JDSLanka

Ten students among 25 arrested in panic-hit Jaffna, more arrests imminent

At least ten more Jaffna University students and 15 other men – aged between 19 and 55 – have been arrested by Sri Lanka’s notorious counter-terrorism police unit on Thursday, on charges of alleged links with the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, creating a panic wave among the parents and students’ society in the heavily-guarded northern Jaffna peninsula.

According to sources in Jaffna, special teams of the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) from Vavuniya have made these arrests from Kopay, Chavakachcheri, Point-Pedro, Valvettithurai, Chunnakam, Jaffna and Chankanai areas. They have all been arrested under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

Top TID officials in Colombo have confirmed the arrest of 25 men from Jaffna, claiming that the arrests were made based on intelligence reports.

Apart from the University students, many among those arrested were former members of the Tamil Tiger rebels, who have resettled in the peninsula after having been through the government's 'rehabilitation program'. 

The Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Jaffna said that the relatives of the seven freshly arrested men have lodged complaints with the HRC.

Academic sources of the Jaffna University said that on the request of the University Administration, the Jaffna police on Tuesday “has sent a name list of ten students from various faculties here”.

VC succumbs to police pressure

“Of the ten wanted students in the police list, five are attached to the Jaffna Medical Faculty, three are from the Science Faculty while the remaining two students are from Management Faculty. The Vice Chancellor and some top Professors have more or less compelled the above students to immediately report to the Jaffna police station along with their parents,” the University Academic sources told the JDS via phone.

“When all five Medical Faculty students visited the police station, they have been arrested and handed over to a TID team from Vavuniya. The University administration demanding the students to surrender to the police has resulted in a heated arguments and counter arguments among the students and the academic staff” one source said, adding that the military appeared to have almost succeeded in taking over the University administration.

Some of the university professors and lecturers have been accused by student sources for compromising the independence and integrity of the University by carrying out orders of the police and the military.

More arrests imminent

Meanwhile, a latest report said that the local police stations have also sent letters written purely in Sinhala language to several other people in Jaffna, demanding them to immediately report to their respective police stations. Many among those received such are 'rehabilitated' former LTTE cadres and families lived in the former LTTE controlled-areas in the Wanni, before the government declared military victory over the Tamil Tigers in May 2009.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA), P. Ariyanethran took up the issue in Parliament on Thursday said that “there was no guarantee for the Tamil youth living in the north and the East.”

“Our youth who went through the government’s rehabilitation process are going missing. They are still being picked up by the white-vans. These are the reasons why the people are feeling Sri Lanka towards Australia. We request the Australian government to stop deporting people from Australia, to avoid them getting killed or disappeared on deportation,”

Secretary of the Jaffna Students’ Union Paramalingham Darshananth (24) of Kantharmadam, Arts Faculty Union President Kanakasundaraswami Jenamejeyan (24) of Puthukkudiyiruppu, Science Faculty Union member Shamugam Solomon (24) of Jaffna and Ganeshamoorthy Sutharshan (22) of Urumpirai were arrested by  the police on Saturday (1).

Seven more men were arrested on Tuesday (4) and the police is conducting interrogation after detaining them under the PTA.

© JDS