Comments
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has blamed “organised extremists” for staging a large protest outside his private residence on Thursday night, as public anger mounts over his government’s handling of the economic crisis gripping Sri Lanka.
Over 50 suspects have been arrested, police said. Night-long curfews were imposed in the area and other select neighbourhoods amid reports of angry citizens blocking roads and demanding that the government step down.
The President’s Media Division said a group, “carrying iron bars, clubs and sticks” had “provoked the protesters”, and “marched towards” the President’s residence, “causing a riot”.
“Many of those involved in this violent incident have been arrested and many have been identified as organised extremists. They had led the protest shouting the slogans ‘let’s create an Arab Spring in this country’,” its statement said.
Spiralling shortages
In addition to opposition parties, citizens’ groups in Sri Lanka have been holding independent protests in several areas for nearly a month against the government that they hold responsible for the country’s rapidly deteriorating economic condition. Fuel, food, and medicines are in short supply, while the public faces long power outages — up to 13 hours on Thursday — disrupting daily life.
Thursday’s protest began peacefully, with dozens of citizens silently gathering at the venue, holding anti-government posters, and chanting slogans asking Rajapaksa to “go home”. Later, riot police deployed to the area used tear gas and water cannons, as authorities accused some protestors of “turning violent”.
A team of senior government ministers that held a press conference on Friday morning sought to blame “extremists from opposition parties” for the violence which, they said, prompted army deployment.
Torture allegations
Meanwhile, some of the persons arrested following the protest have complained of torture in police stations.
“Several bystanders and people, including Tamil and Muslim boys who had nothing to do with the protest, have been arrested,” said lawyer Swasthika Arulingam, after visiting the police station.
“Some of them were bleeding when I met them. They said the army and STF (Special Task Force) beat them badly,” she told The Hindu.
The protest not only reflects a further escalation of the crisis, but also signals people’s growing frustration, according to political observers.
‘Spontaneous mass protest’
“People have begun to show their anger against the President and government’s insensitivity to their suffering, and utter inability to manage this growing economic and political crisis,” senior political scientist Jayadeva Uyangoda told The Hindu.
Terming it a protest against the “arrogance of power shown” by the President and his Cabinet, he said it had potential to mark a “turning point.”
“This is the first time in the recent history of Sri Lanka that people are taking to the streets voluntarily and independent of political parties,” Uyangoda said, pointing to its “strengths and limits”.
“A spontaneous mass protest is easy to crush and cannot be sustained politically, without the backing of opposition political parties,” he added.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.