Sri Lanka Buddhist monks protest against police crackdown on workers’ protest

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka’s powerful Buddhist clergy demonstrated Friday urging the president to restore rights of workers and students days after a violent police crackdown on a labour protest killed one factory worker.

About 400 monks marched peacefully in the capital, Colombo, carrying placards and banners before gathering opposite President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s official residence where they protested the crackdown that led to clashes Monday wounding 200 more workers and police.

Traffic came to a standstill in some areas during Friday’s protest.

Rev. Kamburupitiye Gnanissara, a spokesman for an association of undergraduate monks, said the government has unleashed a campaign to suppress people who are fighting for their rights.

“The government is on a wrong path and we urge people to come to the streets and protest against the government’s undemocratic acts,” the monk said.

On Monday, police used tear gas and later fired live bullets to break up a protest over a government pension proposal, at the country’s main industrial zone.

Sri Lanka’s police chief resigned this week to take responsibility for the police conduct.

Trade unions and other critics say the government’s pension proposal for private-sector employees would benefit workers less than the government claims it would. The government suspended the plan amid the protests, but its opponents want it abandoned.

The government has appointed a retired supreme court judge to investigate the crackdown.

Buddhism enjoys a prime place under Sri Lanka’s constitution and monks influence the country’s Buddhist majority, even helping make or break governments.

Monday’s clash hit Sri Lanka’s main free-trade zone, where many foreign investors run garment factories that are the island’s leading foreign exchange earner. That could set back the government’s efforts to lure investment to a country just recovering after a 26-year-old civil war ended in 2009.