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.

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.

In a statement released as member states prepare to meet and discuss the resolution in Geneva, the TNA outlined ongoing rights violations occurring the North and East of the island, including “mass scale appropriation of land by the military” and “sexual violence targeting Tamil women in the North and East”.

"An earlier draft [of the resolution] has leaked, which is a little bit of a diplomatic fudge really. It doesn't call for the setting up of an independent mechanism or commission as many people hoped."

“What did the Congress government to do on the Sri Lankan Tamils Issue? It gave military training and weapons to Lankan government. It was responsible for the killing of Tamils there.“