The people who came to Jaffna protest respected the court order and followed the instructions of Police though we want to challenge it legally in a later stage.
What is the necessity to keep and question again and again why we came to Jaffna, did we blame to military, who organized this agitation etc.? I need to answer to these questions again as the chief organizer of the work.
We came to Jaffna to support to internally displaced people who have been displaced for decades due to war and not allowed them to go back their original lands. And also to highlight the Indian trawler issue which is dragging again years without any solution.
In this journey we expected to extend southern people's solidarity over northern people's issues with ethnic and religious harmony too.
It is NAFSO organized this journey with above clear purposes. That is because the 15th February protest we organized in Jaffna and 3 major places in the country, commemorating assasination of fisherman Antony Fernando at Chilaw. Antony was killed during the fuel struggle. We organized the protest campaign on the same land issues and fisher people's issues at Jaffna on 15th February was obstructed by the authorities.
They promised to give the land back to IDPs within 3 months from 15th February which is ended 15th May. Today is 15th July and 5 months already gone and no even minor signal to resettle the IDPs as promised.
Southern organizations which lead NAFSO decided to voice out with the voiceless IDPs and fisher people demanding fulfill the promises of 15th February.
This is very reasonable demand together with northern people and southern people in one platform.
Then why these further questioning and harassing people which is not the normal practice though the drivers should report at the both military check points at Elephant pass and Omanthai. Also what is the reason to ask the relationship of the people and the Buddhist monks in the bus? Who organized the protest? Why southern people come here etc etc. And also
taking the photo copies of IDs of the organizers and questioning is scaring people at army check points.
We would like to reiterate that we work within the constitutuonal rights given to the citizens. Even though it is painful we respected the court order which ordered to restrain the peaceful demonstration at Jaffna bys stand. Now we see the violation of constitution rights by any authority prove this is not a democratic state and it is a militarised authoritarian state.
0 comments:
Post a Comment