PTA,PSTA எதிர்ப்பு ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் கொழும்பு

Swasthika Arulingam’s Post: A Warning Against the Terrorism Law

In her recent post, Swasthika Arulingam once again warns about the new anti-terrorism law (PSTA). What she says is simple: under this law, we are all detainees. We are all terrorists.

This is not an exaggeration. In Sri Lanka, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has always been used to suppress a particular community or a particular political voice. Tamils, Muslims, leftist youth, Aragalaya protesters — all of them have been turned into “terrorists” under this law. Even if the law changes, the manner of its use does not.

Some say the PSTA is an improvement over the PTA. But its definition remains broad. When it says that protests, dissent, or trade union action are not “in themselves” terrorism, it implies that they can become terrorism. Protection does not exist merely when a law is written. It must exist when the law is enforced. In Sri Lanka, that has never been the case.

What Swasthika says is correct. There is no need for an anti-terrorism law. The Penal Code and the Public Security Ordinance already exist. But when a government needs it, it creates a separate law. Not to protect the people. To protect power.

If this law comes, it may be worse than the PTA. Because it comes under the name of being “new.” Opposition to the old law may diminish. But its consequences will not.

Elukathir By Krishna Ambalavanar

20-10-2026