Thousands of people in Sri Lanka defied an all- island curfew over the weekend to continue with their protests against President Gotabaya Rajapakse.
The protests, triggered by the shortage of food, medicine, gas and fuel, have been going on for weeks with no end in sight. The people of Sri Lanka want President Rajapakse to step down for failing to address the crisis which is unprecedented in the country’s history.
According to police reports more than 660 people who had violated the curfew have been arrested.
The main opposition party in parliament, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, marched to Independence Square in the heart of Colombo where barricades had come up overnight in anticipation of protestors coming to the venue on Sunday. From last week, protestors from all over the country had been planning to converge at the Square in what would have been a massive gathering of people.
A protest by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) whose popularity with the people has been snowballing, drew large crowds.
Undeterred by the curfew and a ban on social media which was slapped on by the government at midnight on Saturday, householders stayed at home and protested. They beat on saucepans, flew the Sri Lankan flag, clapped and shouted ‘Gota Go Home.
In Kandy near the Peradeniya University, police used a water cannon to disrupt a big protest by undergraduates.
Students of the Sri Jayewardenepura university came out to protest despite the ban.
Soon after declaring the curfew the President issued another gazette which detailed places where people could not gather.
Despite the mass scale protests the government has still not told the people how it plans to pull them out of the current quagmire.
A strong rumour yesterday that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse who is the President’s older brother is going to step down as prime minister turned out to be a damp squib. Instead, the cabinet of ministers had reportedly resigned but its legality is being questioned and Sri Lankans are calling it another drama which is being played out by the Rajapaksas. It is well known among Sri Lankans that the prime minister wants his son Namal Rajapakse to succeed to the country’s top office and that political manouverings will be for this. There are at least six members of the Rajapakse family in parliament and they control key functions of the government
Meanwhile protests erupted around the world with the Sri Lankan diaspora in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, the UAE and other countries coming out enmasse to stand in solidarity with their countrymen.
