On Wednesday (23), we saw the massive turnout at the “Jana Bala Virodaya” protest march and rally organised by the National People’s Power (NPP) in Nugegoda. However, this particular rally was but a more prominent example of what has been going on around the island for the past week – pockets of communities gathering to express their displeasure at our country’s current state of affairs.
There have been protests taking place sporadically around the island, with various groups of people choosing to show up, contribute to the numbers and show their dissatisfaction. One such protest took place on the same day as the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) march, at a much smaller scale and without any political affiliations, but still equally passionate, held near the Diyatha Uyana in Battaramulla.
While the organisers of the protest chose to remain anonymous, they did share that what they would like for people to take away from this is that people are unhappy and they themselves are organising to gather in this way. They said that there are no personal benefits nor political agendas; these people stepping onto the streets are purely doing it because they see no other way.
We spoke to some of the participants about what motivated them to step out of their homes and decide that they must show their protest in this manner.
One of the participants, Saritha Irugalbandara said: “In the grand scheme of things the expectation is for all of these people who failed the entire country in the last year to go home and ideally to be barred from politics. I think we’ve had enough. And we know there has been mass-scale corruption, money printing; we have printed more money in the last two years than the time between 1950 and 2020. So this inflation and this economic crisis is not because of the pandemic, it has been manufactured by bad decision making which does not keep people in mind.”
Another protestor, Rusiru Ranasinghe stated: “We understand things cannot be corrected in a month or even a few months but what we want is to see the plan. Whoever takes it on, this current President or someone else, to ensure that our futures are secure. And secondly we want to encourage others to step out, because for so many years we have just made fun of ourselves and I myself have never thought I would ever take part in a protest in this way but I think it has become our duty to work towards having our voices heard.”
Similar sentiments were echoed throughout. Sayim Perera, a master’s student, shared: “People are well aware how difficult it is to live; breathing is not living. Look at these prices. I work with the grassroots and I am well aware how difficult it is for a daily wage earner; they cannot simply afford it. This is not someone else’s problem, this is my problem and what I am doing today, and this is the best I can do. I can’t go change the Government but I can stand and protest. So here I am doing what I can. I hope others also will be inspired to do the same and make an effort to be heard.”
Another protestor, who wished to remain anonymous, added: “There have been budget cuts to our medical sector but our defence sector budget has been bloated, even though we are a post-war country. We hope at a micro level that these people whom we have elected to represent and to protect our civic rights actually pay attention. Because this is a Government, who, before they could finish counting the bodies after the Easter attacks, announced that they were going to run for office and they would save this country. Back then, they portrayed an image of someone with a lot of sensitivity and a lot of grief for this country and now four people have died waiting in cues for basic essentials, and not a single acknowledgement and the blatant denial. It is an insult to us all; there is absolutely no empathy.”
Just a few thoughts expressed at the protest, with several participants joining off the streets, the protest carried on into the night.
This is but the beginning of citizens feeling that they are not being heard and that their elected officials are not representing them as they should, which has forced many to the streets to demand what they are owed.
