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Sarath Weerasekera intensified teachers’ protests: Jagath Kumara Sumithraarachchi

20 Sep 2021

  • SLPP MP slams Public Security Minister’s handling of protests
BY Buddhika Samaraweera Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Parliamentarian Jagath Kumara Sumithraarachchi claimed that Public Security Minister Rear Admiral (Retd.) Dr. Sarath Weerasekera’s actions with regard to how the teachers’ and principals’ trade union protest actions were dealt with had contributed to the intensification of the ongoing teachers’-principals’ trade union strike actions. “It was Weerasekera’s actions that led to the intensification of teachers’ trade union actions to this level. Had he not been the Minister in charge of the Police, it would have come to an end by now,” stated Sumithraarachchi. He further opined that had fellow SLPP member Weerasekera not been in the said position, the trade union actions would have come to an end by now. Speaking at a media briefing yesterday (20), he claimed that the aforesaid trade union actions had intensified after the Police forcibly took away a group including teachers during a recent protest in Colombo, after which they were directed to quarantine. “It was because the Police acted in that way during the protest that there was a great deal of sympathy in the community for the teachers’ trade union actions,” he further claimed. The Police had, on 8 July 2021, arrested a total of 32 suspects for allegedly staging a protest at the Polduwa Roundabout in Colombo in violation of the Covid-19 health regulations. The Inter University Students Federation (IUSF), the Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU), and the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) had organised the demonstration against the proposed General Sir John Kotelawala National Defence University (KNDU) Bill. The CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin, Ven. Rathkarawwe Jinarathana Thera of the IUSF, and another Buddhist monk were also among the arrestees. The arrestees were produced before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court under the provisions of the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance as amended, and the suspects were released on a personal bail of Rs. 25,000 each by the Colombo Additional Magistrate in the evening of 8 July. Subsequently, a tense situation had erupted in front of the Colombo Magistrate’s Court as CTU General Secretary Stalin and the 31 others released on bail refused to undergo quarantine, but the Police, however, had taken them to a quarantine centre in the Mullaitivu area. Thereafter, more than 30 teachers’ and principals’ trade unions decided to withdraw from all online teaching activities from 12 July until further notice, in protest over the incident, and in addition to online teaching activities, the teachers and principals have also withdrawn from duties related to sending applications for examinations including the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level (A/L) Examination online. The teachers and principals have further withdrawn from teaching activities at regional learning centres recently established by the Education Ministry with the aim of facilitating students who find it difficult to pursue their education online. As of now, they have intensified the trade union action by withdrawing from practical tests pertaining to the GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) Examination and applying for A/L and Grade Five Scholarship Examinations duties. Weerasekera was unavailable for comment.

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