Govt. suppressing dissension, heading towards dictatorship: Tilvin

There is no freedom even to express the political views of a party through posters. This shows the direction that the government is heading towards, said Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) General Secretary Tilvin Silva protesting the arrest of two of its members in Jaffna.

Two JVP activists, the district leader during the last General Elections, Lalith Kumar Veeraraju and another were arrested by police in Jaffna this morning (Sept. 04) while they were pasting posters.

Tilvin Silva claims that the posters were not defamatory or illegal as they were a part of an island-wide JVP campaign to raise awareness against the proposed Constitutional Amendments being brought to Parliament by the government.

The posters convey only the party opinion against the Constitutional Amendments. There is nothing illegal on them. So how can police arrest any member who pastes them, asked Mr. Silva.

“These posters are being pasted not only in Jaffna. They are being pasted island-wide. They are not illegal and are only party posters, carrying the party opinion,” claimed the JVP General Secretary. He added that this move clearly was among the signs that the government was heading towards a dictatorship by suppressing dissension in the country.