Schools and offices close in Delft island as residents fear arrival of large number of SL Navy
Excessive numbers of Sri Lankan Navy entered the Delft island off Jaffna coast on Monday by boat and helicopter and have been conducting house searches based on a claim that two Navy men were missing. High tension mounted in the area and caused residents to remain indoors, which in turn caused schools, government offices and private businesses to close for the entire day.
The Navy’s threatening presence also affected the preparations for the upcoming Martyr’s Day on 27 November. Civilians were confronted and harassed by Sri Lankan Navy forces as they tried to decorate the roads with banners and flags for Martyr’s Day and were forcefully stopped by the Sri Lankan Navy. On 20 November, an employee of the Divisional Secretariat of Delft, Jeyaseelan and a university student, Sooddi, were arrested as they were decorating a portion of the road. The two men were taken into custody and are still being retained. A similar incident occurred on 21 November when civilians were surrounded by more than 200 Sri Lankan Navy members as they were decorating outside for Martyr’s Day. The Sri Lankan navy aggressively interrogated the group of civilians outside despite the torrential rain that began to hit the region. Many civilians fear the hostile actions of the Sri Lankan Navy and are frightened to participate in preparations for Martyr’s Day, a day that is respectfully observed by millions of Tamils throughout Northeast.
22 November 2005
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Europe which has a total population of 800 million is made up of 45 language based nation states. South Asia which has a total population of one billion, (1000 million) is comprised of four states. Who is preventing and therefore benefiting by limiting new nation-states in South Asia?
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