University students to join student boycott

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 February 2000, 17:18 GMT]
Jaffna University Students' Union has announced that its members would boycott classes from Thursday if the authorities failed to release the two students arrested on January 25 by the Police when they were in their respective schools.

A spokesman of the Union said that they have appealed to sister unions in other universities to extend their support to the proposed boycott action.

In the meantime, the SLA has asked the Principal of the Vasavilan MMV to summon the School Development Society on Wednesday, parents said. Priya, one of the students now being detained is a student of Vasavilan MMV.

Meanwhile, today too students boycotted schools in the peninsula, demanding the release of Priya and Vinoth, students of Vasavilan MMV and Urumpirai Chandrodhaya Vidiyalayam respectively.

About 436 schools in Jaffna district are affected by the students' boycott, education department sources said.

The SLA arrested eleven students who were distributing leaflets in Jaffna today protesting against the detention of Priya and Vinoth.

The students are from the American Mission School in Udupiddy in Vadamaradchi. They have been detained at the Valvettithurai Sri Lanka Army camp and have not been released so far.