A voice of reason during Sri Lanka’s crisis

‘Economic crisis could impact law and order’, says President of the country’s Bar Association  

In the midst of an economic collapse, Sri Lanka witnessed unprecedented mass resistance, leading to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation last week. During these months, there has been a barrage of expert political commentary and economic analysis. But one voice stood out.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), a professional body of lawyers, emerged as the chief advocate of citizens’ freedoms of expression, association, and assembly, intervening swiftly and firmly when it mattered the most. Be it when a row of police trucks suddenly lined up near the iconic agitation site in capital Colombo in April, or when ruling party supporters assaulted peaceful protesters in May, or when a soldier was recorded assaulting a civilian queuing at a petrol shed earlier this month.

The BASL did not formally identify with the people’s struggle, nor unconditionally support it. But through speedy and staunch defence of citizens’ civil liberties, amidst police curfews and state violence, this professional body provided vital external strength to the protest movement.

Also read: Janatha Aragalaya | The movement that booted out the Rajapaksas

It urged authorities to revoke a social media ban in April, and challenged the basis for emergency rule by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in May, as well as Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent proclamation on Monday. Most dramatically, when police arrested 54 people including victims of police violence, following an angry protest outside Mr. Gotabaya’s private residence on March 31, over 300 BASL members turned up to provide pro bono representation and secured a majority’s release on bail.

While the island’s divided political opposition seemed passive, the BASL’s interventions proved crucial. Many Sri Lankans saw its President, Saliya Pieris, as a hero of the people. Some even created hashtags and memes asking him to become a caretaker President in an all-party transitional government. He declined. “I have absolutely no political ambitions,” Mr. Pieris bashfully told The Hindu at his office, near the Supreme Court. 

“Whenever we felt that the state was overstepping or trying to curb [citizens’] rights, we have been issuing statements to preserve the space that they have, to dissent and disagree, and protect them from unnecessary state action,” he said, underlining the collective role of “all office bearers” and more broadly of his membership.