Undergrads exhort MPs to oppose Emergency
[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 July 2001, 09:14 GMT]
Students of the Eastern University in Batticaloa held a protest demonstration Wednesday calling on all Tamil Parliamentarians to vote against the extension of the Emergency on 6 July. The protesting students held placards and shouted slogans condemning the rape of Tamil women by Sri Lankan security forces under powers granted them by the Emergency and urging the Tamil people in the northeast to support the protest Hartal called by the Alliance of Ten Tamil Parties on 6 July.
Eastern University sources said that Sri Lanka army troops had arrived in armoured vehicles while the protest was being held on the campus grounds late this morning. The troops, however, had not entered the premises but had observed the demonstration from the road. The protest demonstration began around 11 a.m. Wednesday and continued until 1.30 p.m. in the afternoon. Several student leaders addressed the protestors. They condemned the state media for making baseless and dangerous allegations against Tamil journalists with aim of intimidating them. The Eastern University campus is in Vanthaarumoolai, 18 kilometres north of Batticaloa.
|