7 injured in clashes between anti-government protesters and police in Sri Lanka

At least seven persons including two policemen were injured in clashes between security forces and antigovernment protesters who had gathered in large numbers in the central Colombos Fort area demanding the resignation of President Gotabya RajapaksaTens of thousands of protesters broke police barriers blocking the Presidents House where Rajapaksa has been housed since late March when the islandwide protests raged calling for his resignationAt least seven persons including 2 policemen were injured and admitted to the Colombo national hospital on Saturday officials saidThe police fired tear gas at two access roads to the Presidents House Chatham Street and Lotus Road but the defiant protesters continued unabatedThe protesters also clashed with the railway authorities at provincial towns of Galle Kandy and Matara as the demonstrators forced authorities to operate trains to ColomboLarge contingents of police special task force and the Army had been deployed around the areaThe organisers of the movement Whole country to Colombo said people were walking from the suburbs to join the protesters at Colombo FortProtesters said they wont relent until Rajapaksa quits the presidencySri Lankan Police had earlier in the day lifted the curfew imposed in seven divisions in the countrys Western Province including Colombo ahead of the planned antigovernment protests after coming under sustained pressure from top lawyers associations human rights groups and political partiesThe curfew was imposed in seven police divisions in the Western Province which included Negombo Kelaniya Nugegoda Mount Lavinia Colombo North Colombo South and Colombo Central with effect from 9 pm on Friday night until further notice police saidPeople living in the areas where police curfew had been enforced should strictly limit themselves to their houses and law would be enforced severely against those violating curfew the Inspector General of Police IGP C D Wickramaratne announced on FridayThe Bar Association of Sri Lanka protested the police curfew terming it iquestillegal and a violation of fundamental rightsSuch curfew is blatantly illegal and a violation of the fundamental rights of the people of our country who are protesting against President Gotabaya Rajapakse and his Government over its failure to protect their basic rightsiquest it saidThe body cautioned that the curfew intended to stifle freedom of expression and dissent which would gravely harm Sri Lankas economy and its social political and international standingThe Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka called the police curfew a gross violation of human rightsThe Human Rights Commission informs that the imposition of police curfew arbitrarily by the inspector general of police is illegalIt directs the IGP to recall this illegal order which is a gross violation of the fundamental rights of the people immediately it said in a statementOn Friday police in Sri Lankas commercial capital Colombo imposed a curfew after firing tear gas and water cannons on student protesters ahead of a weekend rally as public outrage escalated over the island nations worst economic crisis in seven decadesThe police curfew was imposed to quell the weekend protest rally march to Colombo from around the country is planned over the weekend by religious leaders political parties medical practitioners teachers civil rights activists farmers and fishermen on Saturday demanding the resignation of the President as well as Prime Minister Ranil WickremesingheThey blame Rajapaksa for the countrys economic malaise the worst since independence in 1948Sri Lanka a country of 22 million is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil the worst in seven decades crippled by an acute shortage of foreign exchange that has left it struggling to pay for essential imports of fuel and other essentialsMeanwhile US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung on Friday urged the countrys military and police to allow peaceful protestsViolence is not an answer Chaos amp force will not fix the economy or bring the political stability that Sri Lankans need right now she said in a tweetPolitical and economic instability could potentially derail Sri Lankas muchawaited USD 3 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund IMF warned analystsLast week Wickremesinghe announced in Parliament that Sri Lanka would present a debt restructuring programme to the IMF by August to secure a bailout package while underlining that negotiations with the global lender were more complex and difficult than in the past because the country was bankruptThe country with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default had announced in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026 Sri Lankas total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion