Sri Lanka: The protesters

The protests have seen college students, academics, attorneys, docs and nurses gathering at Colombo’s Galle Front

Shemodya Jayasekara (Express Photo)

Shemodya Jayasekara, 23

Under-graduate pupil on the University of Sabaragamuwa in south-central Sri Lanka; learning Food Business Management

It is her first day on the protests and he or she is accompanied by her mother and father. Her father works within the safety division of Colombo Port, and her mom is a home-maker. “I came because the ruling leaders do not give us what we expect from them. The economy is in a crisis. We have money but food is not available. We have cooking gas for now, but we don’t know if we will get a refill. There are long queues,” she says, including, “I hope to work in this country after I finish my studies, but I see so many undergrads without jobs. We have been at home for two years and our university has not resumed physical classes because there is no power.”

Aqeel Ahamad (Express Photo)

Aqeel Ahamad, 22

Engineering pupil at Moratuwa University in suburban Colombo

“Everyone is affected by this government, by the family running this government. We want a democratic country… a peaceful environment…not an atmosphere filled with communal and ethnic racism,” says Ahamad, who’s accompanied by his father, a businessman. “One of my aunts in Kandy was affected in the riots of 2018 — her house and vehicles were torched. I face racism in public places, even in my college,” he provides.

Blaming the Rajapaksa household for “every problem in the country”, he hopes “people will vote next time for eligible candidates without being driven by ethnic, religious concerns or money”

D M Dissanayake (Express Photo)

D M Dissanayake, in his 40s

Lawyer

“Civil society activists and others had been warning people that if Rajapaksas come to power there will be an economic crisis because they never had a proper economic plan. But Rajapaksas were heroes for winning the war against LTTE,” mentioned Dissanayake. After the Easter Sunday assaults, he provides, “people thought the Rajapaksas are the sole protectors of the Sinhalese… They were swayed by triumphalism. Now people’s eyes have opened.”

M Ok Ragunathan (Express Photo)

M Ok Ragunathan, 68

Retired as a guide doctor at a authorities hospital in Galle

“I have seen how politicians have divided this country using religion, language, caste. In the last two years, the economy has deteriorated in a way that was not even seen during war years,” says Ragunathan, including, “With so many protesting here, I didn’t think it was right for me to sit at home. I came here as a common man to volunteer my services as a doctor.”

Rebecca David (Express Photo)

Rebecca David, 43

Rights activist

“The Rajapaksas are not going to resign just because we are asking. But the pressure is important. When we demand here, our voice will be heard in Parliament,” says David, who has been a part of the protests “since the beginning”. David and her group are additionally beginning “Teach Out” periods for protesters to tell them “the Constitution, the powers of the president” and so forth.

Urging India to “help the people, not the government”, she provides, “People suspect that the BJP government is helping our government because they are quite similar in many ways”.