Sri Lankan police across Batticaloa have arrested 19 people for allegedly posting birthday wishes online for Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and have earmarked a further 55 people for arrest.

The police made the arrests yesterday citing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and have strictly been monitoring and tracking all personnel across the Batticaloa district who made posts for Prabhakaran's 66th birthday or posted LTTE songs and logos.

Dozens of Sri Lankan soldiers surrounded a home in Mullaitivu this evening as a private Maaveerar Naal commemoration was taking place, in an act of intimidation amidst a military crackdown in the North-East.

Diaspora Tamils gathered across the world to observe Maaveerar Naal and pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives in the Tamil struggle for freedom. 

See events from around the world below.

British Tamils commemorate Maaveerar Naal

Several Tamil newspapers marked Maaveerar Naal on their front pages today, despite the Sri Lankan military blocking commemoration events.

The commemoration by the Tamil media houses comes as Sri Lankan courts barred Maaveerar Naal events and the Sri Lankan military ramped up its presence in the Tamil homeland, blocking access to LTTE cemeteries.

See a selection of newspapers and their front pages below.

As coronavirus pandemic regulations restrict mass gatherings, British Tamils are holding an online commemorative event to mark Maaveerar Naal today.

Watch proceedings live above.

The Sri Lankan army threatened business owners in Mullaitivu who had closed in respect of Maaveerar Naal, the Tamil national remembrance day of fallen LTTE fighters.

Amidst an intensifying crackdown in the North-East over the commemoration of Maaveerar Naal, this year marks the first time since 2016 that Tamils have been forbidden from mourning their loved ones at their thuyilum illams (resting places). 

Several arrests have taken place and homes have been raided across the North-East today, as the Sri Lankan military began a crackdown in the Tamil homeland, as Eelam Tamils around the world commemorate Maaveerar Naal.

Access to the destroyed cemeteries where tens of thousands of Tamil fighters were buried across the North-East has been blocked off by the Sri Lankan military, as a flurry of court orders last week banned commemorative events from taking place.

Though private events were allowed, the Sri Lankan security forces carried out several raids, arrests and were heavily deployed. Amongst those arrested is a Jaffna-based priest, who had set up for a remembrance event at the Bishop of Jaffna’s home.

The Mannar Magistrate Court extended its order to ban the commemoration of Maaveerar Naal in its jurisdiction yesterday. 

The court had earlier forbidden the remembrance of fallen soldiers citing coronavirus restrictions. 

Tamils in Jaffna lit candles and cut a cake in secret yesterday to mark the 66th birthday of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Whilst in previous years more elaborate celebrations have taken place, amidst a Sri Lankan military crackdown, cakes were cut in secret on Thursday. 

Retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara and long time supporter of the Rajapaksas, was recently sworn in as the new Minister of Public Security, according to President’s Media Division. 

Earlier this year, Weerasekara pledged to strip the 13th Amendement of clauses that would be crucial to establishing local control and provincial councils.