Chennai/New Delhi: With street protests gripping Sri Lanka, the island nation declared a state of emergency.
Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa issued a Gazette Extraordinary declaring the public emergency with effect from 1 April, 2022, according to local media reports.
The extraordinary gazette notification issued late on Friday said the state of emergency, coming into immediate effect, was ‘in the interests of public security, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community’.
The move comes as protests erupted in different parts of the country, following economic crisis. The President has blamed ‘organised extremists’ for staging a large protest outside his private residence on Thursday night, as public anger mounts over his government’s handling of the economic crisis gripping Sri Lanka.
Under the emergency regulations, the President can authorise detentions, taking possession of any property and search any premises. He can also change or suspend any law.
On Thursday night, hundreds of protesters clashed with police for several hours as anger against Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa’s handling of a deepening economic crisis spiralled into violence.
The President’s Media Division said a group, ‘carrying iron bars, clubs and sticks’ had ‘provoked the protesters’, and ‘marched towards’ the President’s residence, ‘causing a riot’.
It said in a statement: ‘Many of those involved in this violent incident have been arrested and many have been identified as organised extremists. They had led the protest shouting the slogans ‘let’s create an Arab Spring in this country.’