Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe attends the the country’s seventy fifth Independence Day celebrations at Galle Face Green in Colombo, Sri Lanka February 4, 2023.
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka marked its seventy fifth independence anniversary on Saturday as a bankrupt nation, with many voters offended, anxious and in no mood to have a good time.
Many Buddhists and Christian clergy had announced a boycott of the celebration within the capital, while activists and others expressed anger at what they see as a waste of cash in a time of severe economic crisis.
Despite the criticism, armed troops paraded along the important esplanade in Colombo, showcasing military equipment as navy ships sailed in the ocean and helicopters and aircraft flew over the town.
Catholic priest Rev. Cyril Gamini called this yr’s ceremony commemorating independence from British rule a “crime and waste” at a time when the country is experiencing such economic hardship.
“We ask the federal government what independence they’ll proudly have a good time by spending a sum of 200 million rupees ($548,000),” said Gamini, adding the Catholic Church doesn’t condone spending public money on the celebration and that no priest would attend the ceremony.
About 7% of Sri Lanka’s 22 million people on this Buddhist-majority nation are Christians, most of them Catholics. Despite being a minority, the church’s views are respected.
Distinguished Buddhist monk Rev. Omalpe Sobitha said there isn’t any reason to have a good time and that the ceremony is just an exhibition of weapons made in other countries.
Sri Lanka is effectively bankrupt and has suspended repayment of nearly $7 billion in foreign debt due this yr pending the consequence of talks with the International Monetary Fund.
The country’s total foreign debt exceeds $51 billion, of which $28 billion needs to be repaid by 2027. Unsustainable debt and a severe balance of payment crisis, on top of lingering scars from the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to a severe shortage of essentials akin to fuel, medicine and food.
The shortages led to protests last yr that forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign.
There have been signs of improvement under President Ranil Wickremesinghe, but power cuts proceed because of the fuel shortages, hospitals face medicine shortages and the treasury is struggling to lift money to pay government employees’ salaries.
The economic crisis has made people offended and apathetic toward political leaders.
To administer the country’s expenses, the federal government has increased income taxes sharply and has announced a 6% cut in funds allocated to each ministry this yr. Also, the military, which had swelled to greater than 200,000 members amid a protracted civil war, might be downsized by nearly half by 2030.
A gaggle of activists began a silent protest on Friday within the capital, condemning the federal government’s independence celebration and failure to ease the economic burden.
