Sri Lankan religious leaders have urged the armed forces not to attack unarmed civilians after a video clip of an army officer kicking a man in the chest as he queued up at a gas station went viral on social media.
“We urge the army not to lose the respect you have earned. What the forces are doing is protecting the corrupt rulers who have dragged the country into calamities,” said Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera, an internationally acclaimed Buddhist scholar, researcher and philanthropist.
He said people are experiencing hunger, pain and despair with little or no hope at the moment for an end to the ongoing economic and social crisis in the country.
“The security forces should be sensitive to the people,” the Buddhist monk said on July 6.
The Sri Lankan army has appointed a five-member Court of Inquiry to investigate the aggressive conduct of the officer who was identified as Lt Col Vi-raj Kumarasinghe, the commanding officer of the Sri Lanka National Guard.
Lt Col Kumararasinghe has been withdrawn from his posting at the Yakgahapitiya fuel station on the Kurunegala – Dambulla road, where the incident reportedly occurred.
“No matter what kind of order you receive from senior officers, don’t go against the law in the country”
Father Cyril Gamini, the editor of the weekly Catholic newspaper Ganartha Pradeepaya, condemned the attack.
“No matter what kind of order you receive from senior officers, don’t go against the law in the country,” Father Gamini said on July 6.
“The security officers have pledged and promised to protect civilians.”
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed several former military officers to key positions in his civil administration, which has been criticized by some political analysts as an attempt to militarize the island nation.
Similar incidents involving clashes between the public and police or armed forces are being reported in a country reeling from its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.
There have been widespread protests since March against the powerful Rajapaksa family for mishandling the economy. The protesters have been demanding the resignation of President Rajapaksa.