15 arrested for protesting democratically near SLPP’s rally

A total of 15 persons were arrested by the Police during a protest held in Nawalapitiya town against the rally organised by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) under the theme “Let’s Rise Together” (Ekwa Nagitimu), and former Prime Minister and incumbent MP Mahinda Rajapaksa, who arrived to participate in the said rally, which was held yesterday (16).

The second of the SLPP’s “Let’s Rise Together” rally series, which started in Kalutara recently, was held yesterday in Nawalapitiya town. The rally, which started at around 9.30 a.m. and was attended by Rajapaksa and several other SLPP MPs, was organised by former Minister and incumbent MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage.

Among the SLPP MPs who attended the rally were: Aluthgamage, Ministers Keheliya Rambukwella and Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, State Ministers Sanath Nishantha Perera, Siripala Gamlath, Indika Anuruddha, Piyal Nishantha de Silva, and Dilum Amunugama, and MPs Namal Rajapaksa, SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, Johnston Fernando, and D. Weerasinghe. 

While the rally, which started at 9.30 a.m., was being held, a large number of people gathered in Nawalapitiya town and protested against the SLPP and Mahinda Rajapaksa, who arrived to participate in the rally. The people gathered in the city were seen chanting slogans such as “thief, thief, Mahinda, thief”, “thief, thief, Rajapaksa, thief”, and “give our stolen money back”.

After some time, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of the area who arrived at the scene announced that he had banned the protest in accordance with the powers vested in him according to the Police Ordinance. 

He then went among the protestors and said: “Did you all hear what I told you – I will arrest all of you. If you all can, come forward with the march.” 

When one of those among the protestors told the ASP that they were engaged in a peaceful protest march, he said: “You cannot hold peaceful marches.”

The ASP was then seen reading something written on a piece of paper to a person who was said to have organised the protest, who was later reported to be the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Nawalapitiya Electoral Organiser. The officer, while reading out what was written on the piece of paper in his hand, said that the person who is said to have organised the protest march had informed the people through social media platforms that a demonstration would be held in Nawalapitiya town yesterday. The officer also announced that the protest would be banned based on several factors.

Despite the announcement, the people marched through Nawalapitiya town chanting slogans and carrying placards with various phrases written on them. At that time, a large group of police officers with batons and shields were deployed across the road. The videos related to the incident showed the people participating in the protest telling the Police officers not to allow the “thieves” to enter Nawalapitiya town in the background of several serious crises such as the rapid rise in child malnutrition that has emerged in the country.

After a few moments, the police officers went among the protestors and arrested them, and loaded them onto a bus. Among the protestors arrested was the person who the Police said had organised the protest. At that time, an arrested person who was in one of the buses said that he was working as an estate worker. He mentioned that he, a father of three girls, had no income to buy even a kilogram of flour or rice, so he had to resort to begging, due to which he attended the protest march.

The Police Media Division (PMD) had issued a media statement regarding the protest in question and the arrest of a group of people during it. It stated that a group of people gathered near the SJB’s Nawalapitiya Office, which is about 100 m away from the venue of the SLPP rally, along with SLPP Nawalapitiya Electoral Organiser Sasanka Sampath, were ready to march near the rally’s venue. 

As there was a risk of serious damage including loss of life due to the movement of a group of one political party through the place of a rally of another political party, the PMD stated that the Police had informed the protestors not to hold the protest march. It read that the Police once again warned the group to disperse, as they had not obtained permission from the Police for the protest march, and were blocking a main road. The PMD added that a total of 15 people, including the Nawalapitiya SJB Electoral Organiser, a municipal councillor and another Pradeshiya Sabha member, were arrested by the Police, as the protestors did not disperse.

Meanwhile, Aluthgamage, who addressed the rally, while commenting on the protest held in Nawalapitiya town, claimed that the protest had been organised on the instructions given by Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa to the concerned Electoral Organiser. He also said that while more than 2,000 people participated in the rally organised by him, only 148 people participated in the said protest.

“We hold this rally in a hall with 2,000 seats and a large number of people are standing as there are no more chairs. Premadasa has told an SJB Electoral Organiser that we would be holding this rally today, and asked him (Electoral Organiser) to hold a protest today itself. However, we have made this rally a success without any issues. Before this rally, I went to 70 meetings in my area, and I saw that not one of our supporters has backed down. They are all with us. It is true that the mediocre people who joined us have left. However, when I told them that I would organise a rally and get Mahinda Rajapaksa to participate in it, our supporters were largely supporting me to make this rally a success.

“The SJB has taken people from all over Kandy to participate in the protest held in front of the hospital today. By bringing people from the entire Kandy area, they had got only 148 people to participate in it. However, we just went around the village and got more than 2,000 people to participate in this rally. Some of the MPs called me and asked, ‘Sir, what is happening with the rally as there is a protest ongoing?’ What I told them was, ‘Why should I worry about the protest? The rally has been successful’,” he further said.

Meanwhile, during his speech, Aluthgamage was seen saying: “All of you, sit down, where are you all going? We will leave only when the meeting is over.” 

Many people had commented on the matter on social media platforms, particularly on Facebook. Some of the posts on Facebook seen by The Morning claimed that when the people brought from different areas to the rally were about to leave, Aluthgamage was attempting to stop them.

Speaking during the rally, Mahinda Rajapaksa said: “We still know that Aluthgamage and you all are working to make the SLPP win. When we still see the same faces that we saw here some time ago, that is the biggest strength for us. Your strength is the strength for us and the country. We are facing many challenges as a country. On one hand, we had to face the Covid-19 pandemic, while on the other hand we had to face the collapsed economy. We have faced such challenges on many previous occasions. At all such times, we stood together to overcome those challenges. However, some parties are now trying to leave all these to us and wash their hands off. However, the problems do not end just because they are passed onto us.

“You too had to face various insults in the past just like us. Some behaved as if they had never made a mistake. Some do not want this country to become an independent country. They want to always say ‘no’ and ‘can’t’. We must change this system. We have made mistakes too, and we admit it honestly. Also, those who say that we have made mistakes are not those who have not made any mistake in history. When we make a mistake, we have a chance to correct it. We don’t need to be ashamed. We should be ashamed only if we stop at the place where we made the mistake instead of moving forward,” he further said.

Meanwhile, the rally was initially livestreamed on Aluthgamage’s official Facebook page, but it had later been removed. The posts shared on Facebook read that during the livestream, many Facebook users had made comments mocking and criticising the rally and those who attended it including Mahinda Rajapaksa, so it had been removed. As of yesterday evening, the livestream video of the rally that was on SLPP Media Unit’s Facebook page had been shared on Aluthgamage’s Facebook page.

Several photos and posts showing how a group of young people who participated in the rally were looking down so as not to be captured in the photographs were also being shared on social media platforms. Some other posts read “Resurgence of the SLPP ended in Nawalapitiya”, “People of Nawalapitiya should be thankful for standing against the SLPP”, and “People in the areas where the SLPP rallies should follow the example of the people of Nawalapitiya”. Some other posts on Facebook stated that the people have rejected the SLPP so much so that the SLPP had to hold a rally and Mahinda Rajapaksa had to attend a rally with the help of a large Police force.