Relatives appeal for release of Eastern University Vice Chancellor

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 January 2007, 13:59 GMT]
Dr.Malaravan, son-in-law of Professor Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath, the Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka (EUSL) who was abducted on Dec 15th in Colombo in High Security area in the Bauddhaloka Mawatte, issued a second urgent appeal to the abductors to release his uncle. Dr Malaravan said that the members of Raveendranath's family will ensure that the Professor will resign his post of Vice Chancellor at the Eastern University. From the time Dr.Raveendranath was abducted, all activities at the Eastern University have been at a complete stand still.

Professor Raveendranath, who was working at University Grants Commission (UGC) had submitted his resignation in October, and was on his way to attend a meeting of Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS) at Vidya Mawatta near Bauddhaloka Mawatta where he was last seen by his driver at 12:30 a.m. The Vice Chancellor had instructed his driver to come back at 2:00 p.m. when the meeting was over. The driver contacted the family as he could not get in touch with Mr. Raveendranath and a complaint was registered at the Police around 9:30 p.m.

Raveendranath, 55, father of two girls, was living in Colombo after his resignation was not accepted by the UGC.

Raveendranath began his career in 1978 in Karadiyanarau at the Institute of Agriculture, and he was a founder-member of the EUSL, founded in 1980.

On 30 September, unidentified gunmen, widely believed to be from Karuna group, came in a white van, kidnapped the Dean of Arts faculty at the EUSL, Dr. Bala Sugumar while he was at his Uppodai home in Batticaloa. The kidnappers had demanded the immediate resignation of the Vice Chancellor of EUSL, Dr. S. Raveendranath, before releasing Bala Sugumar.

Dehiwela Police who were the first to announce the disappearance of Prof.Raveendranath have still not been able to get any information on his whereabouts or on the details of the abductors , sources in Colombo said. The motives for the abduction are not yet known and even though the human rights organizations, foreign embassies and the Sri Lankan president have been notified about the abduction no progress has been made, the relatives of the Vice Chancellor said.