News
‘There was even banter between police and people; suddenly the mood changed’
What started out as a well-attended peaceful protest at Jubilee Post Junction in Mirihana turned violent on Thursday with more vocal groups joining in and the subsequent deployment of Special Task Forces (STF) and the military, leading to destruction of public property, injuries and multiple arrests.
The Sunday Times spoke to several people that attended the demonstration. Buwaneka Perera, a 26-year-old blogger had left the Kohuwala protest when they heard people were gathered outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s private residence in Mirihana. They went to lend support.
-
- Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara and Nilan Maligaspe
Police had built a barricade with shields at the Mirihana police station. Jubilee Post Junction was still crowded. It was around 10 p.m. “There was banter between people and the cops,” Mr Perera said. “The cops were waving and people were inviting them to join in. It wasn’t violent at this point.
“We wanted to get into the heart of the protest, see what’s happening and go live,” he said. “But there were too many cops.” So they found byroads and arrived at the last barricade near the President’s private residence.
“Inside the lane, we saw the military,” he continued. “They didn’t have riot gear but had weapons. I could see around 50 of them. They weren’t pointing the weapons but we knew not to mess with them.”
“Two minutes later, they fired teargas at us,” Mr Perera recalled. “Out of nowhere, they started hunting us down. We ran into a half-constructed building when we saw them coming with batons. We were blinded by the fumes. We saw officers in riot gear shouting, ‘Enna, enna, waren. Umbala udgoshanaya karrana ne awe. Den waren umbata denna’.” (“Come, come, you wanted to protest, isn’t it? Wait, we’ll give you now”).
Michael David, a 38-year-old fire safety professional, was at the Jubilee Post Junction protest from 7.30 to 9 p.m. “People were just holding boards and chanting,” he said. “They were agitated but not violent. They started marching around 9 p.m. when the mood shifted suddenly. I’m not sure why.
“There were about 15 people leading the way towards the police barricade and then it became a bit more violent,” he said. “I watched on my mobile phone. I didn’t march with them. It wasn’t preplanned at all. At this point, it was just the intelligence guys and the police around and they were pretty calm. The crowd wasn’t obstructing traffic and it was a very professional protest until people started going towards the barricades.”
Mifzan Kaleel, a 34-year-old copywriter, was at Jubilee Post Junction from 11p.m. onwards. “There were people at the junction and about three rows of protestors at the barricade near the Mirihana junction,” he said. “They were shouting but relatively peaceful. They were expressing grievances to the officers at the barricades.”
The crowd dispersed. But some older people and women were still stuck in the by lanes they had hidden in. “They were trapped behind the cops,” he described. “The police started charging even at people who were standing around. I saw some bleeding. I ran up to the Royal Institute in Nugegoda.”
The best way to say that you found the home of your dreams is by finding it on Hitad.lk. We have listings for apartments for sale or rent in Sri Lanka, no matter what locale you're looking for! Whether you live in Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Matara, Jaffna and more - we've got them all!