2022 was one of the most momentous years in Sri Lanka’s recent history. An unprecedented people’s movement drove out an elected president and prime minister and forced the resignation of the entire cabinet as well as corrupt and incompetent public officials. While the aragalaya may have died down for now, the ongoing inefficiency of governance and pervasive corruption means that the real change the people demanded has yet to come as a vindictive and repressive regime continues to arrest young people taking to the streets protesting injustice and demanding accountability. The spiralling economy has inflicted untold suffering and long lasting damage on people struggling to feed their families and educate their children in the face of rising prices and diminishing incomes. The effects of child malnutrition will be felt for generations to come. The ravaging of the environment for monetary gain in the name of development continues unabated with severe consequences for future generations. From the beginning of the year, analysts and economists had warned of the dire consequences of not taking corrective action to halt the plunge into bankruptcy but their advice went unheeded, resulting in unending queues for petrol, diesel and cooking gas, 12 hour power cuts and finally the historic aragalaya.
Groundviews looks back on the year that was. Click here to view this story