2022 Sri Lankan protests

The 2022 Sri Lankan protests are a series of protests by opposition political parties and various non-partisan protesters against the government of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, accused of mismanaging the economy and producing an economic crisis with severe inflation, daily blackouts, a shortage of fuel and essential items. Protesters demanded that the government run by the Rajapaksa family immediately resign. ^{[6] [7]} Most protesters were unaligned with any political party, and some expressed discontent with the political opposition. ^[8]

Protesters targeted members of the Rajapaksa family and government politicians. The government in turn used authoritarian methods such as imposing a state of emergency which allows the military to arrest civilians, imposing curfews, restricting social media such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, Viber and YouTube, assaulting protesters and journalists and arresting online activists. ^{[9] [10] [11]} The measures taken by the government resulted in further increasing the unpopularity of the government and the Sri Lankan diaspora began demonstrations against the suppression of basic human rights. ^{[12] [13]} The social media block also backfired as the heavy VPNs use by Sri Lankans caused #GoHomeRajapaksas, #GoHomeGota to trend in countries such as the United States, Singapore and Germany and the block was lifted on the same day. Further, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka condemned the actions and summoned officials responsible for the block and abuse of protesters. ^{[14] [15]}

On 3 April 2022, all 26 members of the Second Gotabaya Rajapaksa cabinet with the exception of Prime Minister Rajapaksa resigned en masse but critics noted that the resignation is not valid as they did not follow the constitutional protocol thus slammed it as a "sham" ^{[16] [17] [18]} and several were reinstated in different ministries the next day. ^[19]

Category:2022 Sri Lankan protests