Video Producer: Shohini Bose
Video Editor: Prajjwal Kumar
A sea of students from Sri Lankan universities on Sunday, 24 April, thronged outside the home of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, demanding his resignation over the ongoing political and economic crisis in the country, reported news agency ANI.
For several weeks now, the island nation has been 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.
On Sunday, even as police barricaded several roads in Colombo to stop protesters from joining demonstrators at other places, student leaders were seen climbing the fence of Rajapaksa's compound in the capital
"You can block the road, but can't stop our struggle until the entire government goes home," said an unidentified student leader while standing on top of a wall, reported news agency ANI
The protesters also reportedly engaged in a face-off with groups of policemen with riot shields and tried to pull down the barricades to enter Rajapaksa's home. As a mark of protest, some students wore Guy Fawkes masks, which are synonymous with anti-establishment movements, while others shouted slogans like 'Go Home Gota'. Gota is a nickname of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the younger brother of Mahinda.
According to the police, Mahinda was not at home when the protesters landed outside his residence and the crowd reportedly left peacefully. For the past few weeks, scores of protesters have been camping outside the seaside office of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa demanding his resignation and that of his brother Mahinda. Besides, protesters have also been storming outside other government offices and establishments in recent times.
The country witnessed its first fatality of the current protest this past week after a man was shot dead when police fired at a road blockade in Rambukkana.
Finance Minister Ali Sabry had on Friday warned that the country's financial situation may deteriorate even further in the days to come.
(With inputs from ANI.)
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