By Saman Indrajith

Some politicians hate university students because they played a major role in sending Gotabaya Rajapaksa home, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka has said.During the past few months, university students had won praise and admiration of the public, he said in Colomb yesterday.

“The students played a key role in ending the disastrous reign of Gotabaya. So, they hate students,” he said.

Most politicians who blamed university students for ragging were driven by hate and their past actions had shown that they did not care about the youth of the country, Dissanayaka said.The JVP leader said some people claimed that physical and mental harassment was used by some political parties for recruitment.

“Does anyone think that you can harass and torture someone, and convince him or her to join a political party? These are myths perpetuated by some people with ulterior motives,” he said.The JVP is a political party that supports the human rights of all Sri Lankans. Leftist movements across the world have fought for the betterment of the people. On the other hand, those in the right have been among the most severe violators of human rights, Dissanayaka said.

“Look at these people who are making these baseless accusations? They have a history of working with thugs. They are involved in various anti-social activities. Some of them have actually killed young people. They have played a role in destroying the economy of Sri Lanka. They have ruined the future of youth and children and you expect me to believe that they care about the rights of young people?” the JVP leader asked.The JVP as a political party and students aligned to it are opposed to physical or mental harassment, he said.Responding to a question posed by a journalist whether the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) is involved in ragging, Dissanayaka said that neither the FSP nor its students union is involved in ragging.

“No organised leftwing political party nor its students’ union is involved in ragging. They are against it. However, there are incidents of ragging, and we condemn them. Student union leaders have fought against this. We would like to remind students involved in ragging that their actions are providing ammunition to reactionary politicians,” he said.The JVP leader added that political parties had a right to engage in politics in universities and students had a right to engage in politics.

“Our political elites do not like university students engaging in politics. Most university students do not come from elitist backgrounds. Our political elites don’t like talented young politicians coming up from ordinary families. If they can stop young political leaders from universities form coming up, it allows them and their children to dominate politics. The JVP leader added that there were university administrators who were lackeys of politicians, and they were bent on harassing dissenting students. They had done nothing to develop universities and uplift student life or university rankings, he said.

“The Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) and university students in general played a leading role in ending Gota’s rule. And Rajapaksa affiliates hate them for this. That’s why they have arrested the IUSF convener under PTA. This young man fought for the rights of all Sri Lankans. He fought for our rights. Now, he has been in jail for 90 days under the PTA. His life is in danger. Recently, Suren Ragavan and Janaka Bandara Tennakoon’s son made ‘emotional statements’ about innocent youth affected by ragging. Shouldn’t Ragavan and Bandara care about Wasantha Mudalige, too?”