How excessive centralised power weakens universities – The Island

Continue Reading p by Jehan Perera The government’s efforts to suppress the protest movement by the targeting of its leading members individually is polarizing the country more than ever before.Instead of addressing the underlying causes of the protests, the government is targeting prominent and key members of the protest movement with flimsy charges and under conditions of Emergency Law in which the regular law and its protections can be suspended in their operation.FR JEEVANTHA Fr Jeevantha Peiris has been an important and visible figure in the protest movement that has based itself in Galle Face opposite the presidential secretariat.He has a court order against him to ensure that he will not leave the country, as the police have filed a complaint against him and wish to conduct investigations regarding his role in the protest movement.

As a member of the Collective for Reforms, which consists of civil society members, trade unionists, professionals and retired government officers among others, I have attended meetings to discuss the protest movement and its objectives.In these circumstances, the government needs to rethink its heavy-handed approach to dealing with the protest movement.