COLOMBO — Sri
Lanka declared a 36-hour nationwide curfew Saturday and deployed troops backed
with sweeping new powers under a state of emergency to quell protests against
President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his relatives, and even his most trusted
shaman.
اضافة اعلان
The lockdown that went into effect at dusk
Saturday will be lifted Monday morning, police said — a period that covers
planned mass anti-government protests against worsening shortages of fuel,
food, and medicines.
Hundreds of people defied the curfew and
gathered at several suburban towns, police and residents said.
Noisy demonstrations in the towns of
Maharagama, Homagama and Yakkala ended peacefully, but two hours after the
curfew began.
"There were policemen, but they did not
try to disrupt," a resident in Yakkala told AFP by telephone. There were
similar reports from the other towns.
Rajapaksa invoked a state of emergency
following a violent attempt to storm his house, saying it was for the
"protection of public order".
The ire of a mob in the near-bankrupt country
was directed Saturday at a woman identified as a soothsayer frequently
consulted by Rajapaksa in the northern town of Anuradhapura.
Rights activist and former opposition
legislator Hirunika Premachandra led dozens of women to storm seer Gnana Akka's
shrine and residence, but armed police stopped them.
"Why are police protecting a
shaman?" she asked a senior officer who physically blocked her march, as
seen on a Facebook live video, verified by AFP as authentic.
"Thief, thief, Gota thief," the
crowds chanted after armed security personnel stopped them.
"Think of the country and let us
pass," another woman activist pleaded.
"
#GoHomeRajapaksas" and
"
#GotaGoHome" have been trending for days on Twitter and Facebook in
the island nation, which is battling severe shortages of essentials, sharp
price rises and crippling power cuts in its most painful downturn since
independence from Britain in 1948.
The coronavirus pandemic has torpedoed
tourism and remittances, both vital to the economy, and authorities have
imposed a broad import ban in an attempt to save foreign currency.
Many economists also say the crisis has been
exacerbated by government mismanagement, years of accumulated borrowing, and
ill-advised tax cuts.
The curfew and state of emergency in the country
of 22 million came as social media posts called for protests on Sunday.
"Do not be deterred by tear gas, very
soon they will run out of dollars to re-stock," said one post encouraging
people to demonstrate even if police attempt to break up gatherings.
In normal times,
Sri Lanka's military can
only play a supporting role to police, but the state of emergency gives them
authority to act alone, including to detain civilians.
US ambassador
Julie Chung urged restraint,
warning: "Sri Lankans have a right to protest peacefully — essential for
democratic expression."
"I am watching the situation closely,
and hope the coming days bring restraint from all sides, as well as much needed
economic stability and relief for those suffering," she tweeted.
Former colonial power Britain's envoy
expressed similar concerns, while the
European Union mission said it
"strongly urges Sri Lankan authorities to safeguard democratic rights of
all citizens, including right to free assembly and dissent, which has to be peaceful".
'Lunatic, go home'
Travel trade specialists say the state of
emergency could be a new blow to hopes of a tourism revival, as insurance rates
usually rise when a country declares a security emergency.
"There are reports of sporadic attacks
on the homes of government politicians," a security official told AFP,
adding that a ruling party legislator was hit with eggs at a public event
Friday in the central district of Badulla.
In the nearby hill resort of Nuwara Eliya,
protesters shouted anti-Rajapaksa slogans and blocked Prime Minister Mahinda
Rajapaksa's wife Shiranthi from opening an annual flower exhibition.
Thursday night's unrest outside the
president's private home saw hundreds of people demand he step down.
Protesters chanted "lunatic, lunatic,
go home,” before police fired tear gas and used water cannon.
The crowd turned violent, setting ablaze two
military buses, a police jeep, and other vehicles, and threw bricks at
officers.
Police arrested 53 protesters before 21 of
them were released on bail Friday night, court officials said. Others were
still being detained but had yet to be charged.
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