Canadian Tamils have been gathering in Toronto's Markham Fairgrounds since early Friday morning to commemorate Maaveerar Naal.

Events began with the lighting of the commemorative flame at 7.35am EST to coincide with the time of 18.05 in the homeland, the traditional moment for lighting the flame to mark the death of Lt Shankar, the first Maaveerar.

A live-stream of the ongoing event can be watched below.

Maaveerar Naal was commemorated in secret in Amparai on Friday, alongside other taking place across the North-East.

A group of Tamil youth laid the Tamil Eelam flag, alongside the gloriosa lilies and lit deepams to commemorate those that died in the Tamil struggle for liberation.

The event was held at an undisclosed location in the Amparai forests, located in the Eastern Province.

Maaveerar Naal was commemorated in Switzerland at the Forum Fribourg.

The event was attended by thousands of Tamils living across Switzerland and featured the traditional ceremony of raising flags and lighting flames.

An 18-year old Tamil student committed suicide this morning, in protest at the continued detention of Tamil political prisoners.

Rajeswaran Senthuran, a student at Kokkuvil Hindu College jumped in front of a train at Kondavil railway station near Jaffna.

Several posters have again appeared in the premises of the University of Jaffna, despite an increased military presence in the vicinity.

Students at the University of Jaffna held a demonstration calling the Sri Lankan government to account, after a school student committed suicide over the ongoing Tamil political prisoners crisis.

@uthayashalin

Demonstrators called for justice for the death of 18-year-old Rajeswaran Senthuran, who took his own life in protest at the Sri Lankan government's failure to release Tamil political prisoners.

Rajeswaran Senthuran, a student at Kokkuvil Hindu College jumped in front of a train at Kondavil railway station near Jaffna.

Photographs: Tamil Guardian

Students at Jaffna University cut a cake and put up posters around the campus celebrating the 61st birthday of LTTE leader Veluppillai Prabhakaran today.

A cake was cut on campus and sweets handed out to students, whilst posters celebrating the occasion were also seen. One of the posters was signed off by 4th year students at the university.

Northern Provincial Council member M. Shivajilingam said the Tamil people must be allowed to remember their heroes, as Sri Lankan military intelligence in Jaffna increases ahead of Maaveerar Naal tomorrow.

Mr Shivajilingam called on the government to allow the Tamil people to light lamps and remember their war dead in homes and places of worship across the North-East – a practise that was banned under the previous government.

“If the JVP are able to hold commemoration events in November, we can’t we?” asked the councillor.

Photograph: Uthayan

A set of posters marking LTTE leader Veluppillai Prabhakaran’s 61st birthday have been found in Kilinochchi on Thursday, reports Uthayan.

Publishing the posters on its front page, the Uthayan stated that the posters were discovered and seized by the Sri Lankan police on Thursday.

Sri Lankan military intelligence personnel have threatened security guards working at Jaffna University to give up any information regarding Maaveerar Naal posters, which have appeared across the campus.

The interrogation of the campus security guards on Thursday comes after posters calling for the commemoration of Maaveerar Naal, appeared across the university last week.

All schools across the Northern Province will be shut on Friday in order to commemorate the death of a Tamil student who committed suicide in protest at the continued detention of Tamil political prisoners.

The Northern Provincial Council's Education Secretary Ravindran made the announcement as hundreds of students at Jaffna University called for justice for the death of 18-year-old Rajeswaran Senthuran, who took his own life in protest at the Sri Lankan government's failure to release Tamil political prisoners.

Friday also marks the Tamil day of remembrance, Maaveerar Naal.

Britain will discuss Sri Lanka’s progress on implementation of the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on accountability for mass atrocities at the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta.

Speaking to The Island a British High Commission spokesperson said “the UK has welcomed the commitments made by the Sri Lankan government to the UN Human Rights Council to address issues of reconciliation, accountability and human rights” and “we believe it is vital that the legacy of the conflict in Sri Lanka is properly addressed, to allow the country to fulfill its huge potential”.

The spokesperson went on to add:

“Sri Lanka is not on the formal agenda at the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta, but we look forward to discussing progress in our meetings with the Sri Lankan delegation”.

Sri Lanka’s Police Spokesperson Ruwan Gunasekara told the island that the police would not allow anyone to commemorate Maaveerar Naal on November 27.