Hartal observed in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 June 2006, 17:37 GMT]
Hartal was observed throughout Jaffna district Saturday following a call to traders and residents in Jaffna by the Tamil National Resurgence Movement (TNRM) to condemn Sri Lankan armed forces for their desecration of Kopay National Heroes Cemetery, and for destroying the Thileepan memorial stone near the Nallur temple in Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said.

Higher educational centres, schools, business establishments, government offices, private institutions and markets remained closed and Jaffna residents stayed away from all streets, supporting the hartal, sources said.

A few buses ran Saturday morning to carry the sick to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers entered Jaffna campus premises by scaling the perimeter walls and threatened the students inside the campus at gun point at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, student sources said.

Jaffna Campus Student Union and the International Federation of Students in Jaffna issued memoranda condemning the forced entry of the SLA soldiers inside the Campus premises as violation of student rights. "None of the other campuses in Sri Lanka are subjected to such military thuggery, and the Jaffna High Command should provide the reason for its soldiers' entering the Jaffna Campus premises," the memoranda said.

Besides this incident, although SLA helicopters were seen flying over the district, generally the situation remained calm in Jaffna district Saturday, sources said.