Free on bail

The crisis that has marked the life of Sri Lanka for months does not seem to show signs of improvement.
In these hours, as explained by Fabio Barbati, manager of the Anawim Spiritual Travels project, Father Amila Jeewantha Peiris, and other leaders of the popular protest movement Aragalaya are wanted by the police to be arrested.
Father Jeewantha Peiris was accused of joining a protest movement organized by the Inter-University Student Union in violation of court orders.

Since last March, protesters have incessantly occupied the streets of a country oppressed by a very serious economic emergency, caused by the recent global crises and by the corruption of the Sinhalese political class which has occupied power for twenty years.
Religious of every cult present in the country - Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Catholics - have joined the great popular movement, inspiring its values of non-violence, political unity and inter-religious brotherhood. It is an unprecedented and crucial fact in a country that has a history of bloody civil wars and social divisions, exploited by politics. The perseverance of the population and the strength of the truth of its requests have achieved the clamorous objective claimed from the beginning: the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. However the new president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, initiated an even more violent and systematic repression.
On July 27, the police raided the church of Ratnapura to arrest Father Jeewantha Peiris.

A court has imposed a ban on him leaving the country on charges deemed entirely specious.
According to the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA): "There is a desperate need for international intervention and solidarity initiatives to help the paralyzed nation". There is an ongoing triple crisis due to the pandemic, the rising cost of debt (especially the $6.5 billion debt to China) and the rising food prices due to the war in Ukraine (prices have risen by 95% compared to 2019 and inflation is at 57%, but on food prices it is 81%).
The United Nations estimates that nearly 5.7 million people, half of them children, are in need of humanitarian aid.
UNICEF says nearly one in two children in Sri Lanka needs some form of assistance for nutrition, health care, clean drinking water, education and mental health services. Father Jeewantha Peiris is currently free on bail, like all Sri Lankans.

Fabrizio Floris
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NP October 2022