Sri Lankan authorities yesterday lifted a nationwide curfew for an important Buddhist festival, with celebrations muted as the island weathers a worsening economic crisis.
A countrywide stay-home order has been in place for most of the week after mob violence left nine people dead and more than 225 wounded, sparked by attacks on peaceful demonstrators by government loyalists.
In the past few weeks, protesters have demanded the resignation of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the worst economic crisis in the Buddhist-majority nation’s history as an independent country.
Photo: AFP
Shortages of food, fuel and medicines, along with record inflation and lengthy blackouts, have brought severe hardships to the country’s 22 million people.
Sunday marks Vesak, the most important religious event on Sri Lanka’s calendar, which celebrates Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death.
The government also announced it was lifting the curfew for the day without saying when or whether it would be reimposed.
However, the ongoing crisis prompted the government to cancel its plans to mark the festival, which had been scheduled at a temple in the island’s south.
“Given the economic situation of the government and other constraints, we are not having this year’s state festival at the Kuragala temple as planned,” a Department of Buddhist Affairs official said.
Buddhists were free to hold their own celebrations, including the mass meditation and Buddhist sermons traditionally held during the festival, the official said.
Sri Lanka has been unable to properly stage Vesak for years, with Easter Sunday attacks dampening celebrations in 2019 and the last two years affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Rajapaksa swore in four new Cabinet ministers in an effort to ensure stability until a full Cabinet is formed.
He swore in ministers of foreign affairs, public administration and home affairs, urban development and power and energy, the president’s office said in a a statement.
All four ministers belong to the president’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party.
Additional reporting by AP
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