Mannar paralysed as thousands strike against wind farm and Sri Lankan police violence

The Mannar district came to a standstill on Monday as thousands of people took part in a general strike against the controversial wind farm project and to condemn the brutal Sri Lankan police assault on Tamils last week.

Shops across the district, including in the busy Mannar Bazaar, remained shuttered from early morning, while fishermen stayed ashore and private transport services came to a halt as part of a hartal. From 10.30 am, crowds began gathering at the Mannar Public Playground before marching through the town.

The demonstrators denounced the ongoing construction of wind turbine towers in the district despite sustained opposition from local communities. They also protested against sand mining projects in Mannar and demanded justice for the violent attack carried out by Sri Lankan police and Special Task Force personnel on peaceful demonstrators two days earlier.

The rally, which drew support from groups in Colombo and other districts in the North, passed along General Hospital Road, through the Mannar Bazaar, and past the Mannar police station. Slogans were raised against both the wind project and the heavy-handed police response.

Protesters later gathered outside the Mannar District Secretariat, where they handed over a letter addressed to Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake to Government Agent K. Kanageswaran. The letter called for an immediate halt to the construction of wind turbines and for action to be taken against the Sri Lankan police officers who carried out the assault.

As tensions rose, riot police were deployed to the area. A standoff ensued before religious leaders intervened to defuse the situation and urged demonstrators to continue their protest peacefully in the town’s bazaar area.

Monday’s general strike marked one of the largest displays of public opposition in Mannar in recent years, bringing together fisherfolk, farmers, social activists, religious leaders and political representatives in a unified call against state-backed projects imposed without Tamil consent.