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
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Scenes from the Maadan Badhrakali Puja, last night at #Gotagogama/Galle Face.
With thanks to everyone who translated and explained the parts of the ceremony as it went on. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
The rituals came to #LKA with Indian labourers brought by British colonisers & are continued by their descendants, the Malaiyaha Tamil community.
The deities are village guardians, who were worshipped before formal Hinduism began & they can speak to in their own languages. #lka
The Vikki Parai Isai group from Ingiriya heating the drums to tune them before the ritual. Parai drums are played by oppressed castes & is a key part of Malaiyaha Tamil culture, along with dances such as the kooththu, all of which their ancestors brought from India. #lka.
Tamil and Muslim women from Ampara, Batticaloa and Jaffna visited #Gotagogama yesterday. They raised the issues they were facing due to the #EconomicCrisisLK and issues of justice they'd been fighting for years. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
They drummed, sang and took up space at the barricade. I might be wrong but I've never heard that much Tamil spoken at the barricade since this protest started. There were short translations so listeners could understand. It was A Moment. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
Rally by the Medical Faculty Student Action Committee, raising issues of the lack of medication and the patients whose lives are at risk. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota#GoHomeGota2022
General strike - some scenes of various trade union protests that arrived at Galle Face/#Gotagogama today. The uniting demand - #GoHomeGota - is for GR & his family must answer for their failures, then go to jail. Power to the people ✊🏾 #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota2022
Security checkpoints along the Jaffna-Mannar-Puttalam route.
Picture this: Uniformed Army officers strapped with rifles, herding lines of visibly Tamil and Muslim passengers, ordering them around in Sinhala. Barriers across desolate roads, and scorching sun overhead. #lka
Packed buses made to empty + all passengers to present their bags and bodies to be checked in makeshift cubicles, and walk in the burning sun to wait till the driver and vehicle are cleared. Individual info not written but drivers + vehicles occasionally asked to 'register'#lka
The worst part is that most Army or Police officers will wave off checking your bags when they realise you are Sinhala, or have Buddhist flags/Buddha statues on the vehicle.
Because being Sin and/or Bud means you cannot possibly be a threat to national security amirite. #lka