Colombo: People’s anger has started erupting in Sri Lanka, which is going through the worst economic crisis since independence. Hundreds of people staged a massive protest outside the residence of President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa late on Thursday night. Thousands of protesters were raising slogans by waving posters. During this, he also had a confrontation with the police. The situation got so bad that a special task force had to be called to control the crowd.
People want President’s resignation
The protesters were raising slogans demanding the resignation of the President. As soon as the police tried to disperse them, the situation worsened. The mob threw bottles and stones at the police. Later the police had to use water cannons along with lathi charge to control the protesters. During this, angry people also set a police bus on fire.
Rajapaksa family’s capture of power
Since Thursday evening, people started gathering on the road near the residence of President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and this number increased as the day progressed. People’s demand is that Gotabhaya and his family should leave power. Let us tell you that at present, the Rajapaksa family is dominant in the politics of Sri Lanka. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is the President while his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa is serving as the PM. The youngest brother Basil Rajapaksa is handling the finance department and the eldest brother Chamal Rajapaksa is the Agriculture Minister. Not only this, nephew Namal Rajapakse is handling the responsibility of sports in the cabinet.
the situation is getting worse
Sri Lanka is currently facing a severe economic crisis. Inflation has broken all the records here, due to which it has become difficult for people to even fill their stomachs. There is a severe shortage of fuel and gas in the country. The situation is that people have to queue for many hours for petrol and diesel at the pumps. Due to the paucity of paper, the examinations of educational institutions have had to be postponed indefinitely. There was no diesel in Sri Lanka on Thursday evening, due to which transportation came to a standstill and along with this 22 million people of the country had to face long power cuts. The President was not at his residence when the demonstration took place. Significantly, Sri Lanka is facing the most severe economic crisis ever and the situation is continuously getting worse. The government does not even have money to light street lights.
For what reason did this happen?
According to media reports, diesel and main fuel for buses and commercial vehicles are not available at stations across the island. Petrol was being sold, but people are upset due to less supply. Along with the Corona epidemic, the wrong policies of the government are also responsible behind this condition of Sri Lanka. The epidemic devastated the tourism sector here, due to which his income stopped completely. Apart from this, the tax was cut just before the pandemic in the country. The government also wasted public money on several projects, as a result of which the situation worsened.