On June 6, 1956, the day the ‘Sinhala Only’ Bill was introduced by the then Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike in Parliament, the Federal Party led by SJV Chelvanayagam organized a silent protest – a satyagraha - at Galle Face Green. Around three hundred Tamils participated in the event. 

Out of nowhere, a mob of extremist Sinhalese attacked the peaceful demonstrators. Police and troops who were stationed in the vicinity turned a blind eye to the attack. Many were injured and hospitalized. That attack heralded the 1958 racial riots and a breakdown of relations between the major communities and laid the foundation for the ethnic war which raged from 1983, for close upon thirty-years.

In almost a copybook style, 66 years later, not learning from the lessons of history, on May 9, 2022, another mob of hooligans egged on by ex-prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa attacked the peaceful demonstrators at the Galle Face Green who were demanding the resignation of the President and the Premier. They were blamed for ruining the economy of the country, pauperizing the public and creating shortages of all basic materials needed to keep body and soul together.

The attack by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s goons on the protest site at Galle Face Green, resulted in a section of the protestors were counter attacking, torching vehicles, and beating up the goons who attacked the protest camp site. It also led to Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa being forced to resign from his post. By evening, an anarchic situation arose with a number of government MP’s residences being set alight and renewed calls for the president to step down.

By July 9, demands for the president’s resignation reached a crescendo with protestors taking over his official residence, office and the official residence of the premier. Ultimately the beleaguered president accepted to resign as did his premier. With protestors demanding the simultaneous resignation of both president and premier, a constitutional crisis has arisen. 

Even worse, the ongoing standoff has put in jeopardy the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout to help us as a country, stabilize the economy via restructuring debt repayments and rebuilding our industries which are on the verge of collapse. A number of nations have also expressed willingness help us in this hour of need.

But for this to happen the country needs a stable government with whom these entities could negotiate. The president and premier have agreed to step down, it is now up to the political parties to come together in this hour of need to save the country from falling into a situation of anarchy. Our people are hungry and empty slogans will not fill their stomachs, nor will it bring about a solution to the shortage of fuel we are facing.
Tourism, tea and rubber industries are our biggest exchange earners. We need a plan to revive these industries, which bring in revenue/dollars needed to purchase essential requirements the country needs. Failure to do this could result in food riots and anarchy.

Wherever the anarchy that reigns, the end result has been the emergence of dictators like Hitler in Germany and the horrors it unleashes, as for example the genocide of the Jewish people. Another example, which comes to mind, is the ongoing turmoil in Somalia – now a poverty-stricken and lawless land.

To avoid these pitfalls, we must of necessity, come together using constitutional means to first politically stabilize the country and subsequently make use of the existing international goodwill to help us out of the current morass.
Even as this editorial column is being written, rumours are afloat of attempts to use the military to install particular individuals to the seats of power. These rumours are feeding on the fears of ordinary people. Rumours breed in the absence of truth. Perhaps the political establishment can inform the public on the reality of the ground situation.
In the end, it is up to the political parties and the establishment to come together and prevent a Somalisation of our country or a similar fate befalling the nation.