No money for food, fuel or medicine but infinite money for violence against civilians - Police & Riot Police repeatedly tear gas IUSF protestors & more at Battaramulla today. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota#GoHomeGota2022
Police ready at the first barrier, which didn't last long. A first group of performer/protestors tied these flags to the barricade. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota#GoHomeGota2022
Pulleys and just the force of pushing brought the corner two barricades undone. All the while the riot Police trucks were inching closer. Protestors didn't lay a finger on the Police standing behind.
'අපිට ගහලා ඇති, පාරට ගහන්නේ මොකෝ කැ* හු**' - you've already got us, why are you hitting the road **** f*****'.
Riot Police sent rounds of tear gas into the junction - canisters rolled under oncoming vehicles - towards the Diyatha pavement & into houses nearby. #lka#SriLanka
IUSF have since occupied this stretch of Parliament road. Drop by & spend time in solidarity or drop by with water/snacks if you're able to.
'ආණ්ඩුවට අපි බය නෑ, බයනම් අපි එන්නෙත් නෑ' - 'We're not scared of the government - if we were scared we wouldn't be here' #lka#GoHomeGota
Adding this in, because I hope it is also something you'll think about today. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
Good morning to the folks over at #HoruGoGama - being told it's raining heavily in Battaramulla so hope they're holding up. Hold the food donations for now and help them with sheets/raincoats if possible. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
Police and riot Police once again repeatedly tear-gassed Horugogama on Parliament road. Canisters going all the way to Diyatha Uyana. IUSF protestors, people joining to support, elders and kids all in the vicinity of the gas. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota#GoHomeGota2022
There were canisters that went right into the crowds visiting Diyatha, where there are kids. Once, they launched about 3 canisters at the same time. Elderly & young folks collapse unable to breathe & are put into passing ambulances. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota#GoHomeGota2022
Tactics (apparently) learned from the Hong Kong protests - covering the canister with a traffic cone and dousing it with water. The students were able to contain about 5 canisters this way. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota#GoHomeGota2022
"I've been tear-gassed a lot, but this one is different. It burns more, and I feel my chest being crushed. The canister splits into 3. They are finding new tactics to hurt us more". #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota#GoHomeGota2022
Crowds come in after the gas and water are stopped. The best part was hearing 'මේ පොලිස් ප* හු** අපේ පැත්ත පලාතේ එන්න දෙන්න බැහැ' - we can't let these Police f*** f****** anywhere near us ever again' & other variations of 'f*** the Police'. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
Leaving to the sounds of the young one in the Boss tee leading some chanting on her own! So much joy on her face as people shouted back extra loud. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota#GoHomeGota2022
There are more people suffering in long gas queues than the number of people who got tear-gassed today.
While people struggle to find a meal, the water cannons directly hit the food tent.
The cruelty is the point, and the priorities are never the people. #lka#SriLanka
Remember May 2009;
They bombed hospitals - of course they have no qualms turning water-cannons at food tents.
They cluster-bombed Tamil civilians - of course they have no qualms cluster-teargassing protestors.
You elect war criminals - all they know is combat. #lka
See how much gas they're using. Every breath amidst this stuff - if you can even breathe - is a nightmare. Residents in houses nearby are feeling it too. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
Moments I missed from the last two days - people in the vicinity buying & bringing entire boxes of water bottles to the protestors who had been teargassed. Folks & families rolled down car windows to give their own bottles out. #lka#SriLanka
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
We visited three women in Hungama in the Hambantota district, whose loved ones were forcibly disappeared by the UNP govt cracking down on the second JVP insurrection. They had no links to the movement, or joined to escape violence from the JVP. (1/10) @pasanghe #lka #srilanka
We were with them while the aftermath of the IUSF protest on August 18 was unfolding. The stories they were telling us matched the WhatsApp messages flowing in from our lawyer/activist friends trying to respond to the arrests. Verbatim. (2/10) #lka #srilanka
Abductions in broad daylight; running between Police Stations trying to find persons taken away; false charges – all against a backdrop where the victims of the state’s violence are labelled criminals & terrorists. Not unique to the South, or to this moment. (3/10) #lka #srilanka
A few months back, we spoke to farmers across #SriLanka about the impact of the chemical fertiliser ban on their cultivation & livelihood, and what it means for the country.
Hambantota: 'Development' of the highway had reduced acres of agricultural land & affected farmers hadn't gotten compensation for the fields they lost yet. #lka#srilanka
Sammanthurai: Farmers had to halt water being sent from the Gal Oya by the Irrigation Department because, due to all the setbacks, they couldn't get their fields ready in time. #lka#srilanka
A thread: on claims that talking about 'other issues' - racism, militarisation, PTA, LGBTQ+, Sin-Bud supremacy, most often issues faced by 'minority' communities - result in 'diluting' & 'losing focus' of the aragalaya/GGG. #lka#srilanka#GoHomeGota
1. Everyone is feeling the economic crisis, though admittedly to different degrees. They are all suffering due to this govt's policies, especially already-marginalised folks. They therefore have every right to make themselves visible at the protest. #lka#srilanka#gohomegota
2. Many communities have been in struggles against Rajapaksa power long before the aragalaya/GGG. Most of those protesting now didn't know/care about those struggles. Communities bringing those demands to GF is not a dilution but a continuation of their longer, harder fight. #lka
Scenes from Colombo's first ever Pride March yesterday, continuing the protest against the 'sTaBiLiTy' ie repression of the Gota-Ranil government. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota#Pride
Beginning at the Liberty roundabout, where the LGBTQ+ community gathered for the first time a few years ago to protest after Sirisena's homophobic 'butterfly' remark during the constitutional crisis. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota#Pride
May 11th, yesterday - scenes from a mellow but alert and hopeful #Gotagogama. Tents have been repaired, there are books in the library again, everyone speaks to of calm and non-violence and tea was being made in the evening. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
'We ask everyone to be calm. Save your strength - we have more to do, not to set fires. This isn't a place to sacrifice lives. We remember those who hit us till we bled - 'nahi verena verani, වෛරයෙන් වෛරය නොසන්සිදේ' (violence doesn't drive out violence) #lka#srilanka#GoHomeGota
'Many think those who follow the law are spineless. Politicians see if we break their laws while they broke them completely.
We don't want a military government. We don't want a dictatorship. We want a government that respects people's sovereignty.' #lka#srilanka#GoHomeGota