COLOMBO, Sept 16, Reuter: The Sri Lankan Government accused Marxist rebels of planning to use children to provoke civil unrest and ordered schools closed for the day on Friday as a precaution.
“The closure … is a precautionary measure taken by the Government to prevent those groups committed to violence using innocent children to foment civil disturbances in the country,” a government statement said on Thursday.
The authorities have invoked emergency powers to ensure the functioning of essential services after a Marxist rebel group, the People’s Liberation Front, called demonstrations to mark President Junius Jayewardene’s birthday on Saturday.
State employee’s leave was cancelled indefinitely and the government ordered all shops, transport services, power supplies and hospitals to function without interruption.
Police said activity was normal in and around the Capital Colombo on Friday with shops open and transport functioning.
The Front, which called a successful nationwide strike last Monday, is fiercely opposed to an accord aimed at ending a Tamil separatist rebellion. The group has killed over 400 people, mostly Government Politicians, in the past year.
The statement said the Government had information that violent groups planned to use children to incite violence.
In conciliatory move, the Government on Thursday freed a high ranking front member who was detained for four months by the police.
“Shanti Bandara, one of the leaders of the front, is being released from detention as a step to restoring peace in the country,” a brief government communiqué said.
Jayewardene, 83, on Saturday,
Article extracted from this publication >> September 23, 1988
