Calling for help, ‘justice’ for families in Sri Lanka

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This article was published 04/04/2022 (1441 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A cluster of Sri Lankans gathered near the Manitoba Legislative Building Sunday to raise awareness about the South Asian country’s turmoil and call for action.

Shenaly Kuluppuarachchi, 25, was one of the 14 standing near the Osborne Street bus stop around 1:45 p.m. The group held signs stating “Save Sri Lanka” and “Stop Ruining Sri Lanka”.

“We’re really worried about our families because they don’t have access to the basic necessities,” Kuluppuarachchi said.

She said Sri Lanka is in economic crisis “due to corrupt government and a family regime.”

“Our president and his entire family is controlling the country,” she said, adding Sri Lankans don’t have access to basic necessities like electricity and food.

The eastern country is also facing shortages of fuel and medicines.

Kuluppuarachchi’s parents, grandparents and other extended family are in Colombo, the country’s capital.

The University of Manitoba student said she usually stays in touch via Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, but now she can’t — social media platforms are blocked on the Sri Lankan end.

“We’re really worried about our families,” Kuluppuarachchi said. “(Sri Lanka is) very close to breaking into a civil war, actually — that’s what I feel, personally.”

The entire Sri Lankan cabinet handed letters to the country’s prime minister with offers to resign, Sri Lanka’s education minister told reporters Sunday. They did so due to the economic crisis, the minister said.

Those attending the Winnipeg rally were not an organized group. Rather, they were members of the Sri Lankan community who wanted to raise concerns. The meet-up spread on social media and through word of mouth.

“We’ve been watching the news, and we just couldn’t stand it anymore,” Kuluppuarachchi said. “We just want this regime to end. We want to secure the future of all the children in Sri Lanka — we cannot sacrifice it all for just one (ruling) family.”

The Rajapaksa family is heavily involved in the Sri Lankan government. The president, prime minister, and ministers of finance and irrigation are brothers.

Sri Lanka is, on paper, a democratic state.

Akbo Rupasinghe, who was at Sunday’s rally, said the regime was filled with “heavy nepotism”.

“Things have gone from bad to worse,” he said.

Protesters are being arrested in Sri Lanka, and the government isn’t helping its people as prices skyrocket and people go hungry, Rupasinghe said.

Professionals, students and mothers with small children are defying emergency decrees and curfews to demand the president’s resignation.

“We want to show our brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka that we’re there with them,” Rupasinghe said.

Sri Lankans across the globe have been taking to the streets with their concerns.

“We cannot reach our brothers and sisters back home, and they cannot reach us, so we have to voice the issues to the world,” Rupasinghe said.

Kuluppuarachchi called on Canada for help.

“Sri Lankans deserve better than this,” she said. “We would like international intervention at this time. I think we really need it.”

— with files from John Woods and The Associated Press

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com