Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) strongly condemned military attack on GotaGoGama protesters that took place on Friday (22).
This violence is an attack on all the people of Sri Lanka who have been demanding democratic system change, FUTA alleged in a statement.
General Secretary of FUTA Rohan Laksiri stated, “Under cover of darkness, even when protesters had informed authorities that they would leave the locations on Friday (22), the armed forces chose to brutally attack the protest site. Journalists were attacked, a lawyer has been arrested and many peaceful protesters have been injured and arrested. This is a dark day for democracy that will stand out in the history of this country.”
New President, Ranil Wickremesinghe has now clearly demonstrated the type of rule that we can expect from him. He cannot and will not be permitted to continue this outrage on the rights of citizens, or to irrevocably destroy basic democratic norms through the arbitrary use of military force, he said.
“Wickremesinghe’s deployment of the military in this manner fails even to acknowledge the pain and suffering that led to the protests throughout the country including GotaGoGama. Instead of listening to the voices and sentiments of the people, this violence is designed to simply silence and threaten them by brute force,” he claimed.
“FUTA stands with the protesters who have been attacked on 22 July and on the side of democracy. We renew our pledge to work with all trade unions and people’s movements to mobilise support that will take forward further struggles to protect the democratic rights and freedoms of all the people in this country,” Rohan Laksiri added. (AK)
