Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake, who ran into a confrontation with students of University of Sabaragamuwa yesterday, said he acted with great patience and self-restraint yesterday as this was the time of elections.

“Otherwise I know how to deal with situations like this. If not for elections we would have treated them ‘better’. We are not afraid of students protesting in huts. This is a strong government and this cannot be shaken up by hut-dwellers,” the Minister said in a boisterous tone speaking to a group of student of the University of Sabaragamuwa.

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The students, in response, demanded the Higher Education Minister to give solutions to their problems. The Minister however did not give solid answers to the questions directed at him by students.

 The Sabaragamuwa University was closed indefinitely as students protested against the Higher Education Minister’s visit to the university to open a new hostel.

The students staged a protest at the Pambahinna Junction along the Badulla- Colombo Road, blocking the Minister from entering the University. They alleged that the new hostel for the female students is not built according to proper standards. The police used water cannons to disperse the students.

Minister S.B. Dissanayake, who was appointed as the Higher Education Minister in 2010, ran into problems with university students on numerous occasions over the past four years.