Hindu organizations appeal to SLA to relax curfew hours in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 June 2007, 06:43 GMT]
Following the announcement by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Palaali High Command on Friday extending the curfew hours in North by two more hours from 7:00 p.m. till 5:00 a.m., Hindu religious organizations have appealed to SLA officials to relax the curfew hours to enable devotees to attend the summer religious festivals soon to be held in the peninsula, sources in Jaffna said.



Several religious organizations including the Hindu Board, trustees of various temples and the chief priest Nallai Somasundera Paramacharya kurukkal have appealed to the SLA to delay the curfew by at least one hour to begin at 8:00 p.m. for the convenience of devotees. This would greatly assist the devotees to attend the evening ceremonies and reach home before the curfew begins, the organizations told the SLA command.

Until Thursday the curfew hours in operation were from 8:00p.m till 4:00 p.m. No reason was provided by SLA for the extension of curfew hours.

Jaffna police and SLA officials have confirmed the new curfew hours.

SLA officials have also stated that serious action would be taken against any violators.

The senior SLA officials in the peninsula had already directed the area commanders to strictly impose these new ruling, specifically in coastal villages.