An Indian student who has been on hunger strike in Tamil Nadu was hospitalised on Monday, as protests calling for an independent international investigation into genocide in Sri Lanka and a referendum on the island continued.

The annual celebration of Commonwealth Day saw protests by British Tamils, who called on the body to suspend Sri Lanka and not let President Mahinda Rajapaksa take chairmanship of the Commonwealth.

The protest, organised by the British Tamils Forum, took place outside Marlborough House, where a reception for representatives of member governments was held.

Sri Lanka was represented by External Affairs Minister GL Peiris.

The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper criticised Sri Lanka in his statement to mark Commonwealth Day.

Sri Lanka, the only country he highlighted, has “failed to uphold the Commonwealth’s core values” despite being the current chair of the Commonwealth, the Prime Minister said.

Minister for Construction Wimal Weerawansa has accused the US embassy in Colombo of promoting the use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook to overthrow Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government.

Speaking at a rally in the south of the island, Weerawansa said that the US is holding social media awareness programmes in order to change things in Sri Lanka, adding that this was the method used in the Arab Spring.

A Sri Lankan school has banned the wearing of the hijab, the Islamic headscarf.

The Colombo Gazette reported that the principal forced two girl to remove their hijabs if they wanted to attend classes.

Anti-Muslim sentiment is seen to be growing larger. Earlier this month a mosque was ordered closed by a court in Colombo, after complaints and protests by Buddhist monks.