Jaffna University Teachers Question Closure Of Universities
November 16, 2013
“If the closure was to do with the anniversary on 27th November, the University has the machinery to communicate with the students and seek assurances from them. The day was already taken care of by the mid-semester vacation. 27th November, the Mullivaykkal debacle of 18th May, the Anuradhapura massacre of 14th May and the Kattankudy Mosque massacre of 3rd August are all etched in our history. A mature university should have inter-communal discussions on how we look at history and how we are going to deal with it. An authoritarian university culture with its resort to the like of emergency regulations, will never take a mature approach.” asks the Jaffna University Science Teachers Association.
Writing to its Vice Chancellor the JUSTA says; “The UGC Chairman had no authority to instruct universities to in effect stop undergraduate programmes and give a vacation to undergraduate students.”
We publish below the statement in full; Read More
India and UK agree on approach towards Sri Lanka
- Saturday, 16 November 2013
The Indian media has reported that both India and Britain have agreed on the approach towards Sri Lanka.
The Hindu newspaper has reported that the two countries have however differed on attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
At a meeting in New Delhi, Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and David Cameron have agreed that it was necessary to address the question of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka during the war that ended in 2009.
Sources in the government have reportedly said both leaders felt it necessary to stay engaged with Colombo on the question of alleged rights abuses.
CHOGM also figured in an interview of Cameron by a news channel in which he has said he respected Singh’s decision not to attend the meet.
“India, Canada and Britain, we all have the same approach towards Sri Lanka. My own view about attending is it’s a Commonwealth conference, I believe in helping to lead the organisation,” Cameron has told CNN-IBN.
Like Singh, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is also not going to Colombo.
