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Pandemic protesters: Fourth wave’s cause, or scapegoat? 

19 Aug 2021

By Sumudu Chamara  Playing the blame game is part and parcel of Sri Lanka’s political culture, and the battle between the Opposition and the Government to point the finger at each other whenever something detrimental occurs is quite common. However, this culture has prevented Sri Lanka from achieving its full potential, since it is impossible to initiate a constructive dialogue about how to move forward as a country without someone taking responsibility.  The series of protests held during the last few months and the drastic increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths is the most recent incident the Government and the Opposition locked horns over, and even after the protests were halted, the blame game continues.   Spate of protests  According to statistics received from high-level Government sources, the number of protests held in the last three months, and the number of people that joined these protests, is considerably larger than it was reported earlier.  Statistics showed that since 20 April, a total of 847 protests of different forms had been held in all 25 Districts, with the participation of 106,648 persons. The highest number of protests had been held in the Kurunegala District (77), while the Nuwara Eliya and Colombo Districts had recorded 75 and 72 such events, respectively. A total of 15,945 people had participated in the protests held in the Nuwara Eliya District, while 10,293 people had joined the protests held in the Colombo District.  Among those that organised and attended these protests were the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), the Inter University Students Federation (IUSF), trade unions, and various other organisations.  Statistics showed that the highest number of protests (229) had been organised by the JVP, with 167 protests specifically against the ban on chemical fertiliser use and fuel price hike related concerns. The SJB had organised 181 protests specifically regarding the same concerns. These concerns were reasons for several other protests held by both the parties; however, these protests were not specifically about the fuel price hike or fertiliser related issues.  The highest number of protests held by the FSP and the IUSF was with regard to the General Sir John Kotelawala National Defence University (KNDU) Bill, and the two groups had held 24 and 32 protests, respectively. Various trade unions had held protests exclusively regarding the teacher-principal salary anomaly issue (95) and over other reasons (114).  After the JVP, various trade unions and the SJB had held the highest numbers of protests – 220 and 185 protests, respectively.  With regard to the number of participants, statistics showed that a total of 14,393 people had attended the protests organised and led by the JVP, while a total of 9,979 people had attended those organised by the SJB. The highest number of protesters, 60,523, had joined protests organised and led by various trade unions.  Protests organised and led by the FSP, IUSF, and various other organisations had been attended by 2,208, 1,939, and 17,606 persons, respectively.  These protests were held in a context where Sri Lanka is also seeing a drastic increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and related deaths, and due to that reason, they caused controversy. Many parties have raised the question as to whether these protests had intensified the pandemic situation. To discuss more about the veracity of these concerns, The Morning spoke to several persons representing groups that organised and led protests during the last few months.   Pandemic and protests  Most of them opined that the Government is attempting to cover up its failure in managing the Covid-19 situation by placing the blame on protesters.  Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union (CTSU) General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe, who participated in many of the teacher-principal protests, categorically denied these allegations, adding that these are baseless rumours circulated by certain Ministers and pro-Government individuals.  He told The Morning: “We challenge the Government to prove if there is any connection between our protests and the exacerbating pandemic situation. When we investigated, we came to know that the teachers who died of Covid-19 had not participated in the teacher-principal protests due to various personal reasons, and they had contracted Covid-19 not during these protests, but after attending events such as funerals and weddings. Despite this, the Government is misusing these incidents to imply that the prevailing situation is a result of the protests; however, it has not been successful. We stopped the protests on 6 August when there was a need to do so. It is in such a context that such allegations are being levelled against us.”  JVP Politburo Member Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa told The Morning that the Government is trying to place the blame on someone to cover up its failure in managing the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. He added that instead of implicating protesters in the worsening pandemic situation by trying to establish a connection between the protests and the pandemic situation, what the Government should actually do is to pay attention to addressing real issues pertaining to the pandemic.  “The Government depends on reports of how many protests were held and how many people participated in these protests, drafted by people whose identity remains unknown, and the Government has accepted these reports as legitimate documents. These reports are being used to connect the protests and protesters to the increasing Covid-19 cases and related deaths, in a bid to suggest that the status quo of the pandemic is a result of the protests. However, that is not true, and we deny these allegations.  “The Government has put in effort into counting every one of those who participated in the protests, but even though the Government is capable of doing that very precisely, it is however unable to tell the country exactly how many results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) conducted in around 25 laboratories came back positive, and how many people in fact died in hospitals due to Covid-19.  “It is clear as to what the Government is doing – it is trying to hide the true situation by not revealing actual health reports and conducting fewer PCR tests, which has resulted in a huge discrepancy between the real figures and the official figures. Even the reports that have been issued are not accurate, and the high number of cases in these reports is being attributed to protests. This is being done in order to show that the prevailing situation of the pandemic is not very serious, while also trying to show that the worsened situation is a result of the teachers’ protests. In fact, the Government hoped that another cluster would start and that more teachers and principals would contract Covid-19.”  Dr. Jayatissa added that if the Government genuinely felt that the teachers’ protests caused the increased number of Covid-19 cases and related deaths, it should have imposed an islandwide lockdown.  He further explained attempts made by the protestors to counter the alleged attempts by the Government.  “Teachers and principals started their protests knowing very well about the prevailing Covid-19 situation, and taking that into account, they saw to it that the protests were held in accordance with all Covid-19-related safety measures, including keeping to the proper social distance and wearing masks. We heard that the Government had got the intelligence services to visit the houses of Covid-19 infected persons and inquire as to whether they were teachers or principals, and whether they had participated in any protests. This was done in order to show that the protests led to a teacher/principal-based Covid-19 cluster.  “Another example is the incident where 44 teachers and principals who participated in protests were arrested, and tests were conducted on them. This is the random sample that was taken in order to substantiate the Government’s allegations, but all test results came negative. However, while the Government was trying to claim the existence of a teacher-principal Covid-19 cluster, an actual cluster broke out among certain MPs and Ministers. Many Government MPs and Ministers contracted Covid-19; but information about these cases was not revealed until we learnt of them through other sources.”  The Morning also spoke to SJB MP Mujibur Rahman, who also participated in some of the protests held during the last few months.  He opined that instead of looking for somewhere to place the blame, the Government must make it a priority in their agenda to save the people from Covid-19, which does not seem to be taking place currently. He further said that it was the Government’s actions that had led to and caused the continuance of these protests.  “Without giving priority to controlling Covid-19 during a pandemic period, the Government kept bringing various proposals such as the KNDU Bill and the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill (now Act), and continued to ignore teachers’ and principals’ issues. When the Government does such unacceptable things, the people have to show their opposition, and therefore, essentially, it is the Government that compelled the people to take to the streets. Had the Government done their duty properly to control the pandemic, people would not have had to protest, and the Covid-19 situation would not have been this critical. In fact, the removal of former Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi is also a result of attempts to place the blame on others.”  Speaking to The Morning earlier this week, former Health Minister and incumbent SJB MP Dr. Rajitha Senaratne too said that even though they support the protests, they stopped protesting when requested to do so by medical experts. Emphasising the people’s right to protest, he added that there was absolutely no delay on their part in heeding the opinions of medical experts.  He added: “The allegation is that the Opposition parties are criticising the Government for not taking action to go for a lockdown, all the while supporting demonstrations, protests, picketing, and other similar activities. However, when the medical experts asked us to stop these activities due to the prevailing pandemic situation in the country, we die, and even the teachers’ long march from Kandy to Colombo was stopped immediately following the appeal of the Association of Medical Specialists (AMS). That is how they respected the appeals by the medical experts. Would the Government or the President have done so? No. So who is to blame? At present, there are no demonstrations or any such activities in the country. The benefits of these prompt actions are in fact enjoyed by the Government. If not for the prevailing pandemic situation, hundreds of thousands of people would have surrounded the Presidential Secretariat.”  When contacted, FSP Education Secretary Pubudu Jayagoda and the IUSF were unavailable for comment.   Government’s response  Even though attempts were made to contact several members of the Government to discuss their opinion in this connection, they were not successful.  However, during the past few weeks, certain members of the Government have alleged that these protests had caused the prevailing increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths. There were also times when harsher comments came from the Government side, such as the comment made by Cabinet Spokesman and newly-appointed Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella that protesters were “kaalakanni” (persons who spend their time engaged in unworthy pursuits). Most of the comments from the Government side, however, included requests to stop protests.  Recently, Chief Government Whip and Minister of Highways Johnston Fernando recently alleged that the present state of the pandemic is a result of the protests carried out by the Opposition, despite the Government’s repeated requests against such activities. Speaking to the media after a party leaders’ meeting on 16 August, he further urged the Opposition parties to refrain from playing with the people’s lives.  Alleging that early warnings and requests to the Opposition parties, i.e. the JVP and the SJB, against encouraging the people to hold protests went ignored, Fernando recalled that such requests and warnings were seen by these parties as attempts to stop protests using the pandemic situation as an excuse. Speaking of the requests by the Opposition parties to impose a lockdown to contain the pandemic, he opined that in the event of a lockdown, these parties will protest again demanding that the country be reopened.  While the question as to whether the protests in fact caused any increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and related deaths remains unanswered due to the lack of valid data to suggest such, it is evident that the gathering of people when a highly transmissible virus is spreading in the country is inadvisable. In this context, the halting of these protests is an admirable act.  However, while it is of great importance that the people remain safe from Covid-19, it is also important that the people have the freedom to exercise the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of peaceful assembly, association and speech and expression as an antidote to acts of commission and omission by the Government.


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