 "Sri Lanka economic crisis, protests")
A massive crowd continues to remain gathered at Galle Face, the main beachfront in the capital Colombo, outside Sri Lankan President's secretariat to protest against Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa amid the economic crisis in the country with agitators at the protest site terming the government tyrant and full of nepotism.
One of the protestors at the site said, "For years and years the Rajapaksa government took money from us. They stole from us. We are sick and tired of this tyranny because there is so much nepotism here. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa are brothers and we want them to go from here because we do not see any prosperity for our nation. As long as they are here they will not be able to fix the economy."
"People of many ethnicities and races have come here to protest against tyrant Gotabaya Rajapaksa. These people do not know how to run a country as they do not have any plans. All they want is to steal. There are so many who are campaigning for Rajapaksa to go to jail and we want him to go to jail. All the civil unrest is his fault. We want to oust him and hopefully change our political system," he added.
One 14-year-old child at the protest site criticised the current government for ruining the nation. "There are a lot of children here who go to school. We have a lot of fantasies and dreams to accomplish when we grow up and we cannot achieve anything in our country.. on our motherland due to Rajapaksa because he has ruined our country and we want to speak up for that. We want a future in our country," he hoped.
Furious protesters have been demanding change in the political system and held Rajapaksas responsible for the present state of the economy as well as demanding that "the president and Prime Minister should be imprisoned and their assets should be frozen."
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People at the site of the protest were carrying placards with anti-government slogans written on them. Children were carrying placards with the slogans 'we need a good future'. Others displayed 'Freeze all Rajapaksa money' banners to show their anger.
A massive protest has been continuing in the Galle Face Green area in the capital city of Colombo as the Island nation is facing its worst economic crisis since independence with food and fuel shortages, soaring prices, and power cuts.
This comes at a time when Sri Lanka is celebrating its New Year. The Sri Lankans are protesting against the government's handling of the economic situation and demanded the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Protesters have been accusing Rajapaksa's government of corruption and misrule.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
