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Nira Wickramasinghe on the protests in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is experiencing unprecedented economic and political crises. Months of protests came to a head earlier this month when protesters occupied President Rajapaksa's palace.

Prof. dr. Nira Wickramasinghe (professor of Modern South Asian Studies, LIAS) currently resides in Sri Lanka, and gave an account of the protests on 9 July during a Nieuwsuur broadcast. “That crowd of nearly 1 million people that Saturday [July 9, ed.] was united by one simple demand: the departure of the political leaders. The activists who still occupy the presidential palace are linked to left-wing parties and student groups demanding structural reforms. There is a sense of revolution in the air and fear among the wealthy middle class that their days are numbered,” Wickramasinghe said.

The Nieuwsuur interview (in Dutch and English): link

The Volkskrant article (in Dutch): link

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