lanka, MP Gary Anandasangaree expressed his disappointment in Canadian MPs seeking investment “in a failed state with a horrendous human rights record and endemic corruption.”