In Pictures

Gallery|Protests

Photos: After PM, Sri Lanka protesters now want president to quit

The Rajapaksas are blamed for leading the island into its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948.

A Sri Lankan man walks past a burnt vehicle a day after clashes between government supporters and anti-government protesters in Colombo
The South Asian island nation has been seething for more than a month, as protests over economic crisis spread from the capital to the countryside [Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo]
Published On 10 May 2022

Defying a nationwide curfew in Sri Lanka, hundreds of protesters continue to chant slogans against the government a day after the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The premier is blamed, along with his younger brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, for leading the country into its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948.

Protesters swarmed the entrance to the president’s office in Colombo for the 32nd day to demand that he follow in his brother’s footsteps and quit.

The site outside Rajapaksa’s office has seen sustained crowds of thousands for weeks but had dropped to a few hundred on Tuesday due to a strict curfew following Monday’s clashes.

Local television visuals showed anti-government protesters shouting slogans for the president to resign and also rebuilding tents damaged in Monday’s attack.

A government decree issued on Monday night confirmed Mahinda Rajapaksa’s resignation, which came after violence erupted in front of the Rajapaksas’ offices as supporters of the governing party hit the protesters with wooden and iron poles.

Authorities swiftly deployed armed troops in many parts of the country and imposed a curfew until Wednesday.

The ambush by the supporters triggered immediate anger and chaos, as people started attacking the governing party politicians. More than a dozen houses belonging to them were vandalised and set ablaze.

At least seven people, including a governing party legislator, were killed and more than 225 were wounded in Monday’s violence.

“People are still not happy. They say we started this entire process because we say that the Rajapaksas have to go home,” Al Jazeera’s Minelle Fernandez said in her report from Colombo.

Vehicles of Sri Lanka's ruling party supporters are seen in a lake after being pushed into the water during a clash of pro and anti-government demonstrators near the Prime Minister's official residence
Vehicles of Sri Lanka's governing party supporters are seen in a lake after being pushed into the water during a clash between pro- and anti-government demonstrators near the prime minister's official residence in Colombo. [Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters]
Sri Lanka's pro government supporters vandalise the camps of anti government protestors outside the president's office in Colombo
Sri Lanka's pro-government supporters vandalise the camps of anti-government protesters outside the president's office in Colombo. [Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo]
A Sri Lankan motorist rides past a burnt bus a day after clashes between government supporters and anti-government protesters in Colombo
Protests have drawn people from across ethnicities, religions and classes and have even seen a marked revolt from some Rajapaksa supporters, many of whom have spent weeks calling for both the brothers to quit. [Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo]
Sri Lanka unrest
The pressure on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to quit has mounted following his brother’s resignation, analysts say. [Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters]
Army soldiers stand guard in front of the Prime Minister's official residence after the government imposed a three-day curfew following clashes between pro and anti-government demonstrators
Soldiers stand guard in front of the prime minister's official residence after the government imposed a three-day curfew following clashes between pro- and anti-government demonstrators. [Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters]
Burnt vehicles of Sri Lanka's ruling party supporters are seen after they were set on fire during a clash of pro and anti-government demonstrators near the Prime Minister's official residence
No arrests have been made yet in the incidents of violence, the spokesman said, attributing three of the deaths to gunshot injuries. [Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters]
Army soldiers walk past damaged vehicles of Sri Lanka's ruling party supporters after they were set on fire during a clash of pro and anti-government demonstrators near the Prime Minister's official residence
Military personnel patrol the area where vehicles were torched. Discarded files and smashed equipment littered the ransacked offices of government officials. [Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters]
A Sri Lankan man walks past a burnt vehicle a day after clashes between government supporters and anti-government protesters in Colombo
Rajapaksa’s evacuation to an undisclosed location followed a day of violent protests in which at least five people, including a member of parliament, were killed and nearly 200 wounded. [Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo]
A man looks at a damaged bus of Sri Lanka's ruling party supporters after it was set on fire during a clash of pro and anti-government demonstrators near the Prime Minister's official residence
Dozens of properties linked to top Rajapaksa loyalists were torched, and mobs attacked the controversial Rajapaksa museum in the family’s ancestral village in the island’s south, razing it to the ground, police said. [Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters]