Sri Lankan Protester Blasts Rajapaksas for 'Mismanagement, Corruption'

He accused the state of robbing "the national assets and funds while governing in a derogatory and corrupt manner."

Mohammed Fuzly protesting in front of the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. 

(Photo: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

Amid the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, civil activist Mohammed Fuzly, while speaking to The Quint, lashed out at the Rajapaksa family while protesting outside the Presidential Secretariat, that is, the office of the president.

Walking in front of the building where people were already protesting, Fuzly says, "The government that ruled this country for the past two years has robbed the national/public assets and funds while governing in a derogatory and a corrupt manner."

"It is this mismanagement and corruption that has brought this country to its current state."

Mohammed Fuzly, civil activist

'Fallen to the Bottom'

He goes on to say that "Sri Lanka has now fallen to the bottom amongst all countries in terms of economic and financial rankings."

Then Fuzly angrily concludes that "the responsibility lies with the Rajapaksa family – Gotabaya, Mahinda, Basil, Chamal, and Shasheendra Rajapaksa – who ruled this country for the past two years."

"It is their mismanagement and corruption that brought this country to this situation today," he adds.

Recap: Sri Lanka's Economic Crisis

Sri Lanka is going through an economic meltdown of a scale unseen since the country's financial crisis of 1948. Prices of essential commodities like rice, milk, and oil have skyrocketed.

The main cause is the shortage of foreign currency, which has led to a huge reduction in imports of essential items like petroleum, food, paper, sugar, lentils, medicines, and transportation equipment.

The roots of the shortage lie in the recent failure of the tourism industry, the failure to procure enough FDI, and the government’s refusal to take a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

You can read about the crisis in more detail here.