Global Information2022 Sri Lankan protests information
| 2022 Sri Lankan protests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Sri Lankan economic crisis | |||
 Sri Lankans protesting in front of the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo on 13 April | |||
| Date | 15 March 2022[1] – 14 November 2022[2] (7 months, 4 weeks and 2 days) | ||
| Location | Sri Lanka | ||
| Caused by |
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| Goals |
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| Methods | Political demonstrations, Internet activism, rioting, strike action, protests | ||
| Resulted in |
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| Parties | |||
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| Lead figures | |||
Largely unorganized and decentralized leadership
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| Casualties and losses | |||
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The 2022 Sri Lankan protests, commonly known as Aragalaya (Sinhala: අරගලය, lit. 'The Struggle'), were a series of mass protests that began in March 2022 against the government of Sri Lanka. The government was heavily criticized for mismanaging the Sri Lankan economy, which led to a subsequent economic crisis involving severe inflation, daily blackouts, and a shortage of fuel, domestic gas, and other essential goods. The protesters' main demand was the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and key officials from the Rajapaksa family. Despite the involvement of several opposition parties, most protesters considered themselves to be apolitical, with many expressing discontent with the parliamentary opposition.[18] Protesters chanted slogans such as "Go Home Gota", "Go Home Rajapaksas",[19][20] and "Aragalayata Jaya Wewa" ("Victory to the struggle").[21] Most protests were organized by the general public,[22][23] with youths playing a major part by carrying out protests at Galle Face Green.[24][25][26][27]
The government reacted to the protests with authoritarian methods, such as declaring a state of emergency, allowing the military to arrest civilians, imposing curfews, and restricting access to social media. The government violated the law and the Sri Lankan constitution by attempting to suppress the protests.[28][29][30] The Sri Lankan diaspora also began demonstrations against the suppression of basic human rights in the country.[31][32] In April, the government's ban on social media was perceived to have backfired; hashtags such as #GoHomeGota, which is believed to have been coined by an activist called Pathum Kerner in December 2021, had begun trending on Twitter internationally. The government's ban was lifted later that day. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka condemned the government's actions and summoned officials responsible for the blocking and abuse of protesters.[33][34]
On 3 April, all 26 members of the Second Gotabaya Rajapaksa cabinet resigned with the exception of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Critics said that the resignation was not valid as they did not follow constitutional protocol[35][36][37] and several of the ministers who "resigned" were reinstated in different ministries the next day.[38] Chief government whip Johnston Fernando insisted that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would not resign under any circumstances.[39] The protests, however, led to the removal of officials and ministers, including members of the Rajapaksa family and their close associates, and to the appointment of more qualified and veteran officials and the creation of the Advisory Group on Multilateral Engagement and Debt Sustainability.[40]
In July 2022, protesters occupied the President's House in Colombo, causing Rajapaksa to flee and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to announce his own willingness to resign.[41] About a week later, on 20 July, Parliament elected Wickremesinghe as President.[42] By November 2022, the protests had largely cooled off due to improvement in economic conditions. While the protests were mostly over, it was noted that it would take until 2026 for full economic recovery to be achieved.[43][44]
- ^ "Sri Lanka's main opposition to hold demonstration on March 15 in Colombo". economynext.com. Echelon Media Company. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lanka's Budget for 2023 aims a way out of current economic crisis". 14 November 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lanka's all-powerful Rajapaksas under fire". France 24. 1 April 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
- ^ "Former Sri Lanka PM to summon before Human Rights Commission regarding attack on protesters". ANI News. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
- ^ "Two killed in shooting near Weeraketiya PS chairman's residence". Adaderana. 9 May 2022.
- ^ a b "Sri Lanka MP among five killed on day of violence". Al Jazeera. 8 May 2022.
- ^ "UPDATE – One dead, 24 injured from gunshot injuries as protestors and police clash in Rambukkana – Latest News | Daily Mirror". www.dailymirror.lk.
- ^ "Man gets electrocuted while protesting against power cuts in Sri Lanka: Police". Deccan Herald. Colombo. 3 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ "Local rap star Shiraz Rudebwoy dies at protest site". Daily Mirror. Colombo. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
- ^ Dhillon, Amrit (1 April 2022). "Sri Lanka: 50 injured as protesters try to storm president's house amid economic crisis". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lanka PM Mahinda Rajapaksa offers to resign as crisis worsens". Al Jazeera. 9 May 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lanka arrests over 600 protestors violating curfew in Western Province". The New Indian Express. 3 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lankan PM Resigns, Ruling Party MP Killed In Clashes: 10 Points". NDTV. 8 May 2022.
- ^ "Imaduwa PS Chairman dead following clash". 10 May 2022.
- ^ "Violence rages in Sri Lanka, 8 killed in Negombo clash". Ani. 11 May 2022.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:5was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "CID arrests MPs Sanath Nishantha and Milan Jayathilake". Ada Derana. 17 May 2022.
- ^ Nadeera, Dilshan. "The betrayal of the young". The Island. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:7was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Srinivasan, Meera (4 April 2022). "Opposition reject Gotabaya call to join cabinet amid crisis". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- ^ ANS (2022). Sri Lankan Police fire tear gas against protesters near PM's office. Deccan Herald.
- ^ "Sri Lanka's Leaderless Protests". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lanka: The protesters". The Indian Express. 17 April 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "Don't play around with this generation". Daily FT. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ Ranasinghe, Shivanthi (18 April 2022). "'Messed with the Wrong Generation'". Ceylon Today. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ Weerasinghe, Tharushi (10 April 2022). "The youth are marching on". The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ Wijedasa, Namini; Weerasinghe, Tharushi (17 April 2022). "Diverse but determined; the people keep coming to Galle Face". The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lanka Declared State Of Emergency As Crisis Sparks Protests". Viral Bake. 2 April 2022. Archived from the original on 2 April 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lanka imposes curfew amid food, fuel and power shortage protests". BBC News. 2 April 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lanka imposes curfew after protests over food, fuel shortages". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
- ^ "ඇදිරිය හා සමාජ මාධ්ය තහනම නිසා රජයට ඇති අප්රසාදය ඉහළට?". www.ada.lk (in Sinhala). Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lankans in NZ, Australia take to the street against govt". dailymirror.lk. Wijeya Newspapers. 3 April 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ "Social media ban backfires : Anti Govt slogans trends in other countries". NewsWire. 3 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lanka lifts social media ban, HRCSL summons officials". NewsWire. 3 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lanka's cabinet ministers resign as crisis protesters defy curfew". BBC News. 3 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ "Cabinet resigns". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lanka main SJB slams 'sham' cabinet resignation, says no deal". EconomyNext. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
- ^ "4 new Ministers sworn in". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
- ^ "Gotabaya Rajapaksa: Sri Lanka president defies calls for his resignation". BBC News. 6 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lanka's Leaderless Protests". The Diplomat. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lanka: Protesters 'will occupy palace until leaders go'". BBC News. 10 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- ^ Stepansky, Joseph (20 July 2022). "Sri Lanka live news: Ranil Wickremesinghe elected president". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Bhat, Swati; Jayasinghe, Uditha (30 November 2022). "Sri Lanka aims to return to pre-crisis growth by 2026 - minister". Reuters.
- ^ "Sri Lanka welcomes 59,000 tourists in November". 2 December 2022.
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