Riot Police stop IDPs entering Jaffna HSZ

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 March 2005, 07:06 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police special riot squads Friday blocked more than a thousand Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) from forcibly entering the military high security zone (HSZ) in Thellipalai, Jaffna. The HSZ covers most of Jaffna’s northwestern sector. Protestors and Tamil National Alliance MPs argued with the Police riot squads. About thousand five hundred IDPs staged a protest march Friday from Mallakam Junction to the Thellipalai Divisional Secretary’s office demanding that they be allowed to resettle in their villages that have been garrisoned by the Sri Lanka army for more than fifteen years.



TNA MPs Mr. Mavai Senathirajah, Ms. Pathmini Sithambaranathan, Mr. Eelaventhan and Mr. K. Sivanesan took part in the protest march.

Although the march was planned to conclude at the Thellipalai DS office the IDPs marched on towards the HSZ and tried to forcibly enter the garrisoned area.

Riot squads were promptly dispatched by the Police to the spot.

Marchers demanded the Police that they be allowed to go to their villages and homes inside the HSZ.

Later they handed over a memorandum to the Thellipalai DS about their predicament.

The IDP protested in the DS office again, protesting that TNA MP Mr. Mavai Senathirajah had deserted them half way through their demonstration.