
Srilanka ends the state of emergency.
Sri Lanka, mainly Buddhist nation, was in a state of emergency after a series of suicide attacks on Easter Sunday (21st April) in the capital. Three hotels, three churches and the eastern town of Batticaloa were the targets killing more than 260 people including 42 foreign nationals. The bombing episode left the government and public in great confusion and also elevated terrors of renewed ethnic tensions in the nation. President Maithripala Sirisena consented the emergency rule, to lapse by not signing a decree that would extend it for another month. Since the attacks, there have been months of extending the emergency on the 22nd of every month. In a state of emergency, the security was tight in Sri Lanka and investigated deeply for those responsible for the attack. And when the Easter Bombing took place, the country was about to hit a decade since ending a 37-year-long Tamil separatist war.
Finally, four months after the unfortunate incident of Easter Bombing, Sri Lanka has ended state of emergency. Mr. Sirisena’s officials confirmed that he, however, had not prolonged it for another term and thereby allowed the urgency to end on Thursday, 24th August. Few hours after ending a state of emergency, he also issued a special newspaper notice calling upon the country’s armed forces to continue public order across the country.
The Easter Bombing did disturb tourism in Sri Lanka severely. But this move is expected to have steady signs of recovery with a good flow of visitors in the coming days.