'Don’t even dream of getting students released': SL Army

A top Sri Lankan Army Commander has told the Jaffna University dons on Friday that their efforts to get four university students, currently detained in the Welikanda military detention camp, to release in order to resume the academic activities of the university would not take place even in their wildest dreams.

“If you think that you would restart the academic activities only after the release of these four students, it would never happen. Do not even dream of it,” the Jaffna University academic sources who took part in the meeting quoted the Jaffna Security Forces Commander, Maj Gen Hathurusinghe as saying.

Detained under PTA

Maj. Gen. Hathurusinghe met a group of top University academic staff and the parents of the arrested students at the Palaly Military base with regard to the resumption of the academic activities of the university in the island’s war-hit northern peninsula.

24 year-old Medical Faculty student Darshananth of Kantharmadam, Arts Faculty Union President Kanakasundaraswami Jenamejeyan (24) of Puthukkudiyiruppu, Science Faculty Union member Shanmugam Solomon (24) of Jaffna were arrested along with Students’ Union leader V. Bavanandan on December 29 and 30 by the Sri Lankan police in Jaffna and later taken away to Vavuniya by its Terrorism Investigation Division (TID).

The arrests took place after the University students lit the traditional commemoration lamp on November 27 somewhere in the university premises to remember tens of thousands of people killed during the three decades long ethnic war.

They are now being kept at the Welikanda Military Detention Camp under the provisions of the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and the fellow university students are boycotting their academic activities for the past two weeks, demanding their early release.

Give up determination before release

“The Jaffna Commander was angrily insisting that the University administration should take all actions to resume academic activities immediately without wasting our time on getting the students released. This is nothing but a dangerous and open military intervention with the routine activities of our University,” the sources told the JDS via phone from Jaffna.   

“These students continue to remain in our custody because they are repeatedly saying that the LTTE leader Prabhakaran is still alive, he is their leader and he would regain control of the north-east very soon. I can help to get them released if their parents could convince them to say that they have no links with the LTTE and would not get involved in such activities in the future,” Maj.Gen. Hathurusinghe has told the University dons at the meeting.

Claiming that he knew Darshananth and Jenamejeyan eight months ago and that he advised them to focus only on their studies, Maj.Gen. Hathurusinghe has said that they “would not be released unless and until they give up their determination and plead they are not guilty”.

“We are not against any religious activities, but we will not allow LTTE’s Heroes Day to be commemorated in any part of the country,” the Jaffna Commander has said.

'Release of charge': HRW

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Watch on Thursday urged the Sri Lankan authorities to “immediately release or credibly charge” these four students.

"Arresting four students without charge and sending them off for 'rehabilitation' sends a dangerous message that any Tamil can be detained arbitrarily and indefinitely,” HRW’s Asia Director, Brad Adams, said in a statement.

“The Sri Lankan authorities should realize that such actions generate legitimate grievances, not reconciliation… The Sri Lankan government needs to recognize that engaging in peaceful activities that conflict with the government's views is an exercise of basic rights, not a criminal offense,” Adams said in his statement.

Photo courtesy: Tamilnet

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Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka

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