Asymmetrical police arrests, prosecutions

A heartening aspect as regards the unrest in our universities is that the Higher Education Minister and the Vice Chancellors are taking appropriate, meaningful and ‘no-nonsense’ measures to bring the situation under control. It is clear that this violence, vandalism and assault on a section of university students and ragging are engineered by the JVP and no other. Everyone knows this. The JVP MPs and allies are fools if they think that due to the repeated denials they make as regards the forces behind university unrest, people would think they are not its author. So, it is salutary that those allegedly involved, including now, Udul Premaratne the leader and spokesman of the JVP University Students Union (IUSF), have been arrested and remanded. This JVP scourge has to be eradicated, like the LTTE, and its perpetrators brought to book.

Mr. Udul Premaratne has been arrested and then remanded, as have the others, for the alleged criminal offence of forced entry, vandalism and assault, and secondly on the basis of, inter alia, video evidence as regards the alleged offenders and the damage incurred. The question must of course then arise as to why the Police did not proceed likewise in the case of a Deputy Minister who, like the JVP vandals of our universities, was involved not long ago in a like offence. He and his thugs committed forced entry into the offices of the Rupavahini Corporation and assaulted its News Editor. There too, vivid video evidence of both the perpetrators and the damage done was available, loud and clear, as in the universities rampages.

Again, likewise, there was clear video evidence, where the same Deputy Minister and his thugs tied a govt. official to a tree, in the presence of two police officers. Why did not the Police proceed likewise in those two cases as they have now rightly done as regards the university student thugs.

The IGP & the govt. need to clarify as to why non-prosecution was resorted to regarding the Rupavahini case (including those who manhandled the Deputy Minister & his crowd and the tree- tying case), but was resorted to regarding the university students cases. Asymmetrical and selective Police arrests/prosecutions violate the Rule of Law and must be totally condemned.

"Prolanka"