Sri Lanka declares public emergency amidst protests over economic crisis
Colombo, Apr 2 (PTI) Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has declared a public emergency amidst a spate of protests over the worst economic crisis in the country.
Rajapaksa issued a special gazette notification on Friday, declaring a public emergency in Sri Lanka with effect from April 1.
On the President's command, Secretary to the President Gamini Senarath issued the Extraordinary Gazette Notification.
The move came after a violent protest erupted outside the residence of Rajapaksa on Thursday as hundreds of demonstrators gathered there and demanded his resignation for what they called his failure in addressing the worst economic crisis in the island nation.
Several people were injured and vehicles were set on fire as the agitation turned violent. Police fired tear gas and water cannons at the protesters after they pulled down a steel barricade placed near the president's residence. Following the incident, several people were arrested and a curfew briefly imposed in most parts of Colombo city.
A foreign exchange crunch in Sri Lanka has led to a shortage of essential goods such as fuel and cooking gas. Power cuts that last up to 13 hours a day.
A statement issued by the presidential media division on Friday said an extremist group was behind the unrest near President Rajapaksa's residence in Mirihana.
Meanwhile, the police said the number of people arrested in the aftermath of the violence has risen to 54. Lawyers linked to opposition parties claimed that the police might charge those arrested under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
Five policemen were injured, while a police bus, a jeep and two motorcycles were burnt as protesters turned violent. The demonstrators also caused damage to a police water cannon truck.
Sri Lanka is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis in history. With long lines for fuel, cooking gas, essentials in short supply and long hours of power cuts the public has been suffering for weeks.
Rajapaksa has defended his government's actions, saying the foreign exchange crisis was not his making and the economic downturn was largely pandemic driven where the island's tourism revenue and inward remittances waning.
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Ex-minister Ramanath Rai hits out at BJP leader Ashoka for ‘irresponsible’ comments on KC Venugopal
Mangaluru: Congress leader and former minister B Ramanath Rai slammed BJP leader R Ashoka for calling AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal an agent of the party high command, and asked if the general secretary and other office-bearers in the BJP were commission agents too.
Rai, who addressed a press meet at the Congress office in the city on Friday, expressed fury over the recent comments of the BJP leader that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was presenting himself in a shameless manner in public life. Ashoka, who is also Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, had said that the Congress government had ‘broken every previous record on corruption-related controversies’.
“Ashoka has spoken with sheer ignorance and displays his lack of maturity, as he often does while facing the media. KC Venugopal has been working at organization of the party and it is unbecoming of Ashoka to criticize Venugopal as he did,” Rai told reporters.
“Being in a responsible position, how acceptable is it for Ashoka to pass disrespectful, random comments about another leader who also holds a responsible position? If KC Venugopal is indeed an agent of the party high command, what should we consider BJP leaders to be? Are they brokers?” he asked
Commenting on Ashoka’s allegations of corruption in the Congress government in Karnataka, Rai pointed out, “The KSRTC land was sold to private parties when he (Ashoka) was transport minister. We can find several such cases across the state, which need to be probed.”
The former minister, however, refused to comment on the incident that occurred at Mangaluru airport during CM Siddaramaiah’s visit to the city recently.
Former mayors Ashraf and Shashidhar Hegde, Congress activists Vishwas Kumar Das, Subhodaya Alva, Shabeer, Baby Kundar, Padmanabha, Nazeer Bajal and Prem were present.
