![]() ![]() Pakistan is going through an economic crisis with inflation exceeding 45 percent and over a million Pakistanis emigrating in a year. Citizens are taking to the streets non-violently to protect their fundamental right to speak, to be heard and also to be heeded in circumstances of great upheaval where the larger public feel that their wellbeing is of little consequence and is easily compromised. Increasingly it seems that for the preservation of democracy people have to play a direct role. ![]() They are at different levels of development with Israel being at the higher end. It can be seen in other countries as dissimilar culturally and politically from Sri Lanka as Pakistan and Israel. The problem of governments that seek to use the law or break it to protect their power and positions is not peculiar to Sri Lanka. The ATA will be one of its chief weapons. It appears that the government is preparing its security arsenal to meet the exigencies of public protests. When the reality of economic restructuring caused by the economic collapse strikes its likely targets who are the middle and working classes the agitation against the government is bound to grow. The main cause of opposition to it has been its sweeping over-breadth which will enable the government to suppress public protests that are recognised as being democratic and legitimate the world over. ![]() There have been a very large number of statements and protests made against the draft law from a wide swathe of society including the Bar Association, civil society organisations, trade unions and highest ranking religious clergy. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has said that he has decided to provide more time for proposals for reform to be submitted to it. The government has withdrawn its draft Anti-Terrorism law (ATA), but only temporarily. ![]()
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