INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
All 57 people, apprehended for forcibly entering the Education Ministry premises, have been put behind bars on remand until February 27
The arrestees-- 48 trainee monks of the Buddhist - & Pali University, Inter-University Students Federation (IUSF) convenor Wasantha Mudalige
and 08 others-- were produced before the Kaduwela Magistrates Court today (Feb 24)
They were taken into custody for storming the facilities of Education Ministry in Pelawatte, Battaramulla the other day (Feb 23)
The protesters urged the authorities to reopen the Buddhist - & Pali University and to do something about it against the Sri Lanka Police,
over the force utilized against them at the Satyagraha held at Pitipana Junction in Homagama on February 22
Water cannons and tear gas were fired by the Police during the Satyagraha staged by a group of student Buddhist monks of the
Inter-University Bikkhu Federation (IUBF), in an effort to disperse them.Meanwhile, a demonstration was staged in front of the Education
Ministry this afternoon versus the arrest of student activists.Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) secretary Joseph Stalin, who joined the
demonstration, vowed to go to courts over the matter.Against this backdrop, the authorities dismissed the accusations levelled versus them
for completely attacking the protesters last evening.Police representative SSP Nihal Thalduwa, releasing a declaration in this regard,
declared that the protesters, including Buddhist trainee monks, have actually harmed the residential or commercial properties of the
Education Ministry while blocking the duties of the authorities at the properties.(CTU secretary at the demonstration staged today against
the arrest of student activists)
