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Dissenting foreigners, blundering Government

05 Aug 2022

The confiscation of the passport of a British woman for allegedly defaming Sri Lanka by being actively involved in the Galle Face protest has already gone viral on social media platforms, and the matter is now international news. According to the available information, the passport, which is currently in the custody of the Department of Immigration and Emigration, will only be returned once the relevant investigations are concluded, and the foreign woman is forced to stay in the country until that. The exact nature of the offence committed by this foreigner under Sri Lankan law is yet to be announced and proven by law enforcement agencies. However, it is impossible to prevent the people from seeing this as just another attempt among the Government’s series of restrictions and intimidations aimed at curtailing protests, especially in a context where people are being arrested for offences as trivial as expressing their displeasure of the Government on social media platforms.  Even though some of the arrests and/or other legal actions have a valid legal basis, such as trespassing on State-owned properties and disobeying court orders, newly appointed President Ranil Wickremesinghe is blamed for all this. Many have begun asking what happened to Wickremesinghe, who, just a few months ago, portrayed himself as an ardent supporter of the people’s right to protest against the Government, and who has built a reputation for being a liberal and tolerant politician. In fact, he was the only politician in Sri Lanka’s history who has encouraged tourists to take part in protests. During an interview, he invited foreign tourists to visit Sri Lanka, and said that joining protests was one of the activities that they could engage in during their stay. He even made it clear to the interviewer that he was not joking when he extended that invitation. At the same time, he was one of the first to express support to protestors in various contexts. Before his appointment as Prime Minister, he claimed that trade union leader Joseph Stalin was internationally known, and that arresting him could affect the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) trade concession granted by the European Union. However, that very same Wickremesinghe has now become a leader determined to snuff out protests, at least in the eyes of the majority of the population. Coming back to the issue of the British national, the main charge against her is defaming Sri Lanka. However, the actual defamation of Sri Lanka does not come about due to foreigners, including journalists, taking part in or reporting on protests, but through how local and foreign protesters are treated and how protests are dealt with. On the one hand, a segment of Sri Lankans are starving and are dying in queues while the majority of the population is concerned about the country’s bleak future. On the other hand, the very Government that came to power thanks to protests that demanded a change to this situation is oppressing protestors in an unprecedented and violent manner. This situation is what is truly tarnishing the country’s name.  The reality is that it is not possible to conceal what is happening in Sri Lanka. In fact, foreign media outlets report on what actually put Sri Lanka in this chaos, and how the current and former Governments are exacerbating it, more comprehensively and perhaps more honestly than Sri Lankan media outlets. The world already knows how, within a matter of weeks, the new Government, especially the new President, managed to tarnish their name by taking a number of crafty and creative oppressive steps to curtail protests. President Wickremesinghe – who has gained a name as a leader who has strong diplomatic relationships and the skills to maintain such relationships in a healthy manner – should know better. Ruling with an iron fist could make Sri Lanka lose face on the world stage, at a time when it needs all the international goodwill it can get.


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