TNA condemns Jaffna University clashes

Sri Lanka's main Tamil party TNA today condemned the clashes which broke out at a cultural event in the Jaffna University that injured several Sinhala students last week.
"We regret that several students have sustained injuries and that the Sinhala students had to be evacuated from the university and Jaffna as a precautionary measure," a statement from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said.
The party said it was important to prevent any recurrence of such incidents or anything that will hinder genuine reconciliation among communities.
The clash which erupted at a cultural event on Saturday to welcome freshers into the science faculty resulted in Tamil students attacking the Sinhala students. Several students were hospitalised.

The TNA has asked the Sinhala students to return and the Tamil students to welcome them and assure them of their safety.
Minister of Higher Education Lakshman Kiriella said there was no racial connection to the clashes.

"This was a clash between two students groups as it happens in any other university," Kiriella said.
He said the university will be re-opened after today's public holiday following talks with all concerned parties.
The Sinhala nationalist political groups, however, have faulted the current government.
They urged stringent action against Tamil students and asked the government to ensure the safety of the Sinhala students in the university.

Tamil demand for a federal solution that dates back to the days when Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, came to be granted independence by the British in 1948.
The campaign was extended to a separate state demand when the LTTE fought a decades-old war with the government to carve out a separate Tamil homeland.
With the defeat of the LTTE in 2009, the Tamil leadership has adopted a softer approach to give up on the separatist demand.
According to the UN figures, at least 40,000 people were killed in the final phase of the conflict.