Following the expose by Colombo Telegraph revealing how the fake Foreign Minister was snubbed during the inauguration of President Ibrahim Solih in the Maldives last week his daughter and media moghul Varuni Fernando (nee Amunugama) has alleged on Facebook that this website was engaging in fabrication about her father’s visit. Varuni Fernando posted the images and her message below on a Facebook Page known as ‘Colombo telegraph readers” which is in no way associated with this website. However Varuni Fernando suddenly became a member of the FB group to post the following message:

Varuni Fernando And Sarath Amunugama

“Colombo Telegraph! Please let this important communication space be used for verified facts not blatant lies the by those who post falsities just simply because they are jobless and want to create pain of mind to others”

Tagging a picture of Fake Foreign Minister Amunugama being greeted by President Solih Varuni Fernando posts – “A picture speaks a thousand words!!!!! Do not blatantly lie. Why would you enjoy Spreading false information???? One can only feel pity for people like you.” On her facebook she has further tagged a picture of Amunugama in conversation with former Maldivian President Nasheed.

Unfortunately for Ms Fernando these desperate efforts and so called ‘picture evidence’ further reinforces the humilation faced by the purported Foreign Minister in the Maldives as exposed by Colombo Telegraph.

The Colombo Telegraph story at no point claimed Dr Amunugama was not given any courtesy. The snub in fact was that former President Chandrika Kumaratunga who holds no official post in the current illegal regime and is well known for her anti-Sirisena-Rajapaksa positions was given pride of place at the inauguration ceremony being seated next to three former Maldivian presidents (Wahid, Nasheed, Gayoom) along with South Asia’s most powerful man, Narendra Modi, PM of India.

The self-proclaimed leader of the Sri Lankan delegation and fake Foreign Minister Sarath Amunugama and along with Faizer Mustapha and MP Namal Rajapaksa were allocated seats no where near the VVIPs at the official inauguration ceremony.

Colombo Telegraph can now additionally report that former President Kumaratunga was granted a one on one bilateral meeting an honour granted to a handful of high level dignitaries who attended the inauguration. These include PM Modi and his delegation, special envoys of the kings of Morocco and Saudi Arabia, special envoys of the PM of Japan and the President of China and the Foreign Minister of Palestine. It is inconceivable that Sri Lanka being the closest neighbour and ally of the Maldives, that the purported head of delegation did not have a one to one bilateral meeting with the new Maldives President.

Which brings us to the pathetic pictures posted by Varuni Fernando – where fake Foreign Minister had to resort to a picture taken at a reception hosted by the President of the Maldives where he greeted over 400 guests coming into the hall, as evidence of purported Minister Amunugama’s meeting with the VVIP. The Maldives President’s media unit which posted a clip of President Solih greeting his guests at the entrance of the reception for 43 minutes which included the purported Sri Lankan head of delegation. However by contrast the Maldivian president’s office gave explicit coverage via photographs and youtube video of the bilateral meeting between former President CBK and the Maldivian top leaders.

The purported Foreign Minister who in desperation resorts to a shaky photograph of a split second greeting by former Maldivian President Nasheed at the above reception sees no snub by the Maldivian side where President Kumaratunga was warmly greeted at the foot of the gangway upon her arrival in Male by Nasheed himself.

The 80 year old Amunugama who sneaked in through the national list of the UPFA in 2015 It is important to note that all his predecessors within days of being appointed were invited to New Delhi while not a single Ambassador has officially called on Amunugama or a single foreign minister congratulated him on the appointment one month into the term of the illegal government that came to power through an illegal power grab on 26 October.

It is also deeply ironic that Varuni Fernando speaks of media responsibility and truth-telling while being the co-owner of the Derana network which is the biggest apologist and propagandist for the Rajapaksa regime and the an active stakeholder in the October 26 coup. Derana has been blatant in it support for the illegal power grab normalising the illegal government and demonising the Speaker of Parliament for daring to stand up to a President drunk on power and continuously violating the constitution.

Following video clip shows Maldives president greeting hundreds of guests attending his reception for 43 minutes. This is the “big” moment of Amunugama’s meeting with President Solih. (To watch the video click here )