Sugath Kulatunga

Many political pundits claim that Aragalaya was the genesis of the present radical political transformation. This assertion denies credit to the NPP for their crusade at the grassroots level over a long period, educating the masses about the misdemeanors and inefficiency of the past governments. NPP also established dedicated cadres with the masses to impart their political fundamentals.

The Galle Face Aragalaya was mainly an urban episode undertaken by, as a cynic said, jean-clad young men and women, which was actively supported by the Bar Association and the Catholic Church who had their own axes to grind.

I wrote on FB on 9/9/22 under the post’ Systems Change’    that Many parties try to read a systems change factor which was not there in the Gota Go home cry. Aragalaya focused only on the single objective to send Gota home. The core of Aragalaya consisted of an urban and semi-urban subculture of persons who reject conventional values. They were more the Ranil’s Bracelet-wearing and jean-clad generation of youth. The fact that the battle cry was the anglicized Gota Go Home was distinctive of this subculture rather than the youth in general. It may have been more effective if the slogan could have been Gota Gedara Pala.” Aragalaya was sustained by some business folks who supplied tents and food. A cynic said that the Argalaya vanished the day Biriyani packets were not delivered.

Three other developments triggered the profound transformation.

The major factor was the severe scarcity of essential items of foodstuff and fuel, which led to unending queues in which several people died. On top of that were long power cuts. All this resulted from the deplorable foreign exchange management, which led to a critical dollar crisis.

The ordinary citizens affected by this situation swooped ob Colombo in a mass demonstration to display their disgust and anger.

Encouraged by the widespread agitation of the public, the storm troops of the ‘Anthare” the ISUF, seized the President’s House and Presidential Secretariat.

The transformation did not happen in a day, but it was simmering for months. The psychological antagonism toward the government in power was generated by the JVP advocates.