Sri Lanka's Army Chief urges youth, political leaders to support forces in restoring peace

As Sri Lanka is facing an unprecedented economic crisis resulting in massive outrage among the public, Sri Lankan military and the police on Wednesday urged the Speaker of Parliament to convene an all-party leaders' meeting in order to maintain a law and order situation in the island nation. In a statement, Chief of Defence Staff General Shavendra Silva appealed to the people as well as political leaders, especially the youth to support the Army, Navy, Air Force and police in order to find a solution to the chaos.

He also made a special request to the Parliament Speaker to inform all party leaders about the steps to ensure a political resolution to the "current conflict". Meanwhile, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka has also made a similar request and appealed to security forces not to implement "unconstitutional" and "unlawful orders" given by the acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Citing the statement, Daily Mirror reported that Fonseka asked citizens to avoid any rumours related to the 'shooting at the site' orders issued to security forces. According to him, these kinds of rumours could create a clash between the civilians and the security forces. The Field Marshal appealed to the Sri LankanArmy to act in a lawful and disciplined manner and urged them not to open fire at unarmed civilians. He said that their weapons should be directed against corrupt politicians.

Sri Lanka crisis

Notably, the island nation has been experiencing its worst economic crisis in history. The country has huge debt obligations and dwindling foreign reserves, and has been struggling to pay for imports, causing a shortage of essentials. Citizens were forced to stand in long queues for fuel, cooking gas, and medicines. This leads to massive anger among the people who have been facing an acute shortage of almost all basic requirements. On July 9, millions of people amassed and attacked the official residence of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In the television footage, it showed hundreds of people inside the well-fortified house and on the grounds outside, some taking a dip in the garden pool and others in a jubilant mood. This triggered Gotabaya to flee the country amid security threats from the mob. On Wednesday, he left the country along with his wife and several other family members and reached the Maldives after resigning from his post.

Ranil Wickremesinghe takes charge as interim President amid chaos

Subsequently, the former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe took the charge of interim President and assured the countrymen to address the issue at the earliest. Earlier this month, when he was holding the position of Prime Minister, he blamed the earlier government for the food crisis in the country. According to him, the Mahinda Rajapaksa-led government had abruptly implemented a 100% organic agriculture model by banning chemical fertilisers. He said this resulted in the collapse of the agriculture sector. Moreover, he claimed that foreign exchange shortages caused by a fall in tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic were also a major reason for the current situation. However, this time, securing fertiliser and compiling a food security program were being given equal priority, he maintained.

With inputs from agencies

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