Tense situation during Jaffna demo

A tense situation arose in Jaffna yesterday during a demonstration staged against the Government’s acquisition of land in Valikamam. The demonstration was staged outside the Tellippalai Divisional Secretariat’s office and some Tamil politicians, including Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians Mavai Senathirajah and M.A. Sumanthiran, also took part.

According to reports from Jaffna, the demonstrators had later attempted to move into a high security zone in the area. The demonstrators had initially attempted to enter the office of the Divisional Secretary but were prevented from doing so by the police.

They had then proceeded along KKS road to inspect the land they own which is being acquired by the Government. However, the police blocked the demonstrators from proceeding beyond the Tellippalai police station, reports from Jaffna said.

A tense situation arose between the police and the demonstrators at this point and the people then went back to the Tellippalai Divisional Secretariat to continue their protest.