Teachers and faculty members from Sri Lanka's Open University took to the streets of Colombo to protest against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's regime on Thursday as the tiny island nation faces massive shortages in fuel, medicine, and other essentials.
The teachers, who are a part of the Open University Teachers Association, walked almost 3 km from the premises of the University to Nugegoda Junction, a suburb near Colombo. Protestors, composed of the faculty members, have been protesting against the Rajapaksa regime since Monday. “Today’s protest was huge and very successful. It was reflective of what the country is going through and similar protests have erupted across the country,” said Vivimarie Vanderpoorten, a professor at the Department of Language Studies at Open University.
The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations, which comprises 16 state institutions across Sri Lanka, has also released a statement condemning “the indiscriminate use of military and police forces under the guise of emergency and curfew and labelling unarmed protestors as extremists”. The Federation also stated that it is ready to provide the expertise and experience of its members to ensure the success of any initiative that would bring relief to the affected. Faculty members from the Open University gathered in the capital with slogans against President Rajapaksa. President Go Home, Gota go home, etc, were some of the rallying cries by the protestors who highlighted the issues being faced by students, affected by the fuel shortages and power cuts, in Sri Lanka.
“We were showered with support from people riding their cars, trucks, and other vehicles. They honked their way while passing as a show of solidarity to us,” said Vivimarie, who added that only the traffic police were present in the vicinity and no one was detained for participating in the protest.
