Police assures co-operation for Batticaloa Pongu Thamil event

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 January 2004, 15:29 GMT]
Batticaloa district Senior Superintendent of Police, Mahes Samradiwagara assured the President of Batticaloa Pongu Thamil Committee, Rajan Sathiyamoorthy and Batticaloa district Parliamentarian G.Krishnapillai (Vellimalai) that the Police would cooperate with them when they met him Wednesday to discuss the arrangements being made towards the 21 January Pongu Thamil event to be held in the Vantharumoolai University Campus grounds, civil sources said.

The Pongu Thamil delegation told the SSP that they expect a large number of people travelling from different parts of Amparai and Batticaloa districts to the Pongu Thamil venue and asked him to take necessary action to ensure smooth flow of traffic during the celebrations.

The Police officer told the delegation that he has already set plans to deploy a number of additional police officers to regulate and direct traffic, and added that the Sri Lanka Police will give full co-operation to the organizers through the preparatory days to the day of the event.

Batticaloa residents said the Pongu Thamil committee and the student community from the Eastern Campus are working jointly to ensure a successful event. Students are visiting villages in Batticaloa and Amparai districts educating the public of the event's objectives. Leaflets are also being distributed according to villagers who received student visitors to their homes.

''Let us be all aware that Pongu Thamil is a democraric expression of a peoples' feelings towards their language and land. It is a peoples' event organized by the people themselves to release the emotions of a land that nurtures bravery.

''Let us raise our voices for an honorable peace. Let us join as one and recite the proclamation of Pongu Thamil. Time has bestowed on us the courage to fight for our freedom. Let us all join to pull the chariot of freedom,'' said one of the leaflets.