Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Academics in protest march

By Lakna Paranamanna
Bringing the university academics’ ongoing struggle to the streets, a protest march was staged in Colombo for the first time yesterday with the participation of academics from all universities.Hundreds of university academics from Colombo, Jayewardenepura, Sabaragamuwa, Moratuwa, Ruhuna and several other universities participated in the protest march
which was organized by the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) before the Colombo University Science Faculty. Halfway through the route, students of the Visual and Performing Arts University gathered on either side of the road and applauded the marching academics, even offering them water and refreshments.

Also, academics of the Visual and Performing Arts University, which was one of the few universities that had not taken part in the FUTA trade union action yesterday, expressed their solidarity by joining the protest march near the university.

The academics marched up to the Public Library undisturbed and concluded their activities with a public seminar held at the Public Library auditorium.
Dm