Will join ANTI-SAITM forces if solution not found: Rathana Thera

Parliamentarian Ven.athuraliye Rathana Thera said yesterday that he would join hands with students of medical faculties and their parents in their struggle against the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) if the government did not act in a flexible manner to resolve the issue within the next two weeks.

The thera warned instead of going for more discussions with the government on the issue he would join ANTI-SAITM forces in their fight to abolish the campus if the government keeps delaying finding a solution to the problem.

The thera made these remark when representatives of the Medical Faculty Students’ Parents’ Association (MFSPA) and students of medical faculties visited him in Colombo yesterday (18).

“It has been almost three years since the new government came to power. I don’t believe that the matter should dragged on any further. Already students are getting jailed and baton-charged and very soon it could end with one or more fatalities. Students do not deserve this,” the thera said.

The Venerable thera said the government should listen to all stakeholders of the SAITM issue including the doctors and if it has an impartial proposal to resolve the issue it should be presented forthwith.

The thera said that he would lend his support to the cause if the government did not change its stance on the issue immediately.