Ajit Rupasinghe
Members of the academic community of the University of Jaffna, comprising students and lecturers, had assembled on “Heroes Day” to commemorate all those who had shed their blood and sacrificed their lives- the tens of thousands abducted, disappeared and killed yet unaccounted, for the cause of the liberation of the Tamil Nation. They assembled to share their grief and renew their hopes of freedom. Such is the bottomless grief and the desperate cry for freedom arising from the agonized and tortured souls of the Tamil people that they would assemble on this day, in spite of the draconian military occupation and violent repression they are forced to submit to. This goes to show how the cry for freedom shall persist and endure, and grow stronger, the more that freedom is suppressed by hated tyrants and oppressors.
The armed forces were let loose by the Regime against these participants, including students, professors and media personnel, with the aim of extinguishing every living trace of memory of the Tamil Nation in its struggle for liberation. It was aimed at wiping out every pain of grief, every tear of sorrow, every cry for justice arising from the agonized depths of an enslaved, degraded and subjugated people. The vulgar criminality of this brutal assault by the armed forces against unarmed and peaceful citizens in Jaffna is compounded by the consequent arrest and incarceration of participating students under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The Regime is determined to extinguish the fires of freedom from the Earth through military occupation, political subjugation and by erasing the collective memory of the Tamil Nation, such that the very notion and reality of the Tamil Nation shall be eradicated from the soil. The war has simply taken on new, more insidious, invidious and more deadly genocidal forms.
Yet, the Logic of History and the Natural Law of Justice decree that against all the barbaric cruelty and depraved abuse, against all the sophisticated mechanisms of terror and torture, against all the systemic, systematic and routine violent suppression, the cry for freedom and shall rise from the very depths of mass oppression and slavery and seek justice in the Tribunal of History. Every crime and atrocity endured, every grievous loss borne, shall forever keep alight the lamp of freedom and illuminate the path of liberation for all generations to come.
As it is, this gross criminal violation has served to raise the consciousness of the masses, bringing new awareness of the criminal nature of the Regime and the State. They are aware that this assault on the foundations of democracy and civilized decency is a continuation of the unbroken and intensifying fascist repression by a corrupt and parasitic narco-mafia/ crony capitalist Regime; A dynastic regime out to amass fortunes by selling the country to foreign imperialist and regional predator powers for fat commissions, while bleeding the toiling masses dry and terrorizing the people.
The sustained assault against the student movement gives testimony to the crucial role of the students and youth, and of the academic community in general, in the struggle for freedom. Students in the North and South are being hounded, persecuted, jailed and killed at will. Abductions, disappearances and extra-legal killings multiply. At the same time, prisoners are massacred in execution style. Workers, fishermen and farmers are shot down. This is while murderers, rapists, robbers, drug lords and war lords roam and reign with impunity and occupy positions of power and privilege. It should be clear that, whether in the North, South, East and Hill Country, the oppressor is the same. Every attack against the foundations of democracy, every violation of the life and freedom of the people, should be a basis to build the revolutionary unity of the oppressed masses to rise against the system of world imperialism and neo-colonial domination and subjugation, and together build a new world, a new social order – a new era dawning on the horizon– where the Earth shall be shared and people enjoy freedom by celebrating their unique creativity and infinite diversity, bound together in a shared destiny.
Free the Students!
Release all Political Prisoners!
End the Military Occupation!
Dinuk / December 15, 2012
Yes condemn all these attacks on students and freedom of thought and expression in Jaffna – but time has come to take out the big fish since the rot starts at the top – with Mahinda Rajapakse the Dictator and his corrupt family.
TIME has come for the Lankan people – lawyers, professionals, civil society, workers, Trade Unions, farmers, displaced shanty dwellers, TO TURN THE TABLES AND IMPEACH MAHINDA RAJAPAKSE and his brothers and sons and cronies – Lalith Weeratunge, Nivard Cabraal, P.B Jayasundera etc. for bringing disrepute to the Judiciary and legislature by running a Kangaroo Court in the Diya-wenna Paliament.
The IMPUNITY AND IMMUNITY of the Rajapassa family and their political henchmen to insult people – particularly the CJ – must be ended. They have brought great disrepute to the judiciary and the legislative and the sovereign people of Sri Lanka and must be held ACCOUNTABLE.
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Moda Simiyong / December 15, 2012
If we do not let people express them selves anger builds up. If we hurt them they look to hurt them back. We burnt people’s houses( I mean thugs and IRC hooligans) and JRJ looked the other way , lots of innocent people’s life’s possessions were burnt their houses looted and plundered. What happened ?the rest of us ,Sri Lankans had to undergo lots of insults and hard ship because of what JRJ did. We seemed like barbarians to the rest of the world. Although a hand full of thugs did the damage and a majority of Sri Lankans , safeguarded our fellow citizens who were attacked,because at the time we did not protest, we meekly and quietly looked after these friends and some times they were closer than our families and we felt for them we were too scared to talk. We paid a heavy price for this. The war went on for thirty years , because VP became powerful, solely due to JRJs mistake . Old fossils is 6 feet under even when he was alive he was well protected. Who paid US.
Now it is the same. VP was ruthless. He was killed, what ever any one says that was good. Say there were cassualties. That is sad but, there after, have we done any thing to help them come to terms with what happened and, let the people in that are forget? No, we kill lasanthas put army commanders in jail, we kill any one who speaks out loud and now , The CJ!
Do these people know what freedom is to enjoy it? No do any one of us know what freedom is now? No the Army that was hailed as heros only a couple of years back are now hated . Police is hated . Now they attack university students, in the north and the east.
This leader again will bring us only heart ache and disrepute unless he mends his ways and we deserve it for keeping quiet. One day they will come for us
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kumar fernando / December 15, 2012
yes mr ajith rupasingha i lived in paris i saw you are with tiger rallys i have pics you are walking with tiger henchmans if you want pub.that pics i will sendall the papers
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S.R.H. Hoole / December 15, 2012
The author probably means well but he is serving government propaganda in saying “Members of the academic community of the University of Jaffna, comprising students and lecturers, had assembled on ‘Heroes Day’ to commemorate all those who had shed their blood and sacrificed their lives.” This gives the wrong impression that the university community supports the LTTE.
There was no assembly of staff on Heroes’ Day. A few students lit lamps and no teachers were involved. The teachers got involved only in protest against the assault of students by the army.
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Nilu / December 15, 2012
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Safa / December 15, 2012
The diabolical PTA of 1978 is being used to terrorise and arrest innocents students of Jaffna by the TID and Military. An minor act of lighting a lamp is leading to the arrest and incarceration of innocent students and youth. Govt and the President is not acting in a just or reasonable manner to deal with this issue. It is another black mark against Sri Lanka which will only make a bad situation worse.
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justice / December 16, 2012
Gota is the authority issuing/approving arrest orders under the PTA.
Ha also gave the orders to STF to control the rioters at Welikada prison,but the STF shot 16 dead,with three in handcuffs.
Then,police shot 11 dead at dawn after calling them out by name.
Of course there will be no inquiry.
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Pottan / December 15, 2012
Rasak one who is in love with LTTE.
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