Tamil father of two arrested under terror laws for FB post
A name, picture, or video is still anathema to the Sri Lankan establishment. And now even 15 years after the end of the war, a Tamil man has been arrested by the police under the hugely condemned Prevention of Terrorism Act, which international bodies including the UN wanted to be repealed.
The Tamil man Manoharan Kajendraroopan, from the village of Inuvil West in Chunnakkam, Jaffna was arrested by the police on Thursday (29) for what they allege for posting a video of slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran on his social media Facebook wall.
Tamils in the war-affected North say that despite a change of regime in Colombo, neither the mindset of the Sinhala authorities nor their attitude towards them haven’t changed, and show a high degree of intolerance towards the emotional issues of their brethren.
Manoharan Kajendraroopan was arrested just after the Tamils solemnly observed their annual ‘Maaveerar Naal or Hero’s Day’- a day where they pay tribute to the war dead. His arrest was the first one under the PTA after the new National People’s Power (NPP) took office, promising “A Compassionate Society”.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has earlier gone on record saying the PTA has been used as part of repressive state policies against the Tamil people. It has been used by continuous Sinhala regimes disproportionately against the Tamils many of them still incarcerated in various jails for years.
Father of two Manoharan Kajendraroopan (37) is being subjected to intense inquiry by the Counter Terrorism police and is expected to be produced in court on Monday.
Although the AKD government said it won’t object to people paying tributes to those who lost their lives during the war on the ‘Maaveerar Naal’ (Nov 27), cabinet spokesperson Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa told a day before no display of any emblems, flags or banners related to what they call terrorists or banned organization could be displayed during the memorial service.
“Commemorating relatives is one thing. Promoting the LTTE or any other terrorist organization is another thing. Therefore, the two should not be confused. We have made it very clear that we respect the right of those people to commemorate their relatives, but we will not allow anything illegal or prohibited by the government.”
Local journalists say generally the ‘Maaveerar Naal’ observations this year were held peacefully at many cemeteries in the North and East where the war dead are interned and specially erected pandals were decorated with red and yellow flags. Family members of the deceased and Tamil lawmakers joined in the memorial service, which was also held at the Jaffna and Eastern University as well.
The arrest of the Tamil man has raised concern over social media, with many questioning the stand of the NPP government, which has opposed the PTA. Anura Kumara Dissanayake used to be a enthusiastic contributor to the islandwide signature campaign launched by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) for the repeal of PTA. Social media posts on Kajendraroopan’s arrest highlight the continued snooping and intimidation faced by the Tamils over online posts.
The government has announced that any changes to the draconian act would have to be done by the parliament. Ruling NPP has over 2/3 majority in the house.
Introduced during the earlier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s rule the online safety bill is condemned both locally and globally for obstructing freedom of expression and leading to arbitrary arrests. Social media platforms have come under intense monitoring in Sri Lanka over the past few years. This has shrunk the already stressed freedom of expression space still more say human rights defenders.
Over the years activists and human rights groups have repeatedly flagged such actions as emblematic of Sri Lanka’s repressive approach towards the Tamils and their identity.
The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has been heavily condemned for its lack of safeguards, allowing for prolonged detentions without charge, limited access to legal representation, and facilitating physical and emotional abuses during custodial interrogation and subsequent detention in jails.
