It is reported that the military has ramped up its security and surveillance activities in the North and East ahead of the Maaveerar Naal celebrations on 27 November. Intelligence personnel are said to be observing all activities and any entry of newcomers to these areas. Maaveerar Naal is a remembrance day observed by Sri Lankan Tamils to commemorate the deaths of armed LTTE militants. The government often crackdown on such events every year held following the end of the war in 2009.
The military is being accused of blocking preparations after a group of workers from the Tamil National People’s Front were blocked from clearing the road near a cemetery where LTTE cadres’ remains are buried. The group had organised a shramadana on November 2, to clear and clear the area near a cemetery in Kopai. However, military personnel arriving on the scene had asked them to stop the cleaning activities, it is alleged.
The group then complained to the Kopai Police. Officers from the Police arrived on the scene and requested the military personnel to leave the location. The group is claiming the military also attempted to intimidate them by gathering photos and videos of those gathered for the shramadana.
