Sri Lanka Crisis: Demonstrations resumed in Sri Lanka, thousands of people marched against the tax hike

Posted on 3rd Nov 2022 by rohit kumar

Even after getting a new President for the people of Sri Lanka, their problems are not decreasing. Hundreds of people in the largest city Colombo are struggling with the financial crisis. At the same time, on Wednesday, hundreds of people marched against the increased tax, inflation, and the government's repression of the people. The people of Sri Lanka are facing the worst financial crisis in the last 70 years.

 

Opposition political parties demonstrated

At the same time, this march in Colombo was organized jointly by anti-government opposition political parties, trade unions, and civil society groups. During this march, it was stopped by the police as the marchers tried to reach a central part of the city, where the President's house and other ministries are located.

 

This government gave only 'tax' to the people

Joseph Stalin, the central secretary of the Ceylon teacher, said people are barely eating three meals a day. This government has done nothing to support the people except by imposing more and more taxes. We need a solution and we will keep fighting for it.

 

More than 2 crore people left the island

Sri Lanka is in the grip of a deep financial crisis this year due to a record shortfall in foreign exchange reserves. Due to this, food items including petrol-diesel, cooking gas, and medicines have also become many times more expensive here. Sri Lanka is also struggling to pay for imported goods, and more than 20 million people have left the island.

 

Wickremesinghe will present his first budget on November 14

At the same time, in July this year, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country due to widespread protests by the people. After which his office and residence were stormed by the protesters. His successor President Ranil Wickremesinghe will present his first budget on November 14. In this budget, many steps can be taken to bring the country's shabby economy back on track. Along with this, a huge tax increase can be done on the people in this budget to get a loan of $ 2.9 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

 

However, the increased taxes, which will include corporate and personal income taxes, have been hiked to a high of 30%, on top of rising inflation to 66% in October. Protesters raised slogans of "Raniel Ghar Jao" and called for new elections during the march. He also accused the government of using harsh anti-terrorism laws to crack down on protesting leaders and jail two of them.

 

Eran Wickramaratne, a senior member of the main opposition Samagi Jana Balvegaya (SJB), said, "Everyone should be within the ambit of the law, that is democracy." But this government is using anti-terrorism laws to suppress the protesting leaders and it should be stopped. Everyone should stand against this government. We have to fight for our rights.

 

During the crisis, fuel was distributed like this in Sri Lanka

Fuel distribution among people was also done in a new way amid the ongoing crisis in Sri Lanka. According to this, a driver was given oil twice a week on showing the ID card. The QR code was allotted on verification of the chassis number and other details of the vehicle. For refueling with this QR code, oil was given on 2 days of the week according to the last digit of the number plate.

 

Millions of people faced a food crisis

After Gotabaya Rajapaksa left the country, more than 6 million people in Sri Lanka, which were facing an economic crisis, faced a food crisis. The World Food Program was quoted as saying that more than 28% of Sri Lanka's population has faced a food crisis and also claimed that the situation could get worse.

 

The World Food Program (WFP) also said in a report that 63 lakh people in the country, or 28.3% of the population, have a food crisis, and if the conditions do not improve then this crisis may increase.

 

Also Read: Pakistan Crisis: Pakistan is on the way to Sri Lanka, a country facing an economic crisis; Unemployment and debt a big problem