Petition President for release of Jaffna students

The Chief Minister of the Northern Province, Members of Parliament, students and teachers jointly presented a petition to President Maithripala Sirisena, calling for the immediate release of students who were arrested in Jaffna.

The petition was handed over when he visited the Jaffna Vembadi Girls School and contains the names of students arrested by the Police for allegedly participating in a protest against the rape and murder of a Tamil schoolgirl.

Chief Minister, C V Wigneswaran told the Sri Lankan president that the north had much greater needs than the rest of the island and therefore much more financial resources should be allocated to it compared to other provinces. The development needs of the north were three to four times greater, Mr Wigneswaran added.

“We have told the previous government about the special needs of the Northern province several times. We have told them to allocate a great amount of funds. However, they have not considered this. The north was allocated funds in the same way that other provinces were,” said Mr Wigneswaran.