I emerged as a female student activist and journalist after having been raised in a very political environment.  Since my father and other family members were liberal, they encouraged me to be politically aware and did not place the restrictions that women in South Asia, including Sri Lanka, are usually subjected to.

In Sri Lanka, a country that still implements the universal right to free education even in the midst of a great economic crisis, the possibility of free education from the first grade upward still exists, thanks to the left-wing student movement.  Hundreds of student leaders were tortured and even lost their lives during the fight for free education in 1988-89. When I joined a state university, student struggles were active.  Due to my innate interest in politics, I joined them and for four years I was able to fight for rights such as free education, freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

It was not easy, given the restrictive aspects of Sri Lanka's public university system, as well as the discrimination that I had to face just because I was a woman.  I made I became the first female vice-president to be elected to a university student union and made history in student politics in Sri Lanka. Yet, women have not been appointed to the positions of president or other key positions in our main organization, the Inter University Students Federation.

I decided to pursue a career in the media due to my unquenchable passion for politics and human rights advocacy.  When I started working, people were protesting against the then Gotabaya Rajapaksa government.  I knew that I should also join a media union due to the bad experiences that journalists in Sri Lanka have had in the past, and went on to join the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) at the invitation of the deputy editor of the newspaper where I worked.  Fortunately, to date I have not experienced any discrimination in my union, whether due to my gender or my age.

Since the beginning of 2022, due to the economic crisis faced by Sri Lanka, the country witnessed a great wave of struggles and I was also a part of the protests, based both on my student political connections and also through trade union activities.  My work days at the newspaper were from Monday to Thursday, and on Thursday night I used to take a change of clothes and go to the struggle site.  I spent time in the camps there until I reported to work again on Monday.  During that time I had to join the protests where I was regularly subjected to tear gas and water cannon attacks. I was always ready for them and kept a small bottle of water and a clean cloth in my sling bag.  Similarly, I always kept a polythene bag to protect my mobile phone in case of water cannon attacks.  Sometimes I ended up running.

On March 9, 2022, a decision was taken by the activists to setting up a struggle campsite at the Galle Face grounds. It was named as "GotaGoGama."  Our union was also one of its forces, and the student movement that I previously represented was also a force.  On May 9, 2022, I witnessed an attack by a group of thugs supporting the Rajapaksa government. The mob also attacked journalists.  I was wearing a journalist jacket but luckily survived the attack. 

Even now, I can clearly remember some significant incidents. The struggle of July 9, 2022, was a turning point.  The student unions had decided to “light” or occupy the road on July 8, and with their force, they lit the road not far from the President's House.  We stayed with them.  The government had announced a curfew at that time, but despite it, the public was providing food and essentials to the protestors.  The sight of people continuously streaming into Colombo the next morning was exhilarating.  Hundreds of thousands began to gather even at a time when public transport had been stopped, and by 11 a.m. all the buildings and institutions were taken over by the people.  There is no doubt that it was the most peaceful struggle in the history of Sri Lanka.

When the current President Ranil Wickremesinghe became the President, activists had to face great repression, and three student leaders were detained for months under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. My graduation ceremony was held while they were detained and a photo of me holding a placard demanding their release along with my graduation certificate went viral on social media. The government was subsequently forced to release them because of a lack of evidence of their purported crime. Journalists were also threatened during this crackdown.  In the early hours of July 23, 2022, a large number of journalists were attacked by the armed forces.  Later, as parties to the struggle, we adopted a strategy of taking a step back and left the area.

The President and the government are still using various tactics to suppress the right to speech and expression, for example, the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill and a new bill to regulate social media. 

As a journalist, I know that the right to express opinions and even the right to life is at risk, not only in Sri Lanka but in many countries.  If our trade unions are unable to dedicate their full energy to tackling these issues, we will continue to suffer the same discrimination. That is one of the learnings as a woman working in the union, overcoming many obstacles in my path.

Even at a very young age, I had the opportunity to be elected as an executive board member of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association, one of the main trade unions in Sri Lanka.  If I had been held back because I was a woman, or had I not been involved in trade union activism, I would not have had the opportunity to devote all my energies to the problems faced by my fellow female journalists or raising concerns about freedom of speech and expression.

This is the time for more young and female journalists to raise their voices to find answers to the problems we are facing as female journalists and the issues facing society in general.  Therefore, I would like to urge regional women and young journalists to raise your voices without delay.

Amandika Cooray is a journalist and an executive member of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association.