Colombo: A state of emergency has been declared in Sri Lanka. The state of emergency will be in place from midnight today. The move comes as anti-government protests are gaining strength day by day. The session of Parliament has been adjourned till the 17th of this month. Student groups and the opposition in Sri Lanka have intensified their protests against the government in recent days. The government has declared a state of emergency in the coming days as protests are likely to intensify and escalate into violence.
The people of the country are agitating for the government to take responsibility for the biggest financial crisis of the last ten years. Foreign reserves are estimated to have fallen by about 50 million under the Gotabhaya government.
During the hartal, security forces blocked protesters from entering the campus of the parliament complex. Security in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. But the protesters did not have the strength to quell it. The protesters then hung their underwear above the barricades set up by security officials to block them.