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Academic activities at the Jaffna University are still at a standstill for the fourth successive week with students continuing to boycott lectures demanding the release of four undergraduates held at the Welikanda rehabilitation centre.
The four students have been identified as Sanmugam Soloman, Kanagasunderam Jenamajenth, Paramalingam Tharshaanan and V. Bhavanandan. Of these four, Bhavanandan has been identified as being the President of the Jaffna University Students’ Union.
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna District Parliamentarian, Suresh Premachandran alleged that the students were sent for rehabilitation against their will and no court order was obtained for the process. “Discussions with the Jaffna security officials were not fruitful as they refused to heed to our requests,” he said.
Police spokesman SSP Prishantha Jayakody maintained these students were not in custody and that they were now under the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms. “The Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) told us the students opted to voluntarily undergo rehabilitation”, he claimed. As such, he added it was not necessary to obtain a court order to place the students in rehabilitation.
When contacted, Iroshan Preethikumara, Media Secretary to the Minister of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms, said the time frame for rehabilitation depended on individual cases, but added most of those who were sent to rehabilitation camps by court order were sent for a period of one year. However, he said, those who came in for rehabilitation voluntarily sometimes stayed 2-3 years. He said the number of former LTTE cadres and sympathisers undergoing rehabilitation were now less than 1000.
Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe told The Nation there was no impediment to academic activities from recommencing at the Jaffna University. Discussions were held with university authorities, students and parents where the importance of resuming academic activities was stressed, he added.
However, Major General Hathurusinghe emphasized that the four students undergoing rehabilitation at Welikanda cannot be released at present and said no one could ‘demand’ their release by staging activities such as a boycott of lectures.
“As long as these students identify Prabhakaran, a leader of a banned terrorist outfit, as their leader, they would need to undergo extensive rehabilitation”, he asserted.
He said authorities were prepared to facilitate academic activities of the students while they were housed at the rehabilitation centre.
“We can even facilitate them sitting their university exams should requests be made”, he said.
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