TNA parliamentarian Selvam Adaikkalanathan told reporters that Sri Lankan military and police intelligence services had intimidated small business owners in order to try and prevent them from joining a hartal, protesting against the intimidation of a Tamil judge who was forced to resign and flee the island last month.
Adaikkalanathan, a Tamil National Alliance MP from the Vanni District, said he received reports that there have been military and police intelligence have been intimidating small business owners such as vegetable vendors, warning them not to join the hartal. He has been informed that small business owners are particularly being targeted due to their economic vulnerability.
He said, that while questions arise about how a hartal may affect small business owners who rely on daily income for their day-to-day needs, he is also aware that the hartal had complete support from Tamil people across the North-East. We have to condemn the operations being conducted by the intelligence services as anti-democratic, he added.
He also said that he is confident of the Tamil people’s complete support for the movement to demand justice for judge Saravanarajah.
The threats and pressure against Saravanarajah stem principally from his involvement in the contentious Kurunthurmalai archaeological site cases. Judge Saravanarajah revealed that various individuals in government had been exerting immense pressure on him to alter his judgements in these cases. He specifically mentioned the threats made by MP Sarath Weerasekara during parliamentary debates and other public forums.
This protest also highlights the ongoing land appropriation and the ongoing Sinhala colonisation of the North-East reaching a peak in the past few years, added Adaikkalanathan.
Read more:
Human chain protest in Jaffna condemning threats to Judge T. Saravanajah
Lawyers in Mullaitivu continue strike in support of resigned Judge
Mullaitivu District Judge flees country amidst death threats
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