Struggle For Complete System Change To Continue In Sri Lanka, Protesters Vow

Countercurrents | 17 July, 2022

Sri Lankan protesters have vowed to continue their struggle for a complete change of the system by abolishing the presidency, as the popular uprising that ousted Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president marked the 100th day on Sunday.

The anti-government protest began on April 9 near the presidential office and has been continuing without a break. “We will continue our fight till we achieve our goal for a complete change of the system,” said Father Jeewantha Peiris, a leading activist of the movement.

This is a freedom struggle. We managed to send home an authoritarian President through people’s power,” Peiris said.

Rajapaksa, 73, who fled to the Maldives on Wednesday and then landed in Singapore on Thursday, formally resigned on Friday, capping off a chaotic 72 hours in the crisis-hit nation that saw protesters storm many iconic buildings, including the President and the Prime Minister’s residences here.

Real debt trap: Sri Lanka owes vast majority to West, not China

Sri Lanka owes 81% of its external debt to US and European financial institutions and Western allies Japan and India. China owns just 10%. But Washington blames imaginary “Chinese debt traps” for the nation’s crisis, as it considers a 17th IMF structural adjustment program.

Benjamin Norton

Multipolarista | July 11, 2022

Facing a deep economic crisis and bankruptcy, Sri Lanka was rocked by large protests this July, which led to the resignation of the government.

Numerous Western political leaders and media outlets blamed this uprising on a supposed Chinese “debt trap,” echoing a deceptive narrative that has been thoroughly debunked by mainstream academics.

In reality, the vast majority of the South Asian nation’s foreign debt is owed to the West.

Drug-resistant typhoid ‘spreading out of South Asia’

Sanjeet Bagcchi

SciDevNet | June 29, 2022

[NEW DELHI] Antibiotic-resistant strains of Salmonella Typhi, the typhoid bacteria, have spread from South Asia to other countries nearly 200 times since 1990, new research suggests.

Every year, an estimated 11 to 20 million people suffer from typhoid and 128,000 to 161,000 victims die from the disease, says the World Health Organization (WHO). Typhoid spreads through water contaminated by an infected person’s faeces. Its symptoms include prolonged fever, nausea, rashes, headache and diarrhoea or constipation.

“S. Typhi can only infect humans, and by studying how closely related bacteria found in different places are, we discovered that typhoid had spread from South Asia, the home of typhoid, to many parts of the world many times,” says Gagandeep Kang, co-author of the study and professor at the Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory in the Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.

Unprecedented Protests Create Political Crisis In Sri Lanka

Countercurrents | July 10, 2022

Sri Lanka’s opposition political parties are trying to agree on a new government a day after the country’s president and prime minister offered to resign in the country’s most chaotic day in months of political turmoil, with protesters storming both officials’ homes and setting fire to one of the buildings in a rage over the nation’s economic crisis.

Sri Lankan Army chief General Shavendra Silva on Sunday made an appeal for peace to demonstrators, news portal Colombo Gazette reported.

Both the president and prime minister of Sri Lanka agreed to resign Saturday after thousands of people turned out in protest against them. Mobs even stormed both their homes, and set the prime minister’s home ablaze.

PM resigns, President flees: It’s all happening in Sri Lanka

In the wake of massive protests in Sri Lanka, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his residence. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced his resignation to pave way for an all-party government

People’s Dispatch | July 09, 2022

Protesters in front of the Sri Lankan presidential secretariat on Saturday, July 9. Photo: Twitter

Massive protests rocked Sri Lanka on Saturday, July 9, leading to a collapse of government. In the morning, tens of thousands of protesters marched to the residence of the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who reportedly fled shortly before. By Saturday evening, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe resigned to make way for the formation of an all-party government. Reports also said the president had agreed to resign.

PURPOSe study: understanding the burden of stillbirths in south Asia

Joao Paulo Souza & Rajiv Bahl

The Lancet | Open Access | Published: July, 2022 | DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(22)00218-2

Stillbirth prevention is a global health priority and a crucial step towards better maternal and newborn health and wellbeing.¹ In 2019, 2 million babies were stillborn, with over three-quarters of these stillbirths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia.² However, progress has been slow, and unless there is a substantial acceleration in progress, the Sustainable Development Goal target 3.2 and Every Newborn Action Plan target of 12 stillbirths per 1000 births will not be met by 2030.³ Slow progress is partly due to the limited emphasis on stillbirth reduction in maternal and child health programmes and a paucity of accurate, complete, and actionable information on stillbirths, particularly in high-burden areas.¹, ⁴

“Sri Lanka needs a strong public distribution system, wealth tax and universal welfare measures”

In the second part of an interview with Peoples Dispatch, Ahilan Kadirgamar analyzes the economic crisis faced by Sri Lanka and talks about the steps that need to be taken urgently

Peoples Dispatch | June 18, 2022

In the second part of an interview with Peoples Dispatch, Ahilan Kadirgamar, senior lecturer at the University of Jaffna, details the economic crisis that has engulfed Sri Lanka. He explains why shortages of essentials have continued over the months, and the inability of the government to tackle it.

He also talks about how Sri Lanka has already begun to adopt IMF policies before even signing an agreement and how this is affecting the country. He lists out the steps that need to be taken urgently to protect livelihoods and ensure the future of the next generation.

Watch the first part of the interview on the political crisis here:

What is Happening in Myanmar?

COUP IN MYANMAR

Peoples Dispatch | February 01, 2021

Indonesia: Mass strikes Against ‘Catastrophic’ Assault on Workers’ Rights and Environment

WORKERS STRIKE IN INDONESIA

Ben Chacko

People’s World | October 08, 2020

A labor demonstrator raises his fists in support of the protest against a controversial omnibus bill that takes an axe to workers’ rights and environmental protections, in Tangerang, Indonesia. | AP

Millions took strike action in Indonesia Wednesday and thousands rallied in cities across the country in protest at a new Job Creation Law that takes an axe to workers’ rights and environmental protections.

In Bandung, West Java, protesters blocked roads around the local parliament building and burned tires. Industrial workers rallied in Tangerang and Bekasi and walked out of factories and demonstrated in Karawang and Serang in West Java and Banten provinces.

Police prevented trade unions from rallying in the capital Jakarta.

Pakistan’s COVID-19 response is eroding trust of people in institutions, says report

Peoples Dispatch | July 21, 2020

(Photo: AFP)

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) noted that the COVID-19 crisis has led to further erosion of trust among the people towards the country’s political institutions. In its latest fact-finding report released on July 19, the HRCP said that “the structural imbalances of Pakistan’s polity, manifested in the primacy of unelected institutions, became crystallized in a crisis of this proportion.”

“The government’s overall response has been marred by inconsistent messaging at the top, which must be rectified by ensuring that the federal and provincial governments present a united front in this time of crisis,” the HRCP report added.