The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) Friday called upon the government to respect the democratic rights of various stakeholders in the university system and to adopt a more conciliatory approach to addressing grievances.

Issuing a statement signed by its general secretary Dr. Athulasiri Samarakoon to condemn the police attacks on a protest march organized by university non-academic staff members on Thursday (18) near the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, FUTA reminded the government that the right to protest is a fundamental right well recognized by the constitution of Sri Lanka.

Full text of the statement:

“The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) is deeply concerned about the attack the police carried out against the protest march organized by university’s non-academic staff members on Jan.18. During the protest march held near the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, the police fired tear gas at protesting non-academic employees, forcing the protesters to disperse. This was done amidst the one-day token strike declared by non-academic staff members demanding an increase in their allowances.

“Non-academic staff members are an inseparable part of the university system, and the government has a responsibility to consider their grievances. Instead of conciliation, the use of force to suppress their demands risks creating an unstable situation at universities. At a time of unprecedented economic burden, it is needless to remind that all academic and non-academic staff perform a commendable task in keeping our universities functioning. In such a situation, the FUTA considers it unacceptable to use force against such employees who are raising their concerns and grievances.

“FUTA would like to remind the government that the right to protest is a fundamental right, well recognized by the constitution of Sri Lanka. Regardless of this protection, in the recent past, we have seen an alarming tendency where the state uses force to disperse peaceful demonstrations that do not cause any disturbance to public peace.

“FUTA was prevented from conducting a street demonstration in March 2022, against which we have filed a Fundamental Rights application. Furthermore, in many instances, students’ demonstrations were dispersed with the use of force. It is disappointing to see that the same repressive measures are applied against non-academic employees.

“While condemning this act in the strongest terms, FUTA calls upon the government to respect the democratic rights of various stakeholders in the university system and to adopt a more conciliatory approach to addressing grievances.”