
Protest marches continue in the North
People are continuing to stage civil protest marches
condemning the Sri Lankan government’s conduct. Yesterday,
two such protest marches in the Jaffna and another one in
Mannar took place.
One march started at 10.00 am from the Manipat-Kaddudai
junction in Jaffan and marched through Sanganai road and
ended at the Sandilipay district secretariat. This march was
organized by the civilian based organizations (CBOs) in
Sandilipay and Sanganai. There a meeting took place presided
by, J Fernando, president of the Sandilipay CBOs. Speeches were given by the president of the Valigamam area
CBOs, A Sambasivam, president of the consortium of fishermen
societies, K Kulasingam, and president of the consortium of
Welfare centres for the displaced, E Kanes. Following the
speeches a combined memorandum to the UN Secretary General
was submitted to the Divisional secretary for Sandilipay, E
Subramaniyasarma by the CBOs of Sandiliay, CBOs of Sanganai
and the consortium of fishermen societies for Sanganai and
Sandilipay. Copies of the memorandum were also sent to the SLMM Jaffna
branch and the head office for the refugees. Another protest march in Velanai, off the shores of Jaffna
peninsula, started from Velanai junction and ended at the
office of the assistant government agent. A memorandum to
the secretary of the Velanai divional seretariat,
Nanthagopalan, was submitted by President of CBOs T
Thanenthiran. This march was organized by the CBOs in this
area. The protest march that took place yesterday in Mannar was
organized by the federation of trade unions and the
fishermen societies of Mannar. The march started in front of
the Mannar public hall at 10.00 am, passed in front of the
district hospital and reached the Mannar district
secretariat. A memorandum to President Kumaratunga was read
to the public and it was then handed to the assistant
government agent Mrs S Mohananathan by the president of the
fishermen societies, B S M Peth. Copies of the memorandum wre also sent to the Mannar
district government agent, head of the SLMM in Mannar, head
of Mannar UNHCR, Bishop of Mannar, and the Peace Secretariat
of the LTTE. Thousands of protesters who took part in the three marches
were demanding, the interim administration to be handed to
the LTTE, the setting up of the joint structure for tsunami
relief, the start of the peace talks, and the evacuation of
the security forces from properties belonging to the public.
22 April 2005
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