Horrific violence broke out hours after the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Sri Lanka's prime minister, and a group of anti-government protesters torched Rajapaksa's ancestral residence in Hambantota.According to video footage from the Daily Mirror, the residence of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his younger brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been set on fire in Medamulana in Hambantota city.Earlier, protesters have also damaged and burnt properties of ministers and MPs of the ruling coalition.According to information received by Sri Lankan media and social media, it has also emerged that the fire broke out near the back gate of 'Temple Trees', the official residence of the Prime Minister in Colombo.Police personnel have called vehicles to release water cannons to carry out the rescue work, but their vehicles are also being attacked by anti-government protesters, stopping their work.
The matter did not stop here, an angry mob also attacked the residence of Badulla district MP Tissa Kutiyarach and later set it on fire. The house of Puttalam MP Santha Nishant was completely destroyed in the arson. The arson attacks took place when a curfew was imposed in Colombo following violent clashes between supporters of Mahinda Rajapaksa and anti-government protesters.Three people, including an MP of the ruling party, were killed and more than 150 people were injured in violence in the Sri Lankan capital. Protests have been taking place since last month over rising prices and power cuts.On the assistance provided by India to Sri Lanka, a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said that in keeping with our Neighbourhood First policy, India this year alone contributed 3.5 per cent to the people of Sri Lanka to help them overcome their current difficulties. Assistance of more than USD billion has been provided. Apart from this the people of India have helped in reducing the shortage of essential commodities like food, medicine etc.
India will always be guided by the best interests of the people of Sri Lanka expressed through democratic processes.In Sri Lanka, the government has deployed the army on the streets to maintain peace despite a nationwide curfew to deal with the situation. Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence. These include food and fuel shortages, rising commodity prices and power cuts affecting a large number of citizens. As a result a large number of citizens have been affected. Due to this large scale protests are taking place.The economic slowdown in Sri Lanka is attributed to the decline in tourism during the COVID pandemic, as well as a lack of foreign exchange due to reckless economic policies, such as the government's move last year to make Sri Lanka's agriculture 100 percent organic with chemical fertilisers. Steps were taken to ban Sri Lanka recently defaulted around USD 51 billion in its entire external debt due to acute shortage of foreign exchange.