With Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe to visit Jaffna, Tamil activists have denounced his history of broken pledges and vowed to continue protests.
M Komagan, an activist with the Voice of the Voiceless Organisation told reporters that Tamils in the homeland will continue to call out Wickremesinghe on the hollow promises he made during his last visit to Jaffna, which also saw widespread Tamil protests.
“When Wickremesinghe was here last time, he made several promises, but to date, many of those are yet to see the light of day,” he said. “He assured us that land forcibly occupied by the military will be handed back, however, we find that activities of the police and the government departments are contrary to this.”
Komagan also said that the issue of the release of Tamil political prisoners and updates on the issue on enforced disappearances are yet to be resolved. “Steps should be taken to release 12 Tamil political prisoners who are languishing in prison for the last 29 years,” he said, highlighting certain cases.
Wickremesinghe’s visit to Jaffna earlier this year was marred with protests and demonstrations.
Sri Lankan police arrested three people during a protest on the day he was to arrive in Jaffna. Sri Lanka's security forces beefed up their presence across the North-East, with armed STF soldiers patrolling the streets on motorbikes. Buses carrying Tamil families of the disappeared from Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Vavuniya to Jaffna were also stopped by the state's forces, and two women activists with the Vavuniya families of the disappeared arrested. Before the protest, Sri Lankan police had filed a case to block the protests from taking place.
Despite the heavy police presence, the protesters defiantly continued to demonstrate outside the Secretariat. Protestors held placards that read: "Ranil Government! Stop anarchy and illegal acts!"
