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Tense situation arises at JVP Youth protest 

03 Jan 2022

  • Participants confronted by Police over use of loudspeakers
By Buddhika Samaraweera A heated situation arose between a group of participants and a group of police officers during a public awareness programme organised by the Youth Organisation affiliated to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in Kurunegala yesterday (2).  A group of police officers, including a plainclothes officer, obstructed the awareness campaign, claiming that permission had not been obtained from the relevant authorities to use loudspeakers for the said programme.  JVP Youth Organisation National Organiser Eranga Gunasekara, who participated in the discussion with the relevant police officers, stated that such awareness programmes were being conducted throughout the country.  “As the national organiser of the JVP Youth Organisation, I can say we conduct these programmes throughout the country,” he said. Meanwhile, the plainclothes police officer on the scene said that the youths who had gathered were taken to a police station to record their statements, after which a heated argument arose between the participants and the police.  At the time, the youths had alleged that the Police were not enforcing the law against the use of loudspeakers by various people in the centre of Kurunegala town, but had deployed officers at the scene on the instructions of a local politician that was at a nearby office (the media reported that the relevant local politician is the Mayor of Kurunegala).  At the time, the plainclothes police officer said he had not received any complaints about other people using loudspeakers.  “We can only investigate if we receive a complaint. We are not able to look for complaints,” the police official said.  The crowd subsequently proceeded to conduct the awareness programme without the use of loudspeakers, and the police officers left the scene.


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