July 21, Colombo (LNW): The Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF) has strongly criticised what it describes as a covert attempt by the Government to fracture and discredit the student movement by installing politically affiliated individuals as campus leaders.
The student body alleges this is part of a broader agenda to soften resistance to the creeping privatisation of Sri Lanka’s public education system.
In a public statement issued on its verified social media platforms, the IUSF denounced the emergence of a separate student group that recently held a press conference claiming to be the official IUSF and announcing the appointment of a new convenor.
According to the IUSF, this new faction has adopted their insignia, logos, and even official letterheads, in what the Federation describes as a deliberate effort to confuse the student body and dilute opposition.
The situation escalated after the breakaway group also launched social media accounts purporting to represent the IUSF, further fuelling speculation about a politically motivated attempt to hijack the Federation’s identity and mission.
The IUSF’s leadership maintains that this development is not spontaneous, but rather orchestrated from above, accusing the Government of exploiting the student movement’s internal structures to push through controversial education reforms. The group claims the ultimate goal is to weaken public resistance to privatisation policies that many student activists have consistently opposed.
Calling for vigilance and unity, the IUSF urged students, academic staff, and the broader public to remain aware of what it described as state-sponsored misinformation campaigns.
The Federation reiterated its long-standing commitment to resisting commercialisation within the higher education sector and pledged to continue its activism against policies that, in its view, undermine the right to accessible education for all.
The IUSF also appealed for collective action to challenge what it sees as a broader attempt to suppress dissent and silence youth-led advocacy in the country.
