Skip to main content

INDIAN AND PAKISTANI INMATES ON HUNGER STRIKE


Indians and Pakistanis are among a large number of inmates on hunger strike in Sri Lanka’s main jail to seek early repatriation to their countries, an Indian prisoner has said.

Using a mobile telephone provided by a guard, the prisoner, who did not wish to be identified by name, said the protest fast began May 19 at the Wellikade prison in Colombo.

According to him, 27 Indian male and four female prisoners along with 21 Pakistanis have refused to take any food and are surviving only on water ‘for the past few days’.




‘Thousands of Sri Lankans are also on hunger strike for being jailed for unduly long durations but none of this is coming out in the media here,’ the prisoner told IANS.

‘A few prisoners have been shifted to the hospital for not taking food,’ he added. ‘Some prisoners are not taking part in the protest due to health reasons.’

There was no independent confirmation of the prisoner’s claim. A section of Sri Lankan media has said the issues that led to the prison unrest have been resolved.

The Indian prisoner, who is in prison for a drug offence, contested this, and explained what the Indians and Pakistanis wanted.

‘Some of us have been rotting away for years and years,’ he said. ‘I have been sentenced to life imprisonment and I have already spent 10 years. There is a law under which we can be sent to India to serve the remaining prison term.

‘The authorities here are just not bothered. Indian diplomats too do not take up our case. We are really frustrated.

‘There are people who have been in prison for 15, as long as 20, years. These are mainly Sri Lankans. Why can’t they be released?

‘Indians and Pakistanis are not demanding to be released from prison. All we want is to go back to India and Pakistan and serve the rest of the sentences there. What’s wrong with our demand?’

According to the prisoner, most Indians and Pakistanis are in jail on drug related offences.

He said at one point of time the jail staff told the protesting prisoners that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s son would visit them soon and hear their grievances.

‘But that never happened. Instead a senior government official came and he met 11 Sri Lankan prisoners, one Pakistani and one Indian prisoner.

‘But nothing happened after that. And we are still on hunger strike.’  (IANS)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GL SLAMS ‘COLONIAL’ RIGHTS GROUPS

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris rejected “colonial” criticism Tuesday of a government-appointed civil war probe, after foreign rights groups snubbed an invitation to attend. New York-based Human Rights Watch, London-based Amnesty International and Brussels-based International Crisis Group last week accused the panel of a cover-up and refused an offer from Colombo to appear before it. Peiris said in a speech to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a leading think-tank based in London, that the rights groups had displayed a “most unattractive attitude.” “It smacks of an attitude that is almost colonial, patronising and condescending, the assumption being that other people must step in because Sri Lankans are unable to chart a course for their own future,” he said. Peiris, who is in London for talks with the British government, said the LLRC was based on similar reconciliation commissions in countries such as South Africa. He urged rights groups and
Post a Comment
Read more

IRRESPONSIBLE TALK BY MEMBERS COST UNP ITS VOTERS, SAYS SAJITH

The voters have distanced themselves from the United National Party (UNP) because several members had demeaned the military victories during the recently concluded war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, said Hambantota District parliamentarian Sajith Premadasa. Former President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s son, Sajith was addressing a meeting at Gurutalawa at the Yatinuwara electorate in Kandy last evening to raise awareness on his Jathika Jeewaya Programme. Mr. Premadasa launched this programme within three electorates in the Gampaha District last week as well. Adding further, Sajith Pramadasa said the UNP suffered erosion in its support as some had uttered irresponsible comments when the Sri Lankan armed forces were gaining victory after victory in the fight against the LTTE. When the Army captured Thoppigala, some in the UNP had said that Thoppigala was only a jungle, while some had accused the then government and the military of claiming to be advancing towards Kilinochc
Post a Comment
Read more

TNA vows civil disobedience

Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party on Saturday vowed to launch a Gandhi-style civil disobedience campaign to press a long-standing demand for regional autonomy for their ethnic minority. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in its manifesto for April parliamentary elections renewed its demand for extensive regional autonomy – after Tamil Tiger rebels who fought in their name were crushed last year. “If the Sri Lankan state continues its present style of governance without due regard to the rights of the Tamil-speaking peoples, the TNA will launch a peaceful, non-violent campaign of civil disobedience on the Gandhian model,” the party said. The TNA was a puppet of the Tamil Tiger rebels who were crushed by security forces in May last year after 37 years of fighting. The United Nations has said up to 100,000 people were killed in the conflict. On Saturday the alliance said it would lobby neighbouring India and the international community to ensure the island’s Tamil community -- 12.5 percent
Post a Comment
Read more