நந்திக்கொடி நாயகர்கள், கை கழுவும் பிலாத்துக்கள்!
(JUSTA)
President should intervene as ‘no official here seems able to deal with university students
problem’ – Jaffna citizens
Sunda Times lk
Academics, clergy and members of the public want the Police and military banned from entering
the premises of the Jaffna campus, including the student hostels. If they insisted on visiting the
campus, they should seek the permission of the university authorities. Two separate letters and a
statement to this effect were issued last week.
Writing to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association
(JUSTA) warned that “dragging innocent students through police stations and cells – as in the
1970s and 1980s – would harden them and breed contempt for the law and its enforcers.”
“Where there should be trust and co-operation, there is fear, resentment and then defiance,” the
association said. “Surely, we do not want the consequences of that again.”
In a separate communication, members of the clergy and the public expressed concern that Jaffna
University students had been arrested for campaigning against alleged Army human rights
violations.
Describing the arrests as “baseless and politically motivated”, 121 persons, some representing
organisations, signed a document urging the Government to release the students, as there was no
clear evidence of wrong-doing. They also demanded legal assistance and family visits for the
detainees and an assurance that the students in custody would be treated well.
The statement was signed by religious leaders, including the Roman Catholic bishops of Mannar,
Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Galle and Kurunegala. Jaffna University students were boycotting classes
to protest these arrests and “acts of intimidation and attacks carried out by the Army,” the
statement pointed out, adding that many students had left their hostels, fearing further assaults or
arrest.
“The situation in the Jaffna University remains tense and volatile,” the statement said, adding that
the actions of the security forces would disrupt life at the university, academic work and threaten
the safety and security of the students on the campus.
The Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association has called for intervention by President
Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Association said it wasforced to write to the President because no
official in Jaffna seemed “able to deal with the problem or to adequately comprehend our
President Rajapaksa has been in politics for several decades and was at the centre of two
insurgencies in the South, the Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association said. The
President should therefore know that the defeat of an insurgent force does not extinguish or
eliminate the feelings or causes that gave rise to the insurgent movement, the JUSTA observed.
“Such feelings are not a police matter, but are rather to be handled as part of the political task of
reconciliation and rebuilding,” it was pointed out.
In an open letter to the Jaffna University Vice-Chancellor, the University Teachers’ Association
of Jaffna (UTAJ) called for the “immediate removal of military, Police and security checkpoints
around the campus (set up after November 27).”
It also demanded a guarantee that no outsider, particularly military or Police, be allowed to enter
the Jaffna University or hostels without permission from the university authorities.
`` பல்கலைக் கழக மாணவர்கள் மாவீரர் தினத்தை நினைவு கூர எடுத்த முடிவுக்கும் பல்கலைக் கழக சமூகத்துக்கும் இடையில் எந்த உடன்பாடும்,ஒத்த கருத்தும் இருக்கவில்லை. இதன் விளைவுகள் மாணவர்களுக்கு எச்சரிக்கப்பட்டு அவர்களுடனான பிரச்சனை சுமூகமாகத் தீர்க்கப்பட்டது.``Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association
President should intervene as ‘no official here seems able to deal with university students
problem’ – Jaffna citizens
Sunda Times lk
Academics, clergy and members of the public want the Police and military banned from entering
the premises of the Jaffna campus, including the student hostels. If they insisted on visiting the
campus, they should seek the permission of the university authorities. Two separate letters and a
statement to this effect were issued last week.
Writing to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association
(JUSTA) warned that “dragging innocent students through police stations and cells – as in the
1970s and 1980s – would harden them and breed contempt for the law and its enforcers.”
“Where there should be trust and co-operation, there is fear, resentment and then defiance,” the
association said. “Surely, we do not want the consequences of that again.”
In a separate communication, members of the clergy and the public expressed concern that Jaffna
University students had been arrested for campaigning against alleged Army human rights
violations.
Describing the arrests as “baseless and politically motivated”, 121 persons, some representing
organisations, signed a document urging the Government to release the students, as there was no
clear evidence of wrong-doing. They also demanded legal assistance and family visits for the
detainees and an assurance that the students in custody would be treated well.
The statement was signed by religious leaders, including the Roman Catholic bishops of Mannar,
Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Galle and Kurunegala. Jaffna University students were boycotting classes
to protest these arrests and “acts of intimidation and attacks carried out by the Army,” the
statement pointed out, adding that many students had left their hostels, fearing further assaults or
arrest.
“The situation in the Jaffna University remains tense and volatile,” the statement said, adding that
the actions of the security forces would disrupt life at the university, academic work and threaten
the safety and security of the students on the campus.
The Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association has called for intervention by President
Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Association said it wasforced to write to the President because no
official in Jaffna seemed “able to deal with the problem or to adequately comprehend our
concern.”
The association said there was no agreement or consensus among the university community on the action taken by some students to observe “Heroes’ Day.” The significance of the actions had to be discussed and differences of opinion sorted out, they said.In the absence of a political settlement to the problems in the North and East, “residual influences” have been allowed to legitimise November 27 as a day of defiance, the association added.
President Rajapaksa has been in politics for several decades and was at the centre of two
insurgencies in the South, the Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association said. The
President should therefore know that the defeat of an insurgent force does not extinguish or
eliminate the feelings or causes that gave rise to the insurgent movement, the JUSTA observed.
“Such feelings are not a police matter, but are rather to be handled as part of the political task of
reconciliation and rebuilding,” it was pointed out.
In an open letter to the Jaffna University Vice-Chancellor, the University Teachers’ Association
of Jaffna (UTAJ) called for the “immediate removal of military, Police and security checkpoints
around the campus (set up after November 27).”
It also demanded a guarantee that no outsider, particularly military or Police, be allowed to enter
the Jaffna University or hostels without permission from the university authorities.
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