( December 13, 2012, Colombo, Sri
Lanka Guardian) While expressing
concern about the
recent beating, harassment
and arrests of
students in Jaffna, FUTA reminds the authorities of its
demands made in the recent protest to keep the universities free of political
interference. Not only
does this hinder
academic enterprise but
leads to unrest
in our universities. We
in particular demanded
that the training
of new entrants
in army camps,
which included an ideological
component, and the
imposition of Rakna
Lanka Security Service
having close association with the Defence Ministry, be rescinded.
This mentality has
led to a country that spends far more on spying and attempting to
control students than on educating them. We see that the regime
considers the youth
as a force
to be feared
rather than nurtured
for the future
of this country.
The young must be given leeway to express
their feelings, opinions and visions within the limits of the law. The first
condition for this is that the State must be law abiding with a serious
commitment to uphold the law. We cannot agree more with our colleagues in
Jaffna that “Default on the part of the
Government through continued
presence of the
military without tangible
moves towards a political settlement, has helped the
mobilization of youthful feelings to turn [27th November] into a day of defiance, where its
original association becomes less important.”
No
laws were broken
in lighting flames
on that occasion
and the army intrusion into
halls of residence and separating
Tamils from Sinhalese students to
subject the former to threat and abuse,
is very much to be regretted. The following day’s police attack on a student
demonstration carrying placards
demanding respect for
democratic rights was
further exacerbating the
first blunder. The arrest
of students subsequently
under the PTA
seems an attempt
to find excuses
for the Government’s misconduct.
The FUTA fully supports the wish of our
colleagues to have in Jaffna University an institution that fosters pluralism,
in which it is prepared to help, although the Government’s action was contrary
to this aim.
FUTA condemns the use of the PTA to deal with
a problem requiring political effort and a political settlement. To set an
example in the observance of the rule of law
the Government should first set up
an inquiry into
why the Police
brutally assaulted students
who were not
responsible for any breach
of the law.
As the Jaffna
University community has
said in its
letter, these arrests
were purely vindictive. The
fact that a
magistrate’s inquiry has not been held into the assault raises questions
about the role of the bypassed and intimidated Judiciary in law enforcement.
Against the harshness of the action, we have seen no evidence of
anti-state terrorism in Jaffna. Of the nine students detained six have
been released. The three students who remain in
custody from 10th
December, the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
are P. Tharshananth, K. Jenemejayan and S. Solomon. Take the case of
Tharshananth. He was assaulted with metal rods by persons
believed to have
security connections on 18th
May
2012 and was
admitted to hospital and treated for head injuries. The
occasion was when students planned to observe the anniversary of civilian
deaths in Mullivaykkal. Tharshananth was secretary to the University Students’
Union.
If
the Government had
evidence that Tharshananth
was involved in
terrorist activities, the
right thing to do was to arrest him and charge him in court rather than
injure him. Further, to suggest that this
closely watched, frightened
person was involved
in terrorist activity
between the time
he was beaten up
and the 27th of
November is hard
to believe. His
arrest only underscores
the vindictive character of the
State. We are bound to regard the students arrested as innocent of any
crime.
Once more we agree with our colleagues in
Jaffna that ‘dragging innocent students
through police stations and police
cells, as happened
in the 1970s
and 1980s, is
frightening at the
start and then hardens
them and breeds
contempt for the
law and for
the officers entrusted
to uphold it.’ The country has seen the effects of
breeding contempt for the law in several devastating insurgencies in the North
as well as
the South. Justice
must not only
be done, but
must be seen
to be done. A
government that deviates from this maxim condemns us all to a bleak future.
We demand that the Government must either
charge the students detained in court or
release them forthwith.
Dr. Mahim Mendis
Media Spokesman- FUTA
12th
December 2012
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