Goddess Pattini is the main goddess worshiped by the Sinhala Buddhists as well as the Dravidian people of Sri Lanka. According to the Sinhala tradition, Bodhisattva Paramita is a virgin, or according to the Hindu tradition, the incarnation of Parvati. According to Sri Lankan folklore, Goddess Pattini was not only a Buddhist but also a goddess who preserved values like Pati Bhakti…’ You may think that the writer who talked about the Prevention of Terrorism Act last week is going to write about a temple pilgrimage this week. But this attempt is not to do such, but to tell you about the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which can abuse even temple grounds, and the tragic fate faced by those detained under it.
Although the struggle is fading to some extent, the Sri Lankan society is still attached to the heart of the strugglers. Therefore, we as a society are still aware of the issues and problems faced by the strugglers. On the 18th, the arrest of the convener of the Inter-University Student Union, or ‘Inter-university’s convener Wasantha Mudalige’, during the protest march from Kelaniya to Colombo, and his subsequent detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, have attracted much attention in the society.
Wasantha Mudali was a resident of Dambane, a remote tribal village in Uva. After undergoing many hardships, he reached the university and decided to lead the Sri Lankan student movement and civil society struggles instead of ‘going to nirvana alone’. If he had not taken that decision, this article would not have been the subject of Wasantha Mudali
Since the beginning of the struggle to drive out the Rajapaksas, most of the boys and girls in Antare have been on the road. Wasantha Mudalige gave leadership to all of them. So soon he becomes a target of the repression machine. Despite a court warrant, the police could not arrest him. Once a police team surrounded the peratugamu party’s headquarters in search of Mudali. But Mudali was not seen and led the fight from among the strugglers. He was arrested by the Peliyagoda police during a protest on the 18th. He was taken in with Venerable Galvewa Siridhamma Thero and another active fighter Hasanta Jeevantha Gunathilaka.
The police follow a simple policy regarding those arrested during such struggles. If they cannot provide police bail, the policy is to produce them in court within 24 hours. But this general policy was slightly different in relation to Wasantha Mudali and the other two. Many people say that the reason for this is the desire of whoever is responsible to remove the convener from the struggle ground. Accordingly, instead of presenting the arrested Wasantha Mudali to the court, they took him in a jeep and took him to several places.
Believe it or not, the police have taken the arrested intervenor to the Navagamuwa Pattini temple ground mentioned earlier in the article and detained him there for about three hours. It is not for any religious occasion but to keep Mudali hidden until receiving instructions from somewhere. Another reason is that the police do not have an idea about the specific steps to be taken regarding the arrested Wasantha Mudali.
Wasant Mudali, who was arrested on the 18th, was expected to be detained and questioned according to the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Accordingly, the relevant detention orders had to be signed within 72 hours. According to the provisions of the Act, the said order should be signed by the Minister of Defense. But plan was to detain the intervenor and the other two under D.O. The government had to face unexpected problem due to the news this news.
That is because of the opposition raised against it domestically and internationally. Special Representative of the United Nations Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawler, strongly influenced the President not to sign detention orders, especially in relation to Wasantha Mudalige. O also issued a Twitter message expressing deep concern over the arrest of Wasantha Mudalige, Jeevantha Gunathilake and Galwewa Siridhamma Thero under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
In addition to this, the US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chang, issued a Twitter message and warned that Sri Lanka’s democracy may be washed away due to the use of laws that do not comply with international human rights standards such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Although the President signed the controversial detention order as the Minister of Defense despite the objections raised from all directions, the lawyers representing Mudali suspect that the order was signed back dated.
Society generally has some awareness of police custody and remand prisoners. But there is still a strong curiosity in the society about those detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Therefore, many people are wondering about the life of Wasantha Mudali, who was a struggler who captivated the country. But friends cannot meet him as a normal remand prisoner. Therefore, we decided to inquire about this from Nuwan Bopage, the lawyer representing Antare.
Lawyer Nuwan Bopage told ‘Mawrata’ that although the detention order was given to detain Wasantha Mudalige, Galvewa Siridhamma Thero and Hasanta Jeevantha Gunathilake in Tangalle Prison, they are now in the Narahenpita Terrorism Investigation Unit. They are being held under very minimal facilities. At least they didn’t give a pillow to sleep on. Only a mat has been given. Even food cannot be brought from home. You have to eat what the police give you. But the family can see these people once a week. At such times, you can keep things like biscuits and give them something to eat. The lawyers of all three are allowed to meet them,’ he said.
Of these three, Hasanta Jeevantha is a third year student. Therefore, he has the opportunity to provide the books required for his studies through lawyers. Although the three comrades of the struggle received detention orders together, they were not detained at the same time or in the same place. Officials have taken care to keep them separate so that they cannot meet each other at all times.
Interrogation of them continues. At the beginning, the questioning has been carried out targeting seven points. It is related to matters such as entering and occupying the President’s House, the Secretariat, Temple House and the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. But none of these are related to the Inter-University Student Union, and there were several Inter-University members among the thousands of people in the President’s House, says lawyer Nuwan Bopage
During the questioning of Wasantha Mudalige, Siridhamma Thero and Hasanta Jeevantha, more weight was placed on 05 protests organized between April 8th and August 18th. It has been asked in the course of questioning how the protests were organized, where the discussions were held and who were the university leaders who participated in them.
In addition, Wasantha Mudalige has discussed with many opposition politicians in the past. Meanwhile, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, M,A. Sumanthiran of the Dravida National Alliance., Shanakyan Rasamanikkam are a few. Lawyer Nuwan Bopage says that the officers have been questioning with great interest what was discussed with these people and for what purpose
If the three months they have been detained for questioning is not enough, the law may extend it to 12 months. Although they were detained and interrogated for more than a week, no charges have been filed against these three activists. Charges will be filed against them under the Prevention of Terrorism Act at the end of the ongoing interrogation.
The detention of three university students who led an anti-government struggle under the Prevention of Terrorism Act sends an important message to the entire Sri Lankan society. It means that terrorists are not affected by the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Even belatedly or understanding it, it is everyone’s responsibility to build public opinion in the country against this oppressive act.
Aruna Laxman Fernando