Jan 20, Colombo: The People's Wall of Comradeship of Sri Lanka, a movement affiliated with the Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) says the government considers persons with dissenting views as terrorists.

Co-Convener of the movement, Sunil Handunnetti, claiming that there's a breakdown in democracy in the North and East, said the necessity of the hour is to build unity among the various ethnic groups in post-war Sri Lanka.

"People are denied their civil rights, the civil administration is breaking down and the people are confronted with a crisis situation," he said at a press conference.

According to Handunnetti, the militarization of the North has suppressed people in the area since last November and Jaffna University students arrested at the time are yet to be released.

He noted that the government treated intellectuals, scholars and persons who have different views from the rulers as criminals and called on the government to release university students who were arrested illegally and undemocratically.

The Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) of Sri Lanka has arrested four students of Jaffna University following a clash between university students and the security forces on November 27th when the students tried to commemorate the dead fighters of the former terrorist organization on its Heroes' Day (Mahaveer Day).

The four students have been sent to a rehabilitation camp in Welikanda.