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By Kushali Atukorale
The main opposition UNP’s ‘toot
in protest’ campaign kicked off in Colombo and other
places around the island at noon yesterday, in the face of
significant opposition from police personnel deployed in the
city.
The UNP called on motorists to toot their horns and switch
on their headlights at midday yesterday to protest at what
they called the government’s unfair fuel price hike.
The protest, which saw UNP Leader Ranil Wickremsinghe and
SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem out on the streets in rainy conditions
encouraging drivers to ‘blare and flare’ to signal
their protest.
The opposition protest went ahead yesterday, after Colombo
Chief Magistrate and four others refused to issue an order
to suspend the campaign, despite applications filed by certain
police stations in Colombo. However, police officials were
seen noting down the license plate numbers of vehicles participating
in the protest, although when contacted Police Spokesman SSP
Ranjith Gunasekera said that there was no action the police
could take against these motorists, since the courts had ruled
against impeding the protest. In several places around the
city, police reacted violently against motorists participating
in the campaign, rapping on windows and intimidating UNP members
organising the demonstration. Speaking at the protest at Lipton
Circus, UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe vowed that no force
could stop the opposition’s campaigns against the government’s
misdeeds.
He said that the Mahinda Rajapaksa government had increased
the prices of every possible thing except peoples’ salaries.
“From the very first day until now, they have increased
the cost of living and the prices of fuel. These prices can
be increased drastically in the future as well, but salaries
of people have remained the same from their first day in office,”
Wickremesinghe said.
Wickremesinghe charged that the government was increasing
the prices of commodities in order to sustain the expenditure
of the jumbo cabinet and cover the losses incurred by loss
making government ventures such as Mihin Lanka.
Speaking at the protest, SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem said that
the government had already ruined the country to its utmost
level. “It’s we who can help the nation which is
going through a rough time,” he said.
Sajith Premadasa, Dayasiri Jayasekara and other UNP MPs and
supporters also participated in the protest.
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