Is the IUSF claim true or false?

Wasantha Mudalige, Convenor of the Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) has written to the Sunday Times about what he calls “false reportage” in the political commentary in last week’s issue.

The IUSF, he says, conducted “a few discussions with the Jaffna University Students Union as well as University lecturers and civil society activists in Jaffna regarding the PTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) and other socio-political grievances faced by the people of the North and the East…..As per your report, there were “no conditions” handed over to the IUSF by any participant at the meeting…. We are deeply disturbed that a responsible media institution such as the Sunday Times, is involved in deliberate dissemination of false information to the general public…..”

Is the IUSF claim true or false? The answer lies in a letter to the Sunday Times on the same subject from another player Kumanan Kanapathipillai, who is a translator. Here are highlights of his letter:

“…….Under the sub-heading ‘A nexus between student bodies in Colombo and Jaffna’ the column lists the set of demands handed over by the Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU) to visiting Inter-University Students Federation (IUSF) leader Wasantha Mudalige in a discussion held at the Jaffna University premises on the 12th of March.

It is commendable that the Sunday Times had published seven of the eleven demands with a few changes, whereas mainstream media houses in Colombo seem to have totally overlooked this significant development.

However, it is regrettable that the list of demands had been incorrectly attributed to a tweet by “Jaffna University student leader Kannan”.

I can assure you that the JUSU (Jaffna University Students Union) has no student leader named Kannan. The list of demands was tweeted by me at 10:30 AM on March 12, 2023 in a thread under the handle @kumanan93, which I have been using since November 2014. The full list of demands can be found in the link below.

https://twitter.com/kumanan93/status/1634864499143622657

Wasantha Mudalige was given the list of demands by JUSU led by its President Alagarasa Vijayakumar in Tamil. The English translation published on twitter and the Sunday Times political column was done by me. You would appreciate that attributing it to a non-existent student leader ‘Kannan’ in a widely read outlet deprives me from being acknowledged as the journalist who first reported it in English.

IUSF Convener Wasantha Mudalige and his colleagues visiting Jaffna from Sri Lanka’s south was translated from Tamil to English and tweeted by Journalist Kanapathipillai Kumanan. It would also be helpful for readers to put the record straight by clarifying the origins of these demands.

The reference to Kannan as “student leader” – The error is regretted.