Speaking in parliament, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, M.A. Sumanthiran slammed the Sri Lankan government’s failure to establish a functioning cabinet following a wave of resignations, including by the newly appointed finance minister who resigned within 24 hours.

Sri Lanka is in crisis. Protests have spread across the South, demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. It marks a remarkable turnaround in popularity, with demonstrations from the same electorate that less than two years ago delivered Rajapaksa a two-thirds majority in parliament. The speed in which protests have spread and the fury in which they arose, have led the South to believe this is a moment of revolution that offers an opportunity for a definitive break from the island’s turbulent past. Tamils, however, are sceptical.

(Photo: Tamil families of the disappeared protest in Mullaitivu)

“We are witnessing the unfolding of a humanitarian crisis”, warned a petition signed by 21 feminist organisations in Sri Lanka, the majority of which are based in the North-East, that raised concerns over the prospect of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout.

13 years ago today, thousands of British Tamils continuously occupied Parliament Square in London for 72 days as Sri Lanka intensifed its military offensive which led to the massacre of tens of thousands of Tamils in Mullivaikkal. 

British Tamil actress Charithra Chandran, one of the breakout stars of the hit Netflix show Bridgerton, told Teen Vogue that her “dream production” would be on the Tamil genocide in Sri Lanka, as she spoke on colourism and culture this week.

Speaking to Versha Sharma, the 25-year-old Oxford graduate brought up the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka when speaking about her dream projects and future roles.

“My dream production, whether I’m producing or starring in it, I’d love to make a film about the crisis in Sri Lanka with the Tamil population,” said Chandran. “I think it is so complex and nuanced: the situation with the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government, the genocide that happened. It’s something obviously near and dear to my heart because it’s my community.”

A newly appointed Sri Lankan minister declared that embattled president Gotabaya Rajapaksa will not resign “under any circumstances” in a defiant address to parliament as protests continued to rumble across the South.

Addressing parliament this morning, Highways Minister Johnston Fernando said that “6.9 million people voted for the president".

"As a government, we are clearly saying the president will not resign under any circumstances,” he continued. “We will face this."

The United Nations human rights office warned Sri Lanka that it was “closely following developments” and reiterated that the island’s “drift towards militarisation and the weakening of institutional checks and balances” have left it unable to effectively deal with the economic and political crises.

#NDTVExclusive | "Without the line of credit from India, I think people would be starving and dying of starvation, the entire country would have come to a standstill without fuel," says Shanakiyan Rasamanickam (@ShanakiyanR), MP, ITAK, Sri Lanka, on the #SriLankaEconomicCrisis. pic.twitter.com/PWMvEKOMwy

The heads of Sri Lanka’s army and police force publically clashed today, after the war-crimes accused military head Shavendra Silva demanded an inquiry into two Sri Lankan police officers, after they stopped a group of masked and armed soldiers on unmarked motorbikes near protests outside parliament. 

A statement released by the Army said,

Sri Lanka’s embattled president Gotabaya Rajapaksa revoked a state of emergency that he had declared, as lawmakers from the ruling collation sat independently in parliament today following more protests across the South.

Late on Tuesday evening, Rajapaksa issued a gazette revoking the state of emergency, effective from midnight on April 5.