Sri Lankans are angry with the Rajapaksas

While protesters, like the ones camped along the streets outside the imposing presidential secretariat in Colombo, want president Rajapaksa, in particular, to resign, their worst is reserved for Basil Rajapaksa, who was Sri Lanka’s finance minister in the run-up to the crisis.

“It’s difficult to explain because it doesn’t translate well,” said Shiran Fonseka, manning a water stall for the demonstrators. “It’s something like ‘Basil the crow cries kaak, kaak, kaak.’

It sounds a bit like a nursery rhyme, which is why it’s so catchy. I think it’s mainly to indicate how ineffectual and out of touch the government is—they are like crows crowing and also, of course, it refers to that video clip.”

Fonseka is referring to a video clip that has re-emerged on social media, and gone viral, since the explosion of protests. It has the former finance minister talking about a serious issue at the Colombo airport: crows flying into planes.

Speaking in English throughout the video, Basil Rajapaksa abruptly employs kaputa, the Sinhalese word for crow, resulting in perfect, though unintended, comic timing.

Portrayed as “a man with seven brains,” Basil Rajapaksa was flaunted by the government as the one who could end Sri Lanka’s economic drift without the IMF’s help or any major reforms.

The video deflated that image unceremoniously. And the kaputa kaak chant quickly became the vehicle of the people’s ager.

“This is very different from Sri Lanka’s traditional protest slogans which tended to be sophisticated and came from well-organised left movements and communist-affiliated parties. This one comes directly from the people,” said ad filmmaker Chintana Dharmadasa.

This is the second article in a three-part series on the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. Read the first one here. We welcome your comments at ideas.india@qz.com.

📬 Sign up for the Daily Brief

Our free, fast, and fun briefing on the global economy, delivered every weekday morning.