Hartal in the north demanding release of Tamil prisoners

A hartal campaign was staged in the Northern Province yesterday demanding the release of Tamil prisoners.

All regular daily activities have been hampered by the staging of the hartal by the business community in the north and the Tamil civil organisations. All traders in the Northern Province have closed their shops to support the hartal.

Education activities in all the Tamil schools in the north were crippled, and schools in Jaffna were closed. All transport services have come to a halt and only buses plying out of the Northern Province are in operation.

The Tamil People’s Council led by the Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran and National Movement for Release of Political Prisoners Convener Fr. M. Shakthivale have organised the hartal. They demand the Government to release the prisoners being detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) without any Court cases.

Meanwhile, the Special Task Force officers were deployed to Jaffna to maintain law and order and to provide security to the Governor, whose office was surrounded by the protesters outside.

Friday’s protest is the latest in a series of protests across the north-east call for political prisoners to be released, Tamil Guardian said.