Sri Lanka defence ministry asks people to be 'patient' amid crisis

Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Sunday requested the people to practice "utmost intelligence and patience" amid the ongoing political and economic crisis in the Island nation.

The request came a day after the Sri Lankan MoD cancelled the leaves of all members of the security forces as the Island country enters day three of a national emergency imposed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The ministry claimed that the public has been severely inconvenienced due to the violent protests and strikes being carried out in various places, Colombo Page reported.

"The last few days, the struggle that has been going on as a peaceful struggle has been changed and the democratic rights of the people have been violated in an attempt to disrupt the normal life of the people in the country," the statement said.

The MoD also said that there have been reports of protesters behaving in a provocative and threatening manner without any regard for the prevailing law and order in the country, disrupting the work of the Police and Security Forces who are committed to maintaining law and order.

"Accordingly, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Public Security inform all citizens of the country to act as responsible citizens with the utmost intelligence and patience during this difficult period to maintain law and order in the country," the MoD said.

On Thursday, Sri Lanka Police fired tear gas on the protesters on Thursday in order to disperse the protest staged by University students under the theme "Let's oust the government! Let's reverse the system!" outside the parliament.

Taking to the streets to protest against the government led by the Rajapaksa family, the student protestors demanded the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence with food and fuel shortages, soaring prices and power cuts affecting a large number of the people, resulting in massive protests over the government's handling of the situation.

The recession is attributed to foreign exchange shortages caused by a fall in tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as reckless economic policies, like the government's move last year to ban chemical fertilizers in a bid to make Sri Lanka's agriculture "100 per cent organic".

Due to an acute shortage of Foreign exchange, Sri Lanka recently defaulted on the entirety of its foreign debt amounting to about USD 51 billion.

The economic situation has led to huge protests with demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

( With inputs from ANI )

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