SB’s puppets wreak havoc on Colombo campus – dons

*Teachers refrain from work in protest,

*Minister’s office denies allegation

October 8, 2014, 9:59 pm 

by Dasun Edirisinghe

Lecturers of the Colombo University Arts Faculty will refrain from teaching from today in protest against the unruly behaviour of a section of undergraduates and Faculty Students Union.

University sources said that the Faculty Board including all department heads would meet today to discuss their conditions to resume work.

Dean of the Colombo Arts Faculty, Prof. Athula Ranasinghe said that the teachers had decided to put an end to the unruly behaviour of students, who had no respect for the academic staff.

"We will discuss with students today after the meeting and will resume teaching if they agree to abide by the university rules and regulations," he said.

A senior lecturer of the Arts Faculty told The Island, on condition of anonymity, that a section of students affiliated to the SLFP had plunged the faculty into chaos by misbehaving and subjecting first year students to cruelty in the name of ragging.

In a recent incident two female students had been assaulted for associating with first year students disregarding warnings issued by the so-called student leaders, he said.

The senior academic said that a section of the students’ union wanted to prevent senior students from moving with first years and they wanted to propagate only their political ideology.

Those unruly students had a callous disregard for university regulations and no respect for lecturers because Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake rose in their defence when action was taken against them, the senior don said, adding that the minister had used those unruly elements to neutralise the JVP at the university. He called the troublemakers SB’s puppets.

President of the Arts Faculty Students Union, Wasantha Gunasundara denied any links to a political party. "The university administration is levelling baseless allegations against us and currently new entrants are on vacation. There was an incident where two seniors came to blows and the administration is trying to make it out to be the result of ragging."

Minister S. B. Dissanayake’s Media Secretary, Gayan Peris said that the ministry did not sponsor any student union contrary to claims by teachers to that effect.