Just like Canada's "leader" Just In Trudeau did, when confronted by the truckers' Freedom Convoy, Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa recently declared a state of emergency as angry citizens demand that something be done about rising prices, shortages of essentials and rolling power cuts.
When mostly peaceful protests turned violent, the government implemented a countrywide curfew, and placed a block on social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp. (Does any of this sound familiar to readers in Canada? It should!) The chairthingy of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission said the measure was carried out on instruction from the Defence Ministry and aimed to "maintain calm" (read: silence dissent).
In the central city of Kandy (home to the Temple of the Tooth), police used tear gas to disperse university students and other young protesters, including our Agent 35. Inspector Buruva of the local constabulary said about 750 people were gassed, but none were arrested. So that's all right, then.
In Colombo, the capital city, around two dozen opposition leaders protested at police barricades near Independence Square, some shouting "Gota(baya) go home!" They say the roots of the crisis, the worst in several decades, lie in economic mismanagement by successive governments that amassed huge budget shortfalls and a current account deficit. Notice the sign that reads "How much debt are we really in?" That would be a good (if rather polite) question for President Brandon!
The crisis was accelerated by deep tax cuts President Rajapaksa promised during the 2019 election campaign, which were enacted months before the Covid pandemic, which wiped out parts of Sri Lanka’s economy.
Opposition leader Eran Wickramaratne called the curfew and other restrictions "unacceptable" Others stood in small groups outside their homes or gathered in the street, some holding handwritten anti-government banners or waving the national flag.
A student at the University of Colombo told Reuters, "This government, we do not want them anymore. They have had years and years to show us that they could do change but there is nothing. The situation has just gotten worse by the day. We really need a change, we are stripped of our basic rights...people are fed up!"
How much longer can the anger of fed-up citizens of the AABC countries (America, Australia, Britain and Canada) be contained? How high does the price of gas have to go... how much do taxes have to be increased to pay for the "reparations" and the redistribution of wealth... how bad do things have to get before the sheeple of the Anglosphere do likewise?
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