By Rathindra Kuruwita

University students could not sit idly by while the country was facing a catastrophe, Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) convenor, Wasantha Mudalige, on Thursday, said in an interview with Sirasa TV.

Mudalige said that like any university student, he entered university to get a degree and pass out at his earliest. However, as he spent time in the university, it had become obvious that he had to be involved in social issues.

“I am a student at Rajarata University and this is an area that has a high CKDu prevalence. However, there were not enough water filters at the university. So, perhaps, by the time we leave university, we might have to leave with a kidney disease. So I started by asking for water filters. Everything started by trying to address our issues,” he said.

Commenting on why he remains at the university, seven years after entering it, he said that in the past few years all university students faced delays in passing out.

“From the Easter Sunday attacks to this year, the university system was in a crisis. Universities were closed for many years. According to the University Act, those following a General Degree has seven years to complete the degree and those who follow a special degree has eight years. It’s not a special provision I enjoy, it’s the right of all students. This number isn’t arbitrary but something education experts came up with. I will complete my special degree before my time ends,” he said.

Mudalige said that he is willing to sacrifice his time for the betterment of future generations, this is a sacrifice all IUSF leaders have made. The IUSF convener said that President Ranil Wickremesinghe had been the PM four times and that the allter was part of the establishment that had destroyed the country.

“The people of the country know who he is. That’s why people never made him president. He has been President for months and Wickremesinghe’s only solution is to wait until they get an IMF loan facility. We have given chances to many leaders and they have all been awful. How much time do these people want? How many people are leaving the country? AL students don’t have electricity to study at night. A decimal can be the difference between entering university and failing. Wickremesinghe doesn’t even care about them,” he said.

He said that the IUSF played an important role in the Aragalaya movement. However, the success of the movement was due to hundreds of thousands of people who had taken to the streets.

Mudalige said that he thought he might have to spend about two years in prison when he was detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

“That’s what people,who interrogated me, also said. However, due to a collective effort of a large number of people I was allowed to secure my freedom, after 167 days,” he said.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was elected by pro-Rajapaksa factions, started his duties by attacking the protest site, at Galle Face, and it was obvious that his next move would be harassing and detaining those who were involved, he said.

“I was detained but there were no concrete charges. Even after almost six months there were no credible charges against me. I felt saddened by the state of justice in the country. When I was in detention, hundreds of people, some I had not even seen before, came to see me. When I was taken to courts in a prison bus, people on the road cheered me. The elderly called me their son. These acts of kindness really buoyed me. When I was brought to various courts, a family came to see me and when I was released the child in that family gave me a bouquet of flowers,” he said.

Mudalige said that he was allowed to meet visitors, thrice a week, and a large number of people had called the IUSF asking for an opportunity to see him.

He said that while he was in prison a large number of policemen were sympathetic and he is alive because of the interventions of policemen.

“Only a handful of police officers, who are desperate for promotion, harassed me. I was arrested by a special team from the Peliyagoda Police. ASP Mahinda Wiloarachchi was the leader of that group. They took me to the Peliyagoda Police and, without any explanation, they hid me in the police station. In the early hours of the next day they put me in a vehicle and took me to the Enderamulla Police. All other suspects had been removed, when we got there. ASP Wiloarachchi placed his gun facing me and said do you remember what happened to Wijeweera. What happened to Vijaya Kumaratunga? He said they wanted to do the same to me but couldn’t because of the current state of the country. He said they will make me languish in prison for two years,” he said.

Mudalige added they were detained for days and were taken to various places and harassed. HRCSL officials were not allowed to see them, he said. On 21 August 2022, he was taken to the river, near Nawagamuwa devale, at night.

“I was covered in a cloth. The police official, with me, then takes a call and says ‘Sir, we are at the place, what should we do now?’ Luckily for me, a police officer, on duty there, came to where we were held because he saw a vehicle at the car park at an unusual time. Then the leader of the group that was with me told his subordinates to get rid of the Nawagamuwa policeman. Nawagamuwa police didn’t know we were there. That was the precarious situation we were in. However, most of the policemen were not only sympathetic but also went out of their way to protect us. When we were taken to isolated locations, police officials in those areas made some interventions. I am alive because of them,” he said.

A few policemen desperate for promotions were behind the harassment he faced, Mudalige said. Despite their best efforts there was no evidence to convict him, he said.

“If standing for people is terrorism, we will continue to do so,” he said.