Sri Lanka Economic Crisis: Over 600 Arrested For Violating Nationwide Curfew

The arrests took place as they were trying to stage an anti-government rally to protest Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis.

Sri Lankan police officers check vehicles at a checkpoint during a curfew (Representational Photo/Getty Images)

New Delhi: A total of 664 people were arrested in Sri Lanka’s Western Province on Sunday for violating a 36-hour nationwide curfew.

The arrests took place as they were trying to stage an anti-government rally to protest Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis.

The Opposition lawmakers, led by their leader Sajith Premadasa, had set off on a march towards Colombo’s iconic Independence Square, defying a weekend curfew imposed by the government, PTI reported.

“We are protesting the government’s abuse of the public security ordinance to deny the public’s right to protest,” the news agency quoted Premadasa as saying in Colombo.

The social media activists had organized the protest against the ongoing economic crisis and hardships faced by the people in view of shortages of essentials.

The development comes as Sri Lanka has blocked social media to contain the anti-government protests.

The Sri Lankan government blocked social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and Instagram, after midnight on Sunday, April 3, 2022 (local time), confirmed NetBlocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cybersecurity and the governance of the Internet.

The move to block social media platforms has, however, come in for criticism from the government’s own ranks.

In view of the same, top government information communications technology official Oshada Senanayake resigned.

Earlier on Saturday, the Sri Lankan government imposed a 36-hour curfew in a move aimed at blocking the planned protest.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had a day earlier issued a special gazette notification and declared a public emergency in the island nation with immediate effect from April 1.

The President in another regulation said that no one should come out during the curfew hours and visit public places without permission.

The economic crisis in the island nation, according to many economists, has been exacerbated by mismanagement on part of the government, years of accumulated borrowing and ill-advised tax cuts.