Colombo: More than 600 people were arrested in the country’s western province on Sunday for violating a 36-hour nationwide curfew in Sri Lanka and attempting to organize an anti-government rally in the wake of the dire economic crisis. Opposition MPs led by their leader Sajith Premadasa had started a protest march towards the historic square here for violating the weekend curfew by the government. The government had announced a weekend curfew in view of the pre-planned schedule of the protests.
Premadasa said, “We are protesting against the promulgation of the Public Safety Ordinance by the government to violate the rights of the people related to protest.” According to a report published in the ‘Colombo Gazette’, a total of 664 persons have been arrested in the Western Province on Sunday. A nationwide curfew was announced on Sunday ahead of proposed ‘Arab Spring’-style protests.
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President Gotabayo Rajapaksa issued a special gazette notification late on Friday night, imposing a state of emergency in Sri Lanka with immediate effect from April 1. The government on Sunday ordered a halt to internet service to cut off public access to social media and banned people from gathering at one place.
Rajapaksa’s nephew and Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa told reporters that the internet service ban was unhelpful, as many people would use VPNs to connect to social media sites. (agency)