GotaGoGama is a non-partisan protest, open to any political ideology, say young activists

The protests at Galle Face Green, on for more than a month, is a non-partisan, peaceful one, and the area is always open to peaceful activists of varied political viewpoints, said youth groups involved in the peaceful struggle from day one.

On Monday, government supporters attacked non-violent anti-government protesters at Galle Face, resulting in clashes.

Over 200 were injured there and during related incidents, and at least 10 persons were killed during several violent incidents that followed.

“The Armed Forces and the Police were at “Mainagogama”, in front of Temple Trees, when the attackers were proceeding to “Gotagogama” at Galle Face. We begged them to move to the Galle Face site and stop the attack over there,” said Anjalee Wanduragala, a university student volunteering at the People’s Power tent, the main tent handling distribution and donations at the protest site.

The art tent was rebuilt, and to symbolise the destroyed art works and efforts of the peaceful protesters, artists including Sujith Ratnayake made a new art piece from the ashes of previous artworks at the tent.

Expressing her displeasure over the Police and tri-forces behaviour when the clashes occurred, she added that the Police had used water cannons and teargas after attackers entered the protest site.

“Our tents were destroyed; the majority of damage was done to the tents near the S W R D Bandaranaike statue and the art workshop tent. It was burnt down. The main attack

happened at the art tent, and the people that were there were trying to protect the art and sculpture made throughout these 35 days,” she said.

Anjalee added that the attackers had burnt people’s belongings, bags, sleepers and other essentials. “There is clear-cut evidence that Police were supporting the attackers. Some peaceful protesters were attacked by the thugs right in front of Police officers. The attackers were prepared to attack. I felt so helpless at that time because justice wasn't given to any of us, nor protection,” she said.

The pro-government protesters (the attackers) were prepared to kill people, and it was observed that these attackers had some sort of weapon - wooden poles with nails at the end, iron bars and even knives - in their hands, she said.

“They were targeting people at the site, looking at pictures and shouting names. It was very clear that the attackers came in targeting certain groups, maybe the highlighted youth worked in the protest throughout the one month period,” she said.

Commenting on the labeling of the protest as a political platform by some parties after the clash, she added that people were trying to indicate the whole protest as a one-party political movement after two specific

incidents; how Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa was attacked at the site while JVP Leader Anura Kumara was welcomed.

“Some people are trying to link the above incident to the peaceful protesters at “Gotagogama”. I have to say that “Gotagogama” is an apolitical movement, where anyone from any political ideology could come to and take a stand. The people enter this village as a citizen and they can share their views peacefully,” she said.

“The country is under Emergency Law, so how can a group of armed people attack these peaceful protesters?” Dr Sanduni Sudarshana Perera, who is volunteering at the protest site, questioned.

“The amount of Police protection provided near Parliament when the Inter University Students protested recently, was not provided at Galle Face, that was evident,” she said.

Certain people are trying to hijack the protest site in one way or the other, but all in all this has to be considered as an apolitical movement, said Sahan Weeratunga, on behalf of the protesters.

“This is a non-partisan struggle, and at the same time this is political, so every political party can come and contribute. Some people are trying to take advantage, they are trying to hijack this whole thing in one way or the other. No Party can become prominent in this struggle, because that itself becomes the downfall of this struggle,” he said.

The peaceful protesters released an eight-point resolution on Thursday (12) with the collective participation of nearly 60 youth organisation groups and 200 individuals. The preparation of the above document started on April 12 and experts were involved in drafting the document.

“I was involved in making demands. The first and foremost is our main demand for the President to resign, that is the base of the movement. We considered several aspects as well, one of them is human rights violations and preserving human rights. Creating political, economic stability at the same time creating an environmentally-friendly country,” Sahan said.

He added that the Galle Face protest site is a collective which discusses and argues on policy formulation, and how to change the present direction of the country onto a better path.

“We have a tent dedicated as a People’s University at the site, and educating people on policy formation happens there guided by experts,” he said.

Citizens began protesting in areas around the country over a month ago, demanding the President’s resignation and ensuring the country's political stability as the country's economic crisis worsened, manifesting in severe shortages of essentials, increasing prices, and protracted power outages.

Since then, several demonstrators have remained steadfastly at the protest site, sleeping in makeshift tents and under trees despite thunderstorms. Following the riots, the government declared an indefinite nationwide curfew and deployed the military, sending armed troops to Colombo City to supplement the already considerable Police presence.