Sri Lanka has declared a state of emergency in the midst of its worst economic crisis ever.
Colombo:
The Sri Lankan government, battling nationwide protests over the economic crisis, has blocked access to all social media sites in its latest bid to quell protests against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
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Access to all social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and YouTube, in compliance with a governance order late Saturday. The Sri Lankan government said that the decision was taken to prevent misinformation.
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The island country with a population of 22 million already has a 36-hour curfew. The curfew, which began at 6 pm on Saturday, has been imposed till 6 am on Monday – a period that includes mass anti-government protests against the growing shortage of fuel, food and medicines.
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Curfew and a state of emergency came into force in the near-bankrupt country on Sunday with social media posts calling for protests. “Don’t be afraid of the tear gas, pretty soon they’ll run out of dollars to stock again,” one post said, encouraging people to demonstrate even as police attempted to break up the gatherings.
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Stricter laws allow the military to arrest and detain suspects for long periods without trial. In his defence, Mr Rajapaksa has said that the state of emergency was needed to protect public order and maintain essential supplies and services.
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Sri Lanka is in the grip of its worst recession since independence, due to an acute shortage of foreign currency to pay for even the most essential imports. Police and residents said hundreds of people had violated the curfew and gathered in several suburban towns.
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“#GoHomeRajapaksas” and “#GotaGoHome” have been trending on Twitter and Facebook for days in the island nation, which has been in its most painful recession since independence from Britain in 1948, with severe shortages of essential commodities, sharp rise in prices and power cuts. is struggling with.
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The ongoing crisis – the result of economic mismanagement by successive governments – has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit tourism and remittances.
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It also marked a sharp turn in political support for Mr Rajapaksa, who came to power in 2019 promising stability.
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The government has said that it is seeking relief from the International Monetary Fund and loans from India and China. New Delhi had recently announced that it would extend a USD 1 billion line of credit to Colombo as part of its financial assistance to the country to tide over the economic crisis after the previous USD 500 billion Line of Credit (LoC) in February. will provide. Petroleum products.
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India also sent a consignment 40,000 MT Diesel Sri Lanka on Saturday, the fourth such aid from New Delhi, to ease the spike in power cuts in the island nation.