Demonstrators march in north and east to demand prisoners’ release

COLOMBO: Thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils defied bans to stage protests as the Sinhala-majority government celebrated its independence day with a military parade, AFP reported.

Demonstrators marched in northern and eastern regions to demand the release of prisoners and seek information on thousands of Tamils missing since the end of an ethnic war 11 years ago, Tamil legislator M. A. Sumanthiran said in the AFP report.

Police obtained court orders banning the protests, but thousands joined the marches anyway, shouting anti-government slogans and displaying black flags of defiance.

“The reason for this protest walk is to draw attention to the rights of the Tamil-speaking people that have been denied in this country,” Sumanthiran said in the AFP report.

The legislator for the Tamil National Alliance, said the group also wanted to draw attention to the military occupation of private land in the 1972-2009 civil war.

Sri Lanka’s Muslims joined the protests to demand that the government end the forced cremation of those who die of COVID-19.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa celebrated the national day at a military parade in the capital Colombo.

“I govern this country in accordance with Buddhist teachings,” he said in an address.

“Every person in this country, irrespective of his or her ethnic or religious identification, has the right to enjoy the freedom as equals under the nation’s legal framework.”