Hartal in Mannar, demonstration in Musali condemning students' massacre

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 August 2006, 15:06 GMT]
General shut down and demonstration was held in Mannar district Thursday condemning the killing of students in Puthukudiruppu Sencholai children home and Tamil civilians elsewhere in the North East by aerial bombardment carried out by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) and artillery fire by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), sources said.

Large number of Tamil people from villages, Arippu, Silavathurai, Salarianpuram, Kondachchi, Kokupadaiyan, and Mullikulam participated in the demonstration which commenced from Silavathurai Church around 9.30 a.m. concluded at the office of the Musali Divisional Secretariat via Mullikulam-Silavathurai road at about 11.30 a.m. A public meeting was held thereafter and a memorandum addressed to President Mahinda Rajapakse was handed over to Musali DS officials, sources said.

Demonstration was organized by civil organizations in the LTTE controlled Musali division, sources said.

Normalcy was disrupted in Mannar town and its suburbs as shops were closed. Government departments did not function. Branches of state and private sector banks did not operate. Transport services were disrupted, sources said.