Alasdair Pa and Uditha Jasinghe

WEERAKETIYA (Sri Lanka) – Protesters have daubed his beloved villa with graffiti and ransacked a museum that was dedicated to him father. The former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Mahindarajapaksa has been taken into hiding by the military at an heavily fortified base.

This is the moment that has made many people giddy about the reversal in fortunes for Sri Lanka’s most prominent politician over decades. The Rajapaksa scion, who was loved by Sri Lankans because he helped end a long civil war, is now considered a pariah.

A combination of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as economic mismanagement has created an economic crisis that has left the country without enough money to buy fuel, medicines, and other essential supplies. It is causing long blackouts, and lengthy queues for gasoline. The prices of food are on the rise.

After weeks of peaceful protests calling for the resignations of the Prime Minister and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s younger brother, violence broke out on Monday. Nine people were killed and more than 300 others were injured in what was the worst unrest to date.

It is the worst crisis that Sri Lanka has seen since 2009. Mahinda used to visit the Hambantota family stronghold in Weeraketiya while staying in the small town of Weeraketiya.

A small number of officers protecting the villa of the Prime Minister were attacked by hundreds shortly after he resigned. They also vandalized an outhouse that contained family memorabilia as well as sports trophies.

On the main house’s walls, graffiti with the words “Gota Get Home” was spray-painted in red. This is the rallying cry of protestors against the government.

Mahinda had windows broken in his bedroom but the rest of it was unharmed. A comfortable armchair, and a book on Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lankan cricketer lay close by.

Interviews with half-a dozen eyewitnesses as well as police officers revealed that Rajapaksa’s villa was the first place to be attacked in the vandalism night. The attack on the villa occurred without any family members.

According to a family member’s security guard, “I have not seen anything like this,” and that the wounded coworkers did not want to visit the hospital for treatment because they fear doctors and nurses will turn against them.

THE FUTURE OF QUESTION

In the midst of Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis, the Rajapaksas are now in serious doubt. The fortunes of Rajapaksas, a family of rural landowners located in Hambantotoa District, began to flourish after Mahinda was elected prime minister in 2004.

He won the 2005 presidential election. After that, Mahinda was appointed defence secretary. The government launched a brutal offensive against Tamil separatists, killing tens and thousands.

Mahinda lost a third term in 2015. However, the Mahinda family returned to power during the 2019 presidential elections. This time Gotabaya was at the helm.

Police say that two of Monday’s nine fatalities were in Weeraketiya. It was the scene of an attack on the offices of a local legislator and the response of his security personnel who fired at them.

Guard the sites vandalized by police and soldiers who were given the right to fire on looting or damage public property.

They then went to D.A.’s museum, which was dedicated to Gotabaya as well as Mahinda. Rajapaksa destroyed the exhibits, and torched its interior.

Reuters visited Wednesday and found little left except a gold bust of the father, which was lying face-down on the floor. Many shops and homes linked with the ruling party’s lawmakers suffered extensive damage.

Some island residents continue to support Rajapaksa Brothers, seen as heroes by the Sinhalese Buddhist majority because they fought the Tamil insurgency.

Ratnaweera Nandasiri was a paraplegic storekeeper aged 67 who supported the Rajapaksas for many years. He said they gave him a disability allowance to help him get through the pandemic.

A separate group with around 20 iron-barred men destroyed D.A.’s statue on Tuesday evening. Rajapaksa was seen in Tangalle, a nearby community.

He said that he had argued with the men from his shop, which backs on to the Memorial Garden.

“This is a father of men that ended war,” he said.