Sinhala mob stops training event for Tamil journalists in North-East

 08 June 2014

A workshop aimed at training Tamil journalists from the North-East was shut down yesterday after mobs of protestors gathered outside the hotel that it was being held at , resulting in journalists and trainers having to evacuate the premises on grounds of a risk to safety, reports Sundaytimes.lk.

Photo: @dushiyanthini

The workshop was organised by Transparency International (TI) to help develop skills of Tamil speaking journalists.

The mob of protestors carried placards claiming that they were protectors of the ‘motherland’ and demanded that the workshop, which was taking place in Colombo, be stopped.

A Tamil journalist, Dushi Yanthini, tweeting from the event said that, local police entered the hotel that they were training in and said ‘We cannot give you protection, as the protesters are threatening from outside.’

The event organisers were then asked to cancel the journalism event and leave immediately, said Yanthini. 

Speaking to the SundayTimes, the organiser of the workshop, Shan Wijetunga, said, 

"They were a well organised mob. The placards carried my photograph and those of other trainers. They called themselves as members of the 'Movement for national unity' but I'm not sure if such an organisation exists."

The latest cancellation is the 4^th time training for Tamil journalists has been stopped due to protests this year. A session organised for the same group of Tamil journalists last month was cancelled after similar protests erupted around the training facilities.