Sri Lanka weighs ‘failures’ during independence milestone
- The 75 years since the end of British rule have included a decades-long Tamil rebellion that claimed 100,000 lives and two deadly communist insurgencies
- Nation’s 22 million people are also reeling from hardships triggered by an unprecedented economic collapse last year that brought months of shortages
Sri Lanka marked 75 years since independence with a sombre military parade on Saturday, as its president urged reflection on past “errors and failures” at a time of national crisis.
Since the 1948 end of British rule, the island nation has spent much of its history at war with itself, including a decades-long Tamil separatist rebellion that claimed up to 100,000 lives and two deadly communist insurgencies.
Its 22 million people are also still reeling from the hardships triggered by an unprecedented economic collapse last year that brought months of food and fuel shortages.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took office last July at the peak of the resulting political unrest, said Saturday’s anniversary came at “an extremely critical and challenging time”.
“It presents an opportunity for us not only to review our strengths and gains as a nation but also to rectify our errors and failures,” he said in a statement.
Wickremesinghe, flanked by top military brass, watched the hour-long procession of soldiers and army vehicles along a seafront promenade in the capital Colombo, inaugurated by ceremonial artillery fire but boycotted by opposition parties.
