“The army had fired tear gas at us. There were 500 to 600 young people all around me, all of us rubbing our eyes,” the 28-year-old digital specialist in a non-profit told The Sunday Times on the phone.
He felt like fainting, but pushed on nevertheless, because “I felt this is revolution”.
Seething at the nationwide grave fuel shortage that has brought life to a standstill, Mr Peter had walked 4km from his low-income housing complex to the venue that has become the hub of the anti-government agitations since March.
Chants of “Gota! Pisse (mad man)!” filled the air, as thousands demanded the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose first name protesters have truncated to Gota.
When the protesters heard news that the beleaguered President had fled his official house, they rushed into the presidential secretariat and the presidential residence.
“It was chaos. But there was a collective mood to break through the barricades and enter the house,” said a doctor from a government hospital who had joined the protests because he was livid about acute medicine shortages.
This story is from the July 10, 2022 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the July 10, 2022 edition of The Straits Times.
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