Breaking point

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

SDG 1 [Eliminate Poverty]

SDG 8 [Create Decent Work and Economic Growth]

SDG 16 [Guarantee Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions]

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The ongoing Sri Lankan economic crisis in the island country of Sri Lanka started in 2019. It is the country's worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948. The crisis is spiraling into a humanitarian emergency as millions of people face severe shortages of food, fuel, cooking gas and medicine. The crisis is said to have begun due to several factors such as tax cuts, money creation, a nationwide policy to shift to organic or biological farming, the Easter bombings in 2019, inflation and shortages of essentials ascribed to the Russo-Ukraine war, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The subsequent financial distress worsened and resulted in the 2022 Sri Lankan protests. This essay was written to help you understand the situation in Sri Lanka.

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The sun was raging, much like the mood of the people around me. Shouts flooded my ears. The scent of burnt paper made its way to my nose. Some people brushed past me, and I felt the heat from the dancing flames atop the wooden sticks graze past my cheeks.

Voices overlapped one another, angry with frustration. Their hoarse and cracked voices matched their broken desires of a normal, stable life.

Brows furrowed, eyes narrowed, teeth gritted, faces a deep red, veins on the verge of rupturing, sweat dripping down their faces, breaths uneven, fists tightening - the atmosphere had the weight of a thousand anchors.

There was an opening in the midst of the jam-packed crowd, and just as I managed to make my way to the front, a picture of a politician went up in flames. On the bottom on the picture, I saw written in bold, red letters was the name Mahinda Rajapaksa. The fire seemed to maliciously consume the picture, as if it was dragging it down into the depths of hell. The smiling face of the politician morphed as the picture blackened from the fire.

My body felt as if someone placed dying embers all around. We were all tightly knitted together like sardines in a can, being pushed and bumped into every second.

Then suddenly, it felt like the aggression had levelled up. A hundred police officers with shields rushed into the scene. A sinister cloud of thick white fog slithered towards us. The fog hung in the air heavily, invading the nostrils of whoever made the mistake of not speeding away at first sight. Its dramatic, threatening presence made everyone frantically run away. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to avoid the gas in time, and it felt like I was thrown into the burning pot from Hansel & Gretel. My eyes stung as if someone squeezed lemon juice into them, watering non-stop as a result. My nose burned as if I got a big whiff of fresh chilli. My head hurt so much it felt like my brain was submerged in lava.

As if things couldn't get any worse, the police reached out for their guns, cocking them as if it was their second nature. Then, before the blink of an eye, metal bullets propelled towards the crowds, piercing through the air. That was when all hell broke loose. People were hysterically running away. Stumbling and tumbling, slamming into each other. Dust was flying everywhere, adding to the scene playing out all around. Fear was etched onto their faces; eyes wide with horror, mouths open in shock, hands swinging and grabbing in desperation.

I could feel my heart in my throat, pounding so hard that it might burst. I scrambled my way out of there, but suddenly my face slammed onto the ground. I looked up, head ringing with pain, to notice that I tripped over someone’s arm. This person was lying on the ground in a pool of blood that was steadily growing, painting the ground with a deep, ominous crimson, acting as a mark and reminder of how merciless humans could sometimes be. He was punctured with gaping holes, courtesy of the metal bullets. I stood up, frozen. I stared at him in trepidation. I must have been the last person he saw because his eyes were soon empty with a desolate stare. I found it hard to breathe but quickly managed to get a hold of myself and ran straight out of there.

That night, I laid in bed thinking about the events of that day. I felt my heart sink as I thought about how long this ordeal would last. We’d entered the hurricane. Only time will tell how or when everything will end, if it even ends at all.