Sri Lanka put under curfew until Monday morning
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka imposed a countrywide curfew starting Saturday evening until Monday morning, in addition to a state of emergency declared by the president, in an attempt to prevent more protests blaming the government for the worsening economic crisis.
The government’s information head Mohan Samaranayake said the curfew is being imposed under powers vested with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He drew the ire of protesters who called for his resignation outside his residence on Thursday night, leading to police firing tear gas and arresting scores of people.
“The curfew is an attempt to shut the people up,” said Ruki Fernando, a human rights activist who headed to a protest in the capital, Colombo, which dispersed early after the curfew came into force.
“I don’t know why a curfew has been
declared. What we need now is not a curfew, we need food, gas, fuel and the freedom to express ourselves,” Fernando said.
Rajapaksa assumed emergency powers on midnight Friday amid widespread calls for protests throughout the country on Sunday, as anger over shortages of essential foods, fuel and long power cuts boiled over during the week.
Sri Lanka faces huge debt obligations and dwindling foreign reserves, and its struggle to pay for imports has caused a lack of basic supplies. People wait in long lines for gas, and power is cut for several hours daily because there’s not enough fuel to operate power plants and dry weather has sapped hydropower capacity.
The island nation’s economic woes date back to a failure of successive governments to diversify exports, instead relying on traditional cash sources like tea, garments and tourism, and on a culture of consuming imported goods.
The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a heavy blow to the economy with the government estimating a loss of $14 billion in the last two years. Protesters also point to mismanagement – Sri Lanka has immense foreign debt after borrowing heavily on projects that don’t earn money. Its foreign debt repayment obligations are around $7 billion for this year alone.
The crisis has hit people from all walks of life. Middle class professionals and business people who would normally not take part in street protests have been holding nightly rallies with candles and placards in many parts of the country.
On Thursday, angry crowds demonstrated along the roads leading to Rajapaksa’s private residence on the outskirts of Colombo and stoned two army buses that police were using to block their path. The protesters set fire to one of the buses and turned back a fire truck that rushed to douse it.
Rajapaksa’s office blamed “organized extremists” within the thousands of protesters for the violence. Police fired tear gas and a water cannon and arrested 54 people. Dozens of other people were injured and some journalists beaten by police.
Senior police spokesperson Ajith Rohana said that 24 police personnel and several other civilians were injured. Damage was estimated at $132,000.