Norwegian University appeals for the release of Vice Chancellor Raveendranath

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 December 2006, 09:53 GMT]
Norwegian University of Life Sciences has appealed to the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to take urgent action to find the whereabouts of the Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University, Professor S. Raveendranath, and ensure his safe return. The Vice Chancellor, who was reported missing while he was on duty in Colombo last Frdiay, was engaged in a sustained effort of building the academic capacities of the EUSL and was working with the Norwegian University in developing a master's degree programme i peacebuilding and development, said Professor Ruth Haug, Department Head of International Environment & Development Studies, Noragric Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

Full text of the letter, released to media by the University, follows:

President Mahinda Rajapakse
Presidential Secretariat
Colombo 1
Sri Lanka


Your Excellency,

Re. Professor S. Raveendranath, Eastern University, Sri Lanka, who has been missing since Friday the 15th of December 2006

We at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences are deeply concerned about reports that Prof. S. Raveendranath of the Eastern University, Sri Lanka (EUSL) has been missing since Friday the 15th of December. I have personally known Prof. Raveendranath in his capacity as the Vice Chancellor of EUSL, which is one of our institutional partners in Sri Lanka. My colleagues and I are well aware of his sustained efforts over the years to build the academic capacities of the Eastern University amid difficult circumstances. More recently he was involved in developing a proposal for a master's degree programme in peacebuilding and development to be conducted jointly by Tribhuvan University, Ruhuna University, EUSL and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Earlier this year he represented his institution in a workshop on this programme hosted by our Department and together with his colleagues from Ruhuna made valuable contributions. The news that he has not been seen since Friday afternoon, when he was on official duty in Colombo, has caused us great anxiety about his safety.

I earnestly appeal to your Excellency to take urgent action to find the whereabouts of Prof. Raveendranath and ensure his safe return to his family.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Ruth Haug
Head, Department of International Environment & Development Studies, Noragric Norwegian University of Life Sciences