Police instructs Tamils in Colombo to register their presence

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2010, 05:08 GMT]
Sri Lanka police conducting a search in Narahenpitiya Flats in Colombo instructed the Tamil residents to register their presence anew with the police. They told the residents that application forms are available in all the police stations in Colombo and all Tamil residents should register the presence of all the persons living in their houses with their respective police stations. Though the war has ended Sri Lanka government imposes similar conditions only on Tamils every time the State of Emergency in extended in Parliament causing nervousness, fear and dissatisfaction among them, Tamils residents in Colombo said.

Four months ago the Wellawathe police had instructed all the Tamils in their police division to register their presence afresh. Wellawathe is an area in Colombo where Tamils live in large numbers.

In July, the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka in a statement noted that "the practice of registering Tamils and security search operations of private residences even late at night were carried out during the period of war and terrorism. Today more than 14 months have elapsed since the war ended, and there have been no acts of militancy or terrorism in this period that would necessitate a revival of the harsh measures of the past. Two months ago Sri Lanka's Parliament approved the repeal of a large number of emergency laws which was projected worldwide as a sign that normalcy had returned to Sri Lanka," the NPC statement noted.