The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) is currently on a four-hour token strike to protest the arrest of 21 medical students yesterday.

The strike began at 9 this morning, and will end at 12 noon. 

Twenty-one medical students were arrested yesterday for violating a court order banning protests that cause hindrance to the public.

Over 2, 000 university students marched into Colombo Fort last evening, to protest the recent Court of Appeals ruling that allowed medical degree holders from the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) to register with the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC).

The local university students who are beneficiaries of free education argue that by recognising the privately owned fee-levying SAITM medical faculty, the Sri Lanka government means to privatise the free education system.

 The GMOA said it would go ahead with the strike even after the 21 medical students were released on bail by the Colombo Additional Magistrate Jeyaram Trotsky last night.

 “We condemn and oppose the brutal attack on these students,” the GMOA said.