The Sri Lankan government announced new legislation that will restrict the number of people allowed to attend public gatherings, supposedly due to the risk of coronavirus transmission, as protests continued across the island and Tamils in the North-East prepared to commemorate Maaveerar Naal.

The new legislation, issued via extraordinary gazette this week, states that the director-general of health services may “from time to time” determine the number of permitted participants, location, setting and structure of any “gathering, activity event or similar place of meeting”.

Sri Lanka's director-general of health services reportedly said that it would be mandatory for prior approval to be sought before events take place.

The new legislation comes as the Samagi Jana Balawegaya called for a protest next Tuesday in Colombo, with claims that more than 10,000 people were to attend. It also comes amidst widespread protestse by teachers and farmers across the island.

Meanwhile in the North-East, Tamils are preparing to remember those who were killed in the armed struggle as part of the annual Maaveerar Naal commemorations.

“The opposition’s plan to use the new normalization only for protests and demonstrations is unfortunate,” Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office said in a statement. “There is a risk of the Covid-19 spreading again due to various activities including protests and demonstrations. This situation could lead to the country being shut down again.”

SJB member of parliament Nalin Bandara commented that “it is obvious that the government does not want the protest to take place and is making use of health regulations as a cover”.

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