News
Lankans abandon holiday celebrations for protests
by Amal Jayasinghe
Life usually stops in Sri Lanka’s capital during April’s holiday period, but with an economic crisis derailing traditional home celebrations, Colombo’s city centre is instead teeming with frustrated crowds.
Sri Lankans ritually boil milk on the first day of the island nation’s New Year, but the commodity is one of many in short supply – along with the liquid gas and kerosene used to heat stoves in many Colombo households, and rice to serve family members.
Demonstrators this year brought the custom out of their homes and heated clay pots over makeshift bonfires outside the capital’s Presidential Secretariat, highlighting the plight of households now forced to cook with firewood.
The seafront park by the neoclassical office has since the weekend hosted a running protest vigil, demanding the government’s resignation over Sri Lanka’s worst financial crisis in memory.
“The economic situation is unbearable for many people,” Hemakumara Perera, who joined the protest from a small town south of the capital, told AFP.
Perera, his wife and two children camped at the site overnight to “show solidarity” with fellow Sri Lankans suffering through what is usually a joyous family celebration.
“We support their call for the president and the prime minister to step down,” he said.
Other New Year customs have been abandoned, such as the buying of new garments to symbolise fresh beginnings.
“We are not in a mood to wear new clothes and celebrate when we know how people are suffering,” said Lakshika Gunawardena, who joined the protest carrying her five-month-old baby.
Sri Lanka’s New Year is usually a private affair, with families sharing meals at home and giving sweets to neighbours as commercial activity comes to a standstill.
The crowds now thronging public spaces are an unusual sight for this time of year — as is the silence from the country’s besieged leaders.
The government skipped its usual handout photographs of top politicians celebrating the occasion with their families.
And there was no sign of a text message holiday greeting from Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, sent to every mobile phone in the country in previous years.
Both he and younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa — Sri Lanka’s president — have been accused of mismanaging the economy and blindly leading the country into its present predicament.
The country is now in default of its $51 billion foreign debt ahead of negotiations for an International Monetary Fund bailout, and authorities have begged Sri Lankans abroad to send money home to help alleviate the crisis.
The president has not returned to his office since the protest began on the weekend, and a bolstered security presence is keeping watch over the encampment.
But interactions between police and the crowd were jovial and even festive, with demonstrators chatting to officers and sharing traditional New Year food and sweets.
“The demonstrators won’t go until the government goes,” said a traffic constable standing watch outside the building while sheltering from the scorching morning sun.
“And we can’t go until both leave,” he added.
The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO) has announced a revision of fuel prices, effective from midnight on Saturday (May 30).
Accordingly,
the price of Auto Diesel has been increased by Rs. 15 to Rs.407 per liter,
the price of Super Diesel has been increased by Rs. 20 to Rs. 478 per liter.
the price of Petrol 92 Octane has been increased by Rs. 24 to Rs. 434 per liter
the price of Petrol 95 Octane up by Rs. 25 to Rs. 495 per liter
the price of kerosene by Rs. 20 to Rs. 285 per liter.
Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has called for a comprehensive reform programme within Sri Lanka’s Buddhist clergy, warning that repeated efforts to strengthen the Sasana have in the past been derailed by opposition from within sections of the Sangha itself.
In a statement addressed to the Mahanayake Theras of the three Buddhist chapters, Kumaratunga stressed that the long-term preservation of Buddhism depends on safeguarding both the Dhamma and Vinaya, or disciplinary code, and urged urgent internal reform to address what she described as deep-rooted structural weaknesses.
She noted that Buddhist history has consistently demonstrated that periods of institutional crisis were addressed through reform processes, citing precedents from the First Buddhist Council to reforms during the Kandyan era under Welivita Sri Saranankara Thera.
Referring to post-independence efforts, Kumaratunga said initiatives taken during the 1956 Bandaranaike administration to strengthen Buddhism were left incomplete following the assassination of former Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike.
She further stated that during her own presidency, plans to convene a Buddhist Council under the guidance of the late Madihe Pannasiha Mahanayake Thera had received government backing but were ultimately abandoned due to resistance from certain sections within the clergy.
The former President alleged that, on both occasions, vested interests benefiting from existing weaknesses within the Buddhist establishment had worked to obstruct meaningful reform efforts.
Warning that Buddhism in Sri Lanka is currently facing serious challenges, she called for a broad internal dialogue within the Sangha to identify root causes and implement both short- and long-term corrective measures.
Kumaratunga urged the Mahanayake Theras to take the lead in convening a Dharma Sanghayana, or Buddhist Council, and said she was prepared to work with senior lay Buddhist leaders to support such an initiative.
The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court on Friday ordered the arrest of former Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Bhashwara Gunaratne, Managing Director Rumi Jauffer and several others over the alleged misuse of Rs. 7.8 million belonging to the Tourism Promotion Authority during the 2014 Uva Provincial Council election campaign.
Magistrate Pasan Amarasena directed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to arrest and produce the suspects before court, after it was informed that they would be named under the Public Property Act on the advice of the Attorney General.
The CID told court that attempts to take the suspects into custody from their residences had been unsuccessful as they were not present.
The Magistrate also imposed an overseas travel ban on the suspects and ordered that the Controller of Immigration and Emigration be notified.
Investigations have reportedly revealed that the funds were used to print 12,000 T-shirts bearing an image of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on one side and the name of a political party on the other.
According to the CID, the T-shirts were later distributed at a political event held in the Monaragala District.
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