Comrade Viraj Mendis, arrived in the U.K in 1973 as a student and were there until he was forcefully deported by the British government to Sri Lanka in 1989. During the course of these years, Viraj developed ties with revolutionary movements in the U.K and advocated solidarity towards the liberation struggle of the Eelam-Tamils. Likewise, he spent his one year of deportation in Sri Lanka to work towards building solidarity for the LTTE and the Eelam-Tamils amongst the Sinhalese. His efforts created the conditions for the emergence of a small number of Sinhala revolutionaries who would follow his path towards embracing the Eelam-Tamil liberation struggle. These Sinhala revolutionaries would also over the course of the years be forced into exile and have since worked alongside Viraj.