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Colombo University lecturers urge Government to not resort to violence

03 Apr 2022

A group of 40 lecturers attached to various faculties at the University of Colombo, in a statement, urged the Government to refrain from violent methods of curbing dissent, especially referencing the case of the arrest of University alumnus Anuruddha Bandara – who was taken into custody on 1 April over his ownership of the #GoHomeGota facebook page – and to instead implement measures to immediately provide basic needs and immediate relief to the people. The statement is reproduced in full below: We, the undersigned, wish to express our strong concern about recent developments where public frustration and anger with the extreme economic difficulties Sri Lankans are experiencing have been met with repressive measures by the State. The clamping down on citizen protests, numerous arbitrary arrests, and the use of various intimidation tactics to silence dissent are signs of the fast unravelling of democratic practices in the country.  We note that this is the same playbook that the State has followed for years, dismantling and attacking democratic rights and processes in favour of growing authoritarianism. Sri Lanka is currently facing an unprecedented economic crisis, and the frustration of the general public has resulted in protests across the country.  The Government has declared a state of emergency and curfew to curb dissent and intimidate protesting citizens, effectively abrogating its responsibilities towards the Sri Lankan people. We demand that the Government addresses public anger through urgent measures to provide basic needs and immediate relief, instead of mobilising state violence and repression in response to a desperate people pushed beyond their limits.  Anuruddha Bandara, an alumnus of the University of Colombo, was taken into custody by the Police on the night of 1 April 2022, reportedly for exercising his democratic rights to dissent and free expression through a social media intervention critiquing the Government. We are conscious that he is the most recent example of the State’s use of legal and extra-legal means to suppress dissent.  We demand that the State ensures Bandara’s legal rights, including a fair trial in a court of law. We strongly believe that these acts of threat and intimidation are signs of worse times to come and wish to express our objection to the continuation of such practices. We urge the Government to cease the use of force to intimidate and suppress the public and revoke the emergency regulations with immediate effect.


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