While many Sri Lankans were rejoicing after storming the Presidential Palace on the 9th of July, a battered protestor was driven away in an ambulance to the nearest hospital. While some were diving into pools, raiding closets, and eating food from the refrigerator, he lay in excruciating agony from a broken leg. A leg he broke from being brutally assaulted after courageously climbing the Presidential Palace gate, jumping to the other side, and coming face to face with armed forces.
In the video shown below, you can see how these officers repeatedly hit him and another protestor with their batons. The armed officers keep swinging at him, taking aim at his legs as he curls up against the gate to protect himself.
We may not know him, his name or his religion but we do know that he is human just like the rest of us. If it weren’t for selfless protestors like him who took the first leap of fate over that gate, today we may still be shouting ‘Go Home Gota’. Instead, while we celebrate our success, this young man remains in severe pain. We can not make his pain go away, but we can seek justice for his injuries by helping abolish a system that allows such police brutality and human rights violations.
His act of heroism will be recognized in history even though he will remain an unknown hero to us all. As the protests continue, we can only hope that such selfless heroes will emerge in the days to come.
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