The Sri Lankan Army’s Jaffna Commander has backed a proposal to reopen a Sinhalese school in the district, which alumni and former staff claim will facilitate reconciliation and unity in the North.
A group of alumni and former staff of the Jaffna Sinhala Mahavidyalaya argued the case for reinstating the school’s operations at a meeting at the District Secretariat on Sunday.
The school operated from 1965 to 1989, when it was vacated due to the arrival of the Indian Army (IPKF). The Sri Lankan Army occupied the property ever since.
The group said that although students from all ethnicities studied at the school, no ethnic or religious distinctions emerged, making the school a model for reconciliation.
Whilst discourse regarding reconciliation exists across all other districts, there have been no instances of discussion of this topic within the district of Jaffna, the group said.
The group said that establishing a school to generate reconciliation within the community was fundamental.
The schools alumni group president said that they had no intentions of asking the Sri Lankan Army to remove the camp based at the school and would instead seek to rent space from the army.
The president also said that the Jaffna Commander had enthusiastically committed to assisting and encouraging the reopening of the school.
