Sri Lankans stage protest against govt at Independence Square in Colombo

Sri Lankans on Monday staged a protest at Independence Square in Colombo against the government of Sri Lanka and voiced their demand for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Fatima, one of the protestors and a writer said, "We are protesting as we want our President to step down. Our economy has collapsed. We have no food to eat. We do not have cash. We do not have power."

"The economy has crashed now. We want our president to return all the money from Rajapaksa family. These families have stolen from us and we want the Rajapaksa family to go away from the country. Actually, not only from the country, they should be behind the bars," she added.

Moreover, Vijanta Mishra, a law student while expressing her thoughts on the current situation said, "We have been fed up. Since they came to power, they have not given anything except failed promises. Earlier, they told us that they will fulfill the promises in the country. Nothing has been done."

"We are facing an economic crisis. No fuel is there in the country. There is no security in the country. No basic human rights. There are no options for them to go away to their home or else there will be no home in the country," she added.

Sri Lanka is currently battling a deep economic crisis. On Sunday, 26 Sri Lankan Cabinet Ministers resigned en masse from their positions amid rising public anger against the government over the economic crisis. All 26 of them signed a general letter, consenting to resign paving the way for a new Cabinet to be formed.

Mahinda Rajapaksa will continue to be in the office and all other members of the Cabinet have tendered their resignations to the PM.

The country's government on Saturday blocked access to social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and YouTube, but lifted the ban on Sunday afternoon after the PM's son Namal Rajapaksa spoke against it.

( With inputs from ANI )

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