The new Sri Lankan government under Ranil Wickremesinghe have unleashed crackdown on student activists of the Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) and other organisations who were agitating against the deteriorating democratic situation in the country. The protest, which was organised on 25th August, witnessed thousands of students and activists marching in the streets of Colombo. The students demanding the immediate release of anti-government protestors arrested during the recent demonstrations, raised slogans against the ‘Ranil-Rajapaksa Junta’ and the spiraling cost of living. As the march began, police launched crackdown on the protesters with water cannons and tear gas.
Later, three of the student leaders- Wasantha Mudalige, convenor of IUSF, Galwewa Siridhamma Thero, convenor of the Bhikku (Monks) Federation, and Hashantha Jawantha Gunathilake, a member of the Kelaniya University Students’ Union- were detained. Later, on August 22, they were charged under country’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), a tool widely used by Rajapaksa regime to silence critics. In Sri Lanka, anti-terrorism charges require approval by the Defence Ministry, which is currently under Wickremesinghe himself.
The PTA, which was enacted in 1979, was used by successive governments to silence all forms of democratic voices. During the Tamil Eelam struggle, the law was used to suppress the Tamil population and their demand for justice. The law is largely based on South Africa’s Apartheid-era legislation.
The IUSF and other student organizations had played a vital role in the peaceful anti-government demonstrations in recent months that forced the Rajapaksa to resign.
