Bodyguards opened fire on a crowd, deepening the constitutional crisis in Sri Lanka
Petroleum minister of Sri Lanka and former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team Arjun Ranatunga was trying to enter a government building in Colombo on Sunday when the supporters of the president Maithripala Sirisena confronted him. This is what led to a series of events where bodyguards opened fire on a crowd.
After the crowd confronted Arjun Ranatunga, jostling ensued and his bodyguards opened fire on a crowd as a result of which three people were injured out of which one later succumbed to the injuries in the hospital.
As bodyguards opened fire on a crowd, it deepened the constitutional crisis looming over Sri Lanka. It was, however, the first instance of the outbreak of violence since Sirisena announced the dismissal of the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe shocking the country and plunging it into the now looming constitutional crisis.
What actually led to the situation wherein bodyguards opened fire on a crowd?
Ranil Wickremesinghe has called his dismissal unconstitutional and has outright refused to vacate the official prime ministerial residence, Temple Trees that is now surrounded his supporters.
Following the incident wherein bodyguards opened fire on a crowd, the area around the government office experienced a tense atmosphere with the police present in huge numbers and crowds assembling in protest against the shooting. It was amidst these conditions that one of the bodyguards of Ranatunga was arrested.
According to a Guardian report “Human rights groups on Sunday voiced concerns about the replacement prime minister, the former president Mahindra Rajapaksa, whose decade-long rule was marred allegations of extrajudicial killings, media harassment and corruption”.
Meanwhile, people in support of Wickremesinghe have raised arguments that he being sacked was an illegal move as under the Sri Lankan constitution, the President cannot dismiss a Prime Minister barring the circumstances of death, resignation and a loss of confidence of the parliament.
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