Sri Lanka was under heavy security on
Friday after hundreds of protesters tried to storm the president’s home in a
night of violence and anger at the unprecedented economic crisis.

The South Asian nation is grappling with severe shortages of essentials,
sharp price rises and crippling power cuts in its most painful downturn since
independence in 1948. Many fear it will default on its foreign debts.

Thursday night’s unrest outside Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s private home in the
capital saw hundreds of men and women, rallied by unidentified social media
activists, demand he step down.

“Gota, go home,” shouted a young woman as she marched to the president’s home
before clashes erupted with heavily armed police commandos and troops.

“We want our country back,” shouted another woman, while others chanted
“lunatic, lunatic, go home.”

As police fired tear gas and water cannon, the crowd turned violent, setting
ablaze two military buses, a police jeep, two patrol motorcycles and a three-
wheeler. They also threw bricks at officers.

At least two protesters were wounded in police firing but it was not clear
whether officers used live ammunition or rubber bullets. Four people were
injured when a security vehicle ran over them.

Police said 53 protesters were arrested, but local media organisations said
five news photographers were also detained and tortured at a local police
station, a charge the government said it will investigate.

Elsewhere, another group of protesters barricaded a main road into Colombo
with burning tyres.

An overnight curfew was lifted early Friday morning, but the police and
military presence was beefed up around the city, with the burnt-out wreckage
of a bus still blocking the road to Rajapaksa’s house.

Officials said security had been stepped up across the country as there were
calls for nationwide protests later Friday. Social media posts called on
people to demonstrate peacefully outside their homes.

– ‘Terrorists’ –

Two government ministers said a major intelligence failure had placed the
lives of the president and his wife in danger.

“Both the president and his wife were at their home when the protests were
going on,” Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters in Colombo,
discounting earlier claims that they were away at the time.

“We had information of a demonstration, but nothing suggesting that it could
turn violent. This is a major intelligence failure.”

Transport Minister Dilum Amunugama said “terrorists” were behind the unrest.

Rajapaksa’s office said Friday that the protesters wanted to create an “Arab
Spring” — a reference to anti-government protests in response to corruption
and economic stagnation that gripped the Middle East over a decade ago.

“The Thursday night protest was led by extremist forces calling for an Arab
Spring to create instability in our country,” the president’s office said in
a brief statement.

Videos shared on social media verified as genuine by AFP showed men and women
shouting anti-Rajapaksa slogans and demanding that all members of the
powerful Rajapaksa family step down.

There were claims on social media that another powerful member of the ruling
family was prevented from attending a flower show in the central hills on
Friday after spectators began booing.

The president’s elder brother Mahinda serves as prime minister while the
youngest, Basil, is finance minister. His eldest brother and nephew also hold
cabinet positions.

Sri Lanka’s predicament has been compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, which
torpedoed tourism and remittances.

Many economists also say the crisis has been exacerbated by government
mismanagement and years of accumulated borrowing.

– Record inflation –

The latest official data released Friday showed inflation in Colombo hit 18.7
percent in March, the sixth consecutive monthly record. Food prices soared a
record 30.1 percent.

Colombo imposed a broad ban on imports in March 2020 in a bid to save foreign
currency needed to repay nearly $7.0 billion this year to service its $51
billion debt.

Diesel shortages have sparked outrage across Sri Lanka in recent days, with
protests kicking off in a number of towns but not aimed at any top leader.

Since Thursday diesel has been unavailable at stations across the island,
according to officials and media reports.

The state electricity monopoly said it was enforcing a daily 13-hour power
cut from Thursday — the longest ever — because it did not have diesel for
generators.

Several state-run hospitals have stopped carrying out surgeries as they have
run out of essential medicines.

The government has said it is seeking a bailout from the International
Monetary Fund while asking for more loans from India and China.

IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in Washington on Thursday that talks
should begin “in the coming days”, with Sri Lanka’s finance minister expected
in the US capital.