The Chief Whip of the opposition and JVP Leader Comrade Anura Dissanayaka questioned under standing order 23/2 in Parliament on the 21st regarding the student clash that had occurred in Jaffna University recently.
“He drew the attention of the House to the social risk of the relevant incident in which several students were injured due to the clash that occurred in the Science faculty of the Jaffna University on the 16th at a ceremony to welcome freshers to the university.
He said, “This is not a mere clash that occurred in a university. It should be considered as an incident that could surface a serious political and social risk and between two factions of students who represent two sections of the society. The maliciousness of communalism that should be abhorred as a society could be seen acting behind the incident.
The attack on Sinhalese students in Jaffna University by Tamil students of the same university is an extension of the communal sentiment that is surfacing in the North. This situation provides stimulant to all sorts of communalists. Any type of communalism mutually depends on other communalisms. A communalism indirectly helps its opposing communalism. Also, we know that communalism cannot be suppressed by another communalism.
Incidents in recent history show us that such trivial incidents develop into large scale wars. Hence, this incident should not be considered as a mere clash between students and one that could be terminated through legal action, disciplinary investigations or with time.
I expect the relevant minister to place before this House answers to the following questions:
1. What is the progress of the investigations into the incident?
2. Has an investigating committee been appointed to identify the reasons and the consequences of the incident?
3. If so what are its recommendations?
What is the programme of the government to avoid such incidents in the future?