IUSF seizes Malwana property linked to Basil Rajapaksa and demands it be handed to students amid Sri Lanka’s university hostel crisis.
IUSF has taken control of the 16-acre Malwana property linked to Basil Rajapaksa, demanding that it be handed over to students.
The Inter-University Student Federation said the property and premises, now vested in the government by court order, should be immediately transferred for student use as a solution to the severe hostel and space crisis in the state university system.
Speaking at the site, IUSF Convener Sasidu Perera said university students are facing unbearable welfare and academic problems.
“It has become impossible to admit students for a new academic year. Students have no hostels. Faculty complexes are limited. In a situation where students are studying while sleeping on mats and on the floors of boarding rooms, there is no point in keeping such palace-like properties merely under government possession,” he said.
The students said the main slogan that emerged during the recent struggle, “Hand over stolen property back to the people,” must now be directly implemented.
Perera also recalled that when legal proceedings were underway over the Malwana property, which carries major commercial value and borders the Kelani River, no one came forward to prove ownership.
“It is not enough for the government merely to take over these properties. Their enjoyment must be directly granted to a sector beneficial to the people, such as the education sector,” he said.
The IUSF Convener warned that the seizure of the Malwana property is only a symbolic battle, adding that they are prepared to seize similar properties across the country in the future.
The students believe that granting such properties to the university system would allow new degree courses to be introduced, infrastructure to be developed, and employment opportunities to be created for local residents.
Sasidu Perera called on the public and parents to support the struggle, saying it is not being carried out for personal gain, but for future generations.
The Student Federation stressed that it will not leave the premises until the property is handed over to the education sector, and said it will remain inside the seized property until the struggle is won.
