On Tuesday, April 19, Sri Lankan police fired into a crowd of protestors, killing one and injuring a dozen more, according to Reuters. The country is currently seeking to relieve its worsening economic crisis through assistance from the International Monetary Fund. For weeks, protests have grown around the country as people voice their anger against the government’s weak handling of Sri Lanka’s economy, shortages, and prolonged loss of power.
Police spokesman Nalin Thalduwa said to Reuters in a statement, “To control the situation, police fired at the protesters… several injured policemen have also been hospitalized.” Opposingly, many have condemned the violence displayed in Sri Lanka, including U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung. “A full, transparent investigation is essential & the people’s right to peaceful protest must be upheld,” Chung said in a tweet following the protest’s events.
Protests have persisted for weeks against the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka. When police fired on protestors, what they failed to consider was that the people protesting are fighting for their own livelihoods as people who are severely hurt by the crisis that the government has caused over time. The use of force against protestors in Sri Lanka is an attempt to control their anger through fear tactics and must be avoided at all cost as it is ultimately a form of censorship against dissent. Violent force should not be used against those voicing their opinions on a looming problem.
According to Reuters which cites different critics, the financial crisis in Sri Lanka is the result of financial mismanagement that has plagued the successive governments of the country. Further, the coronavirus pandemic elevated these hardships as fuel prices continued to rise, leeching foreign reserves. The results of these events have led to shortages in fuel, power, food, and medicine for what has now been weeks.
The country has been stuck because of its amassed quantities of debt. To receive loans from the IMF, Sri Lanka will first have to restructure this debt, which will require help from other countries, specifically China and India, who have both extended billions in support already, according to Reuters. It is ultimately a collective effort that proves necessary to relieve Sri Lanka of the consequences of a generationally faltering economy, but one that will not come easily nor quickly.
Sri Lanka’s finance ministry released a statement that read, “It has been communicated that [the] IMF will consider the special request made despite it being outside of the standard circumstances for the issuance of an RFI.” The RFI is a rapid financial instrument that serves to help countries in need of urgent assistance to balance their payment support.
The combination of force to shut down protestors and the very real economic crisis poses a risk to the stability of the country’s government in the coming weeks. The process that Sri Lanka is currently going through to aid their slow recovery is a lengthy process, making the current public situation all the more important to stabilize. If this is going to be a long road to recovery, then it is vital that the government ends the use of force against protestors in order to preserve and protect their right to protest.
