{"id":20055,"date":"2013-04-13T00:48:57","date_gmt":"2013-04-13T04:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=20055"},"modified":"2013-04-13T07:26:24","modified_gmt":"2013-04-13T11:26:24","slug":"an-eye-witness-account-of-how-the-police-suppressed-peaceful-candle-light-vigil-opposite-bodu-bala-sena-headquarters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=20055","title":{"rendered":"An Eye-witness Account of How the Police Suppressed Peaceful candle light Vigil Opposite Bodu Bala Sena Headquarters"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy<\/p>\n

The Puppeteer<\/strong><\/p>\n

T<\/strong>o my right a man is hauled off by the police. He tries to resist but it\u2019s futile as four policemen load him into a police jeep and drive off. I\u2019m snapping away as the jeep speeds off into the distance, when a voice behind me asks, \u2018what just happened?\u2019<\/p>\n

\"VABBS041213\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I explain to the man in a brown t-shirt, that one of the attendees of the \u2018peaceful vigil\u2018 was just dragged off by the police.
\n
\nHe looks surprised. Then he motions towards the barricade of police in front of us and remarks that they\u2019ve brought cans of tear gas with them. I turn towards the policemen and take pictures of the cans. Then I hear a scuffle behind me.<\/p>\n

I swing around and I see the police trying to haul off the man I was just speaking to! For a moment, I\u2019m stunned. He hadn\u2019t done anything. He was just standing there, watching what was going on. A few people tried to intercede, questioning the police as to why they were attempting to take him away. Seconds later, a well-known female activist is in between the policeman and the young man, trying to separate them. She is manhandled and shoved aside. I felt a little helpless. I felt worse that I wasn\u2019t able to do anything apart from taking pictures. But then it struck me that I could help him, and everyone else who was detained by the police last evening by uploading my pictures and writing about what really went down. Especially since the events of last night have gone unreported in most of the print media and print media websites.<\/p>\n

Quite a few times I was asked what I was doing there. I flashed my media ID, which served like a protective shield. But others around me were being violently chased away. The crowd was dispersed, but they weren\u2019t ready to give up. They took the vigil further up the road, to Gower Street. Here again the police quickly disrupted the vigil.<\/p>\n

All while Dilantha Withanage (member of the BBS), charges that those who\u2019d attended the vigil were trying to change the National Anthem, and that it is a criminal offence because it is against the Constitution. When I asked him under which Article it comes under, he responds\u2013 stammering\u2013 that if I\u2019m a journalist, I should know which Article it is! So I asked him to enlighten me, seeing as he seemed to know more about the Constitution. All he did was parrot that as a journalist I should know it, which made it quite evident he could not prove the fustian he was spewing!<\/p>\n