Amalini Profile picture
May 9 22 tweets 24 min read
'Today is one month that Nande has been at home'

Scenes from a #Gotagogama that has immediately started rebuilding, and evolving situations elsewhere.

Please stay safe. #lka #SriLanka #GoHomeGota Image
Police and Army barricade at Lotus Road, 2.31 pm. They eventually left. #lka #SriLanka #GoHomeGota ImageImageImageImage
'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 ImageImageImageImage
"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 ImageImageImageImage
"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 ImageImage
Tents rebuilt being brought into #Gotagogama, while people intervene to stabilise another. #lka #SriLanka #GoHomeGota ImageImage
"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

#lka #srilanka Image
"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 Image
"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 ImageImageImage
"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 Image
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 Image
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 ImageImageImage
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 Image
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

Few more moments from yesterday.

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 ImageImage
Clergy and lawyers protecting people from the STF protecting the state from the people who want them gone. #lka #SriLanka #GoHomeGota ImageImageImageImage
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 ImageImage
Ports authority unions and doctors walked into the protest site after work yesterday, in solidarity with the people. #lka #SriLanka #GoHomeGota ImageImageImageImage

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More from @Amaliniii

May 12
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 Image
'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 Image
'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 Image
Read 14 tweets
May 8
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.
Read 13 tweets
May 5
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 Image
'බිලි මගින් බලේ ගන්න - පිපිරෙව්වේ බෝම්බ තොපි'

IUSF march from Nugegoda to the Parliament entrance at Polduwa junction near Diyatha Uyana. #lka #SriLanka #GoHomeGota #GoHomeGota2022 ImageImageImageImage
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 ImageImageImageImage
Read 21 tweets
May 1
The Samathai drummers from Batticaloa joined in and lead the final stretch of the artists' protest yesterday.

Thread of some scenes and stories from both these powerful elements. #lka #SriLanka #GoHomeGota #GoHomeGota2022
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
Read 14 tweets
Apr 29
Blindfolding Bandaranaike: Arrived at Galle Face to this powerful sight.

Thread of a few more things that happened at #Gotagogama today.

#lka #SriLanka #GoHomeGota #GoHomeGota2022 #TakeBackOurPower
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
Medical Faculty rally and the ongoing protest by IT Professionals merge near the statue. #lka #SriLanka #GoHomeGota #GoHomeGota2022
Read 9 tweets
Apr 28
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 ImageImageImageImage
March by a mixture of trade unions leaving from Fort Railway and heading to GGG. Posters focus on state violence & the murder in #Rambukkana. #lka #SriLanka #GoHomeGota #GoHomeGota2022 ImageImageImageImage
Collective of Ports unions & several other small groups protest outside Fort Railway Station. #lka #SriLanka #GoHomeGota #GoHomeGota2022 ImageImageImageImage
Read 10 tweets

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