Thousands of Sri Lankans demonstrated in the nation’s capital, Colombo, against the economy and the savage crackdown on earlier protests. Participants included civil rights organisations, trade unions, and students.
The biggest economic crisis Sri Lanka has seen in years is causing many people to fall into poverty. The annual inflation rate for food is 85.8%, while it is only 62.8% for non-food items. The gross domestic product (GDP) of Sri Lanka is expected to decline by 8.7%.
According to Minelle Fernandez of Al Jazeera, the demonstrators are impatient since it feels like there is “no let-up” in the ongoing economic crisis. “People are really, really struggling,” she remarked. “The cost of living is skyrocketing, food inflation is over 90%.”
The rally was organised by the Trade Union Coordination Center. Trade unions and well-known individuals who were in charge of the prior demonstrations to oust former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa are now part of the merged people’s movement.
On July 21, Ranil Wickremesinghe was chosen as the new president in a vote in Parliament.
A state of emergency was swiftly declared by Wickremesinghe, giving the military broad authority and leading to a series of crackdowns on protestors that culminated in the imprisonment of several protest leaders.
Following the crackdowns, there was a brief period of waiting and watching, but now, according to Fernandez, “people are coming out once again, and the reason for that is there seems to be no let-up.” When it first started to show up at the dinner table a few months ago, most households were barely making ends meet.
The United Nations called the crackdowns a “misuse of emergency measures” and asked Wickremesinghe to stop them in August.
However, the 22 million-person island nation is experiencing unrest due to increased living expenses and a number of upcoming tax rises.
