In future it will become a big problem. In order to impose its education policies, the PA government is not only resorting to police repression against demonstrators but in recent months to systematic intimidation and outright thuggery. In some cases, individuals have been kidnapped or faced death threats. At the Kelaniya University on February 10, a gang of thugs set fire to the student council office causing 2.5 million rupees worth of damage. Although the student council complained to the police and university authorities, no action has been taken.
Students allege that the inaction is the result of pressure from government politicians.
The students are very restless because of this. Because of the threat posed by thugs on campus, most students at the university have kept away from the library in the evenings even during the recent examination period. Most of those affected have been student council representatives or other student activists. While students are hostile to the government's plans for private education and the introduction of fees, the JVP and their IUSF offer no way out. Formed in the late 1960s, the JVP appealed to rural youth on the basis of an eclectic program that combined Maoism and Castroism with Sinhala chauvinism.