New Delhi: The Sri Lankan political opposition has squarely held the Rajapaksa brothers responsible for the violent clashes Monday which it said was “an act of state terrorism”.
Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa said everyone involved in the government, including former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his younger brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, should be held responsible “for this inhumane attack (on anti-government protesters)”.
“Thus was planned and an act of state and political terrorism,” said Premadasa, leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya party (SJB).
Monday was a day of horrific fights in the island nation, particularly in capital Colombo, after Rajapaksa loyalists attacked peaceful anti-government protesters outside the Prime Minister’s official Temple Tree residence.
The attack came when it became clear that Rajapaksa would step down after weeks of mass protests against the government’s apparent mishandling of the country’s worst economic crisis since Independence in 1948.
The protesters retaliated, leading to violent clashes outside Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Temple Trees home in Colombo and also at the main protest site at Galle Face Green.
Angry mobs went on a rampage and burnt down cars and homes of ruling party legislators and the Medamulana ancestral residence of the Rajapaksa brothers. The younger brother also faces tremendous dissent and louder calls to leave office.
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s house in Kurunegala was set on fire by protesters while a mob also destroyed DA Rajapaksa Memorial – constructed in the memory of their father – in Medamulana, Hambantota.
Protesters also tried to overrun Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Temple Trees residence Monday night when he was still inside. Police fired shots in the air and hurled tear gas in order to disperse the crowd.
Reports suggest that the former Prime Minister and his family flew out early Tuesday and took shelter in the Trincomalee naval base, in the northeast coast of Sri Lanka.
Eight people, including a ruling party legislator, have so far died in the countrywide clashes, and more than 200 injured. The island nation is under a curfew till Wednesday.
The country has been rocked by civil unrest since March and many calls for the resignation of the Rajapaksa brothers — Prime Minister Mahinda and President Gotabaya – had gone unheeded.
After Rajapaksa’s resignation, the President is now expected to invite political parties in the Parliament to form an all-party Cabinet.
Meanwhile, SJB has said its leader Sajith Premadasa would not accept the PM’s post in an interim government.
Sri Lanka is facing a crushing economic crisis which has made the cost of living unaffordable. The foreign reserves have run dry, and the government has blamed the Covid pandemic which all but choked its flourishing tourism.
Also read: Rajapaksa family’s ancestral home set on fire as violence claims 8 lives in Sri Lanka