North Central Province Governor Mahipala Herath and other Provincial Council officials and staff found themselves confined within the Provincial Council building premises, yesterday (6), as a result of a protest by unemployed graduates.
The unemployed graduates had staged the protest by blocking the entrance and exit gates of the Provincial Council building. Police later arrested 22 of them. The arrested group consisted of 11 male and 11 female members, including the former convenor of the All Ceylon United Unemployed Graduates’ Association, Dhammika Munasinghe. They were scheduled to be presented before the Anuradhapura Magistrate’s Court.
The protesters, before their arrest, had voiced their grievances, noting that some of them had come from remote areas like Welikanda in Polonnaruwa, with small children.
They questioned why they remained without jobs when there were fewer unemployed graduates in the province than the vacancies that existed in government departments.
“Currently, some 35,000 graduates in Sri Lanka are unemployed. This government has no plan or desire to provide jobs to unemployed graduates. That is why currently unemployed graduates are preparing for continuous agitations at the provincial level,” Munasinghe said. The group of unemployed graduates entered the Provincial Council premises at around 10.00 am, blocking all entrances and exits. Governor Herath, Provincial Council staff, and numerous individuals visiting for people’s day were present in the Provincial Council building at the time.
Anuradhapura Headquarters Police Acting OIC, W.A.M. Nuwan Wickramasinghe addressed the protesters, but they continued their protest. Officers, including SSP Thilina Hewapathirana and ASP Jayantha Dharmadasa, announced the Court order to the protesters, leading to their being arrested.
The remaining protesters moved to sit in front of the main gate, vowing to file complaints with the Human Rights Commission regarding the arrests. The Anuradhapura Chief Magistrate and Additional District Judge Nalaka Sanjeeva Jayasuriya ordered the 22 unemployed graduates who were presented to the Anuradhapura Magistrate’s Court to be released on two personal sureties of Rs. 200,000 each. The Chief Magistrate further ordered these suspects to appear before the Court again on May 25.
Upali ananda and Sashini Madhushani Anuradhapura Corr.