Since then, the repression has intensified and is relentless, while the state of emergency is in force. Around a hundred people, including the most visible as influencersor spokespersons for the movement, were kidnapped or arrested by the police for various crimes related to their entry or occupation of public buildings or their simple participation in peaceful demonstrations. Journalists and media organizations that have provided favorable coverage of the demonstrations are harassed. The trade unionists who broadcast the Aragalaya demands are today arrested. Police are trying to keep the last of the protesters away from Galle Face, thinking of defusing the movement. There is a concerted campaign on social and mainstream media to smear protesters as “fascists” or “anarchists”, funded by Western governments and NGOsand even by the Tamil diaspora to bring about regime change.
On July 29, civil society organizations, women’s groups, members of the Christian clergy, human rights defenders and other members of the Tamil and Muslim communities organized solidarity demonstrations in the north and east (Jaffna, Mannar and Batticaloa ) to demand the release of all detainees Email Lists Database and an end to the repression. Solidarity actions have been carried out in Sri Lankan communities abroad. They must continue and enjoy the support of the left and the organizations of the labor movement in these countries as well. This struggle is unfinished and is currently experiencing a serious setback. But it is, without a doubt, the most edifying and hopeful social struggle of the 21st century .in Sri Lanka.
All the people around the world who have been inspired by the popular uprising of 2022 must now stand up to defend it. How could it be otherwise, the shock wave of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia also reached China. On the one hand, forcing it to position itself in an uncomfortable situation that involves two countries, one the aggressor and the other attacked, with which it maintains important diplomatic relations; on the other, explaining herself to make it understood that her principle of non-interference does not represent a double language that could further deteriorate relations with the United States and Western countries that urge her to take sides.