Police and Army barricade at Lotus Road, 2.31 pm. They eventually left. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
'You thought you could crush our protest with your violence and bloodshed. We thank all those who stood with us and say, we will be stronger now'
Spirits seemingly high on the barricade when we eventually made it there. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
"Come everyone, help us to build the library back, together"
Contrary to a tweet posted here earlier, the library was not burned - badly ransacked, yes. Folks started filling the shelves quickly, from the overflow books. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
"If you're from the media, put the correct story. Look at how they (the pro-Rajapaksa) supporters destroyed my shop, all these items are not gone. I'd taken a loan to buy all these toys also. I'm not scared." #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
"I leaned forward to help a friend who was injured and they immediately jumped on me. They tried to take my helmet off but they couldn't, otherwise they might have cracked my skull open" - from #Mainagogama
"My husband was also badly injured, and had his leg broken. I'm the one who made these t-shirts. We shared them and food with some of the people who attacked us, they must have been spying on us for them, definitely" #lka#SriLanka
"If you can see how low these people are willing to go, they even broke the memorial. This is what I took from it, so I can show and tell people what they did. The worst must happen to them. " #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
"They asked me 'Are you Tamil? In our Sinhala-Buddhist country? (She isn't.) Where were you when the war was happening? Did you come here to f*** around?'. I got injured running away. Someone shouted 'don't hit women' or they'd have surely hammered me." #lka#srilanka#GoHomeGota
Anti-govt protestors riding in on what's left of one of the buses that brought the pro-govt protestors in to Colombo. Windows shattered, seats extracted, metal hammered, all possible pieces being removed. "Don't take videos", they said. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
Crowds were beginning to pour into #Gotagogama when we left. If you're in touch with folks there, see if they need support repairing anything or with food where possible. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
Bus conductor said not to go on the footboard because 'they' (anti-govt) were checking buses for pro-govt people who'd been brought into the CMB. Passed one lot in Panchikawatte, "we just came from the protest", someone said to calm them - something was aflame at the junc. #lka
For the last 3.5kms of the journey, we are stopped 5 times by these groups. They walk in with wooden or steel poles, tree branches, and a knife. They say to put phones away & ask if any drunk ppl or MR supporters are here. "We'll burn the bus with you in it" they threaten. #lka
Along the route, we've seen 4 buses reduced to warped metal and shards of glass - 3 private, one SLTB.
"Sorry to inconvenience you, but we are doing this for our country's future" they say after questioning people about why they are on this route & where they are heading. #lka
Things to remember:
Gotagogama in Kandy was also attacked. If you know folks at protest sites or planning actions outside Colombo, please check on them too. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
Violence like today will be an excuse to bring the military in anywhere, but especially in the North. Especially in May. Especially with the #LKA state's need to suppress memorial events by Tamils for those lost in the war. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
Police watching & helping while state-sponsored thugs attack peaceful protestors & set fire to businesses of innocent people goes right back to this man.
Painful reminder of how many times we've been through this & have learned nothing. #lka#SriLanka
The pro-govt mobs burned down the art gallery, on the Galle Face green. A place where powerful, political art was created and displayed. These kids' drawings one day also asked Gota seeya when he was going home. #lka#srilanka#GoHomeGota
Clergy and lawyers protecting people from the STF protecting the state from the people who want them gone. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
Tactics to protect the people from the state - traffic cones for tear gas - vs to protect the state from people = gas mask, baton, gun. #lka#srilanka#GoHomeGota
Ports authority unions and doctors walked into the protest site after work yesterday, in solidarity with the people. #lka#SriLanka#GoHomeGota
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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
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.