Former Sri Lanka pacer Dhammika Prasad sits on hunger strike, demands justice for Easter terror attack victims

Former Sri Lanka pacer Dhammika Prasad, on April 15 (Friday), began a 24-hour hunger strike urging the prominent leaders to take action against people involved in the Easter Sunday attack and also deliver justice to the people of Sri Lanka, facing the current economic crisis. He has joined the protestors at the Galle Face esplanade located near President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s secretariat.

More than 269 people were killed in the Easter Sunday bombings in 2019. The 38-year old pacer has accused the government of covering up the bombings for political needs. As many as six suicide blasts occurred at three churches and three hotels on April 21, 2019.

I want justice for all innocent victims of the bombings: Prasad

Sitting on a hunger strike, Dhammika told the press that he wants justice for the victims and accused the government of covering up investigations. “I want justice for all innocent victims of the bombings,” the pacer said according to News18. Meanwhile, the Galle Face protests have entered their seventh day of the protest and the numbers have only gone up. The protestors are demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for his mismanagement in the island’s worst-ever economic crisis.

To note, the country is facing 12-hour electricity cuts, along with an extreme shortage of food, fuel, medicines and some other essential commodities. The country with a population of 22 million has also defaulted on its foreign debts for the first time since its independence. The government had recently announced that it was suspending all international debt servicing with effect from April 12 (Tuesday), for the first time since Sri Lanka’s independence 74 years ago.

Talking about Dhammika Prasad’s career, the right-arm pacer represented Sri Lanka in 25 Test matches, in which he scalped 75 wickets. In white-ball format, Prasad played 24 ODI matches and took 32 wickets. He also played one T20I match for his country. With the bat, he scored 605 runs across all formats of the game. Dhammika Prasad played his last international game against West Indies in Colombo in 2015.