Act of revenge, say students’ union, they are losing grip, says Minister

Four students from the Peradeniya University and two from the Rajarata University have been arrested some time back. This is an act of revenge by Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake, said Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) convenor Udul Premaratne.

Having forcible entered the University Grants Commission and the Higher Education Ministry premises this afternoon (Oct. 14) Udul Premaratne said they would remain till a solution was found to the problems of these arrested students.

Even before the students were produced before a court, Minister S.B. Dissanayake had said he would send them to prison. This shows that this is an act of revenge, said Premaratne.

“Students of the Peradeniya and Rajarata Universitiesmarched in protest to seek justice for the arrested students. These students have lost their future because they have been arrested,” said Udul Premaratne.

He said that the students will remain in the premises till a solution is found to settle the problems of these students.

Meanwhile, responding to the students’ protests and accusations, Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake told Adaderana that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was responsible for these problems.

There are less than a hundred members in the JVP students union. These few threaten the new students by ragging, threatening and intimidating and push them towards such protests, Mr. Dissanayake claimed.

“The situation within the universities is changing rapidly. Today, in their former bastion of Sri Jayewardenepura, the JVP strength is nil. Likewise in the Rajarata University. In the Colombo University their grip has been lost. We are changing the situations in the other universities as well, said the Higher Education Minister.

“I am at the Bandaranaike International Airportright now on my way to attend some workshops in Bangalore. I will return in about three days. There is no problem as I will meet the students after I return. If they are still there when I come back, I will discuss the situation with them,” said Minister S.B. Dissanayake.