Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran paid tribute to the LTTE’s Captain Pandithar at the fighter's family home this morning, as part of events leading up to Maaveerar Naal this week.

The Kayts Magistrate's Court has imposed a ban on observing Maaveerar Naal and other remembrance events in Jaffna from today until November 27.

An order was was issued by the court yesterday evening under the Covid-19 Isolation Act after Kayts police filed a case to ban any commemoration events. The police said they had received information that arrangements were being made to observe Maaveerar Naal in Velanani and Pungudutivu. 

This follows a series of court bans across the North-East prohibiting Tamil people from taking part in Maaveerar Naal commemorations. 

Sinnathurai Maheswari, the mother of Sinnathurai Raveenthiran, otherwise known as LTTE’s senior Captain Pandithar, pleaded that no one should be banned from paying homage to their deceased children.

Maheswari, hailing from Valvettithurai filed a petition at Jaffna High Court seeking an injunction not to attempt a ban on Maaveerar Naal events.

“Thirty years have passed since my son died and every year," she told reporters. 

In the lead up to Maaveerar Naal, UK Tamil students and the Tamil Youth Organisation UK (TYO UK) have organised a virtual remembrance event to commemorate those who sacrificed their lives in the Tamil struggle for freedom.

The event has been organised alongside 23 Tamil societies. 

Watch the live event below: 

????, ???????, ??????, ?????? ???????????? ?????? ???? ?????????? ???????? ???????? ??????? ??? ?????? ????????? ?????????... ???? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ??????? ????, ???? ???????? ?????????????. #ReleasePerarivalan pic.twitter.com/bLEuDbx5sy

In the build-up to Maaveerar Naal next week, a Sri Lankan parliamentarian claimed that there were “no martyrs” in the armed conflict, “only terrorists” and the army.

At parliament on Wednesday, General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Anura Priyadarshana Yapa claimed that there were no martyrs, and stated that LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran “did a lot of harm to Tamils and not any good,” according to Colombo Gazette..

Sri Lankan police officers interrogated Tamil Guardian’s Batticaloa correspondent and Batticaloa Press Club (BPC) Secretary, Selvakumar Nilanthan at his home, for highlighting the military-assisted Sinhala settlements on Tamil cattle farmers’ land in Batticaloa.

Nilanthan, who revealed that land grabs in Mylanthanaimadu and Periya Maadhavanai, Batticaloa has resulted in Tamil cattle farmers “facing grave economic problems”, was questioned for nearly two hours by four policeman on Monday (16^th November). During the interrogation, he was asked to disclose the names of his colleagues who had been assigned to the story and the websites that publish his articles.

The Mannar Magistrates court imposed a ban on observing Maaveerar Naal across the Mannar district. Vavuniya Magistrate Court issued orders today to ban eight persons from taking part in Maaveerar Naal commemoration activities, including TNPF MP Selvarajah Kajendran. 

The court passed a judgement yesterday that effectively enforces a ban on commemorational activities in Mannar from 21^st to 27^th November 2020, after Mannar Police filed a case requesting Maaveerar Naal remembrances to be prohibited. Sri Lankan police across the Tamil homeland have appealed to local districts court in an attempt to prevent Maaveerar Naal commemorations this year.

Sinhala settlers in Batticaloa cultivating corn on grazing land have threatened Tamil livestock farmers and killed several cows that were grazing on the disputed land.

Livestock numbering around 350,000 belonging to 991 Tamil families currently use the grazing land in the Mylanthanaimadu and Periya Maadhavanai areas of the Batticaloa District. According to TNPF MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, the land was allocated by the Sri Lankan government in a cabinet decision in 2011.

Sri Lankan police disrupted Tamils who were conducting volunteer services in preparation for Maaveerar Naal at the Maveerar Thuyilum Illam in Theravil, Visuvamadu on Monday.