Sri Lankan Mass Protest in 2022 and Its Unexpected Outcomes

Throughout history, mass protests have occurred to achieve independence, question and secure democracy, obtain equal fundamental rights, and transform systems. The nature of these protests varies depending on a country’s socio-economic and political context. This study aims to investigate the theoretical explanations of political protest and evaluate theoretical insights with particular reference to the Sri Lankan mass protest in 2022. Sri Lanka’s protests were fueled by an economic crisis characterized by shortages of necessities such as fuel and domestic gas, prolonged power outages, high inflation rates, and the political dominance of the Rajapaksa family. The research problem of this study is to examine why the Sri Lankan mass protests emerged and explain their pros and cons. This research depends on qualitative methodology, and the secondary data were collected through books, journals, internet sources, newspapers, etc. The collected secondary data were analyzed using thematic analysis and descriptive analysis methods. Among the vast range of theoretical teachings on violence, this study selected Ted Gurr’s explanation of psychological frustrationaggression theory, S.P. Huntington ‘s modernization theory, and James C. Davies’s theory of revolution, applied to this study to analyze the Sri Lankan political context. My research findings indicate that the 2022 protests in Sri Lanka ended with unexpected outcomes. The protests were not strong enough to achieve the expected constitutional and political changes as people intended. In addition, three years after the mass protests, although a new government came to power, people did not experience an improvement in their lives, and indirect taxes were continuously increasing. Democracy was also questioned due to the newly appointed president after the protests. It is clear that, from the beginning of the protests, there was no clear direction or exit point; this was one of the shortcomings of the protest. Eventually, the protest targeted a system change in the country, but the previous system prevailed after the protest. The youth population and professionals are disappointed with the system and have accelerated migration due to the incongruity of their future goals with the prevailing system in Sri Lanka.