Sri Lanka ‘Terror Police’ question Tamil activist for FB post in line with nation’s education policy

A Tamil political activist and former Chairman of the Karachi Pradeshya Sabha was summoned by the Counter Terrorist Investigation Department (CTID), dubbed the ‘Terror Police’, to inquire about a social media post.

Velamalikithan Arunasalam was summoned by the CTID branch in Killinochi to seek his explanation about posting a comment “Veera Vanakkam” loosely meaning “Viru Upahara” in Sinhala for a post on Facebook.

According to him, he made it amply clear to the CTID that the word “Veera Vanakkam” or “Brave Salute” is a word that is a part of Tamil heritage and culture, and using such a word should not be considered as supporting or promoting terrorism.

He also told the investigators the word existed in the school textbooks as approved by the competent authorities under the education curriculum.

“Calling me for an inquiry for using a word that is in use in the education curriculum is questioning the education policy itself,” he told local media.

The former chief of the Karaichi PS was summoned by the CTID police branch in Killinochi on the 28th of December last year and was inquired for more than two hours about his social media activities.

During his interrogation, he questioned the rationale of the police calling him to explain the usage of a particular word that is approved by the government and is akin to acting against the policy of the state.

“They asked me pointing to the word ‘Veera Vanakkam’. That word is very much part of the Tamil culture and heritage. This is not a word created or used by the LTTE or a word that is a banned word in the country. The ‘Veera’ is very much a word in the old Tamil literature closely associated with Tamil culture. It can be seen in the high school books on literature. I also appraised them that investigating me is against the policy enunciated by the Sri Lankan government”.

In Tamil heritage, the word “Veera Vanakkam” is used to honour a dead person who either contributed immensely to the welfare of the people or died while doing so.

In Sinhala, the word loosely translates into “Viru Upahara” which is neither a banned word or an objectionable one.

Avoid commenting and liking

As part of the interrogation the CTID and intelligence unit police personnel grilled him about his social media activities, he says.

Velamalikithan Arunasalam adds the police have placed restrictions on his social media activity.

“The Facebook posts are not mine. They are others' posts. I just commented and liked it. They say I have used words that incite racial hatred and youngsters in particular follow people like us and act accordingly. So, I was told that I should not use any insignia of the banned LTTE organization or anything relating to the LTTE”, he says as police telling him.

Although the police placed such restrictions on him, they never produced any posts which justify their restriction, he told local media.

He was also shown some Facebook accounts of other persons and questioned if he knew them.

“I was asked about certain specific posts and inquired if I knew those persons who posted them by the CTID officers. I replied back saying I don’t know them. After that I was advised not to like and comment on such posts” Velamalikithan Arunasalam added.

CTID also instructed him not to post anything that would mislead the people.

“I was basically summoned by the CTID and intelligence police, to be advised not to post anything which would mislead the youngsters and which may be seen as supporting terrorism-related activity”.

The former president of the Karachi local body says the police told him any such posts by people like him would be noticed by the people and followed upon.

“If such posts are made by other persons it is OK. But if politicians post them, they say people will follow them. I was told the interrogation was only to inform me not to indulge in activity that would lead the public in the wrong direction”.

Velamalikithan Arunasalam was jailed for over in year in connection with what the police claim of finding explosives at the residence of the Jaffna district MP Sivagnanam Siririthan in 2013. He was arrested on the 13th of January 2013 and detained for over 12 months.

Local journalists point out, that in the past Velamalikithan Arunasalam was summoned many times by the CTID and intelligence agencies for voicing his view on the rights of the Tamil people and recording his statements before being released.