Prarameswaran Subramaniam, 28, and Sivatharsan Sivakumaraval, 21, from south London continue their hunger strike outside the Houses of Parliament.They were seriously ill with dangerously low blood sugar last night as hundreds of protesters gathered opposite the Houses of Parliament for a fifth day, demanding a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.

A week long protest initiated by British Tamil students on last Monday, the largest in Parliament Square since demonstrations there were banned in 2005, is due to culminate today in a march through Central London. The protest rally starts from Embankment to Hyde Park in Central London is expected to draw large crowd.

The British Tamil youth uprising against the Sri Lankan genocide has created a new dimension to the Tamil struggle. Worldwide Tamil Youth have come out spontaneously to fight against the genocide back home.

The two hunger strikers have vowed on Tuesday to go without food or water until they died unless the international community intervened to bring ceasefire in Sri Lanka and save Tamils from the genocidal Sri Lankan government.

They were persuaded to drink a small amount of water early yesterday morning to prevent them going into unconsciousness and to avoid paramedics intervening and taking them to hospital. The London MPs Siobhain McDonagh and Simon Hughes had visited them and promised to try to take them to the UN.

Subramaniyan, who arrived in Britain only three weeks ago, said that five members of his family had been killed within the past few days by the Sri Lankan Army attack. "My mother, sisters, my brother and his son are dead. I want answers for my family’s death, otherwise I will not leave here.”

Sivakumaravel, a British citizen now, who migrated from Sri Lanka five years ago, claimed that the Sri Lankan Army had killed many hundreds of children in the designated safe zone in  northern Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan government says, they are fighting against terrorists. "Do you think the kids living there are terrorists," he asked. His mother sat beside him in tears, unable to speak.

Other protestors also had horrific stories to tell about their relatives back home. Protestors fear for the life of their relatives. People struck in the narrow strip of coastal land in Northern Sri Lanka are living in bunkers for most of their time. With the Sri Lanka military closing in the safe zone they fear for their life.

The Tamil Diaspora deny the claims by the Sri Lankan military that LTTE is using civilians as human shields and deliberately preventing civilians from leaving the area. They claim LTTE as the freedom fighters of Tamils, the LTTE cadres have come from nowhere they are from the same society. The people their are the mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers of the freedom fighters. How can the international community ask them to leave the area, demands the protesters.

Mr Hughes, the Liberal Democrat MP said yesterday, “There’s very wide political support for urgent action in Sri Lanka to avert a terrible crisis in lives and liberty.”

He added, “I hope, by the end of today, a political strategy for delegations to the UN, Washington, Brussels and the Commonwealth secretariat in London will be in place to take place next week.

“The evidence from Sri Lanka is that we’re on the edge of more serious loss of life and real urgency is needed if we are to have a chance of avoiding more bloodshed and the loss of hundreds more lives.”

Demonstrators believe that Britain has a responsibility to save its former colony because it did nothing to protect the rights of Tamils in the constitution, when it left the country in 1948. Ceylon as known previously obtained independence in 1948 from Britain, but took away the freedom of rights of the Tamils, the inheritance of North and East of Ceylon. The island, has been ruled by the Sinhalese majority since independence and Tamils feel they are oppressed from the beginning of independence.

Police expect most of the protesters to leave Parliament Square today and join a planned , though the hunger strikers will remain. If large numbers return the police will have to review their strategy as the protests, though peaceful, remain unlawful.