{"id":205925,"date":"2019-10-30T02:06:53","date_gmt":"2019-10-29T20:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=205925"},"modified":"2019-11-04T00:24:40","modified_gmt":"2019-11-03T18:54:40","slug":"an-attempt-to-turn-me-into-a-dr-shafi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-attempt-to-turn-me-into-a-dr-shafi\/","title":{"rendered":"An Attempt To Turn Me Into A Dr. Shafi !"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dayan Jayatilleka<\/a> –<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka<\/p><\/div>\n

I was shocked to see on the 6:55pm Hiru News on Tuesday Oct 29th<\/sup> 2019 (yesterday) a media briefing by a few MPs described as Catholic MPs of the SLPP, in which one of them, notably Arundika Fernando, accused me of conspiring with Minister Mangala Samaraweera and someone named Thusitha Halloluwe to engage in false propaganda which implicates Presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa<\/span><\/strong><\/a> in the Easter Sunday terror bombings<\/span><\/strong><\/a>. Not a shred of proof is presented for this accusation. The accusation itself is totally false in every single aspect. I am not engaged in any effort with anyone to implicate any Presidential candidate in the Easter Sunday massacres. Like most others, especially Catholics, I eagerly await the appointment of a High-powered Independent Commission to investigate all aspects of that atrocity and the backgrounds and motivations of all those who may be involved, be they individuals or agencies, domestic and\/or foreign. I have not had any contacts or communication with Minister Samaraweera for at least 15 years. As for the other gentleman named, I am afraid I don\u2019t know who he is.<\/p>\n

I was also shocked to see a video (named Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, Anuradhapura) of a speech by Dr. Channa Jayasumana, the gentlemen who went on television triggering the Islamophobic panic concerning Dr Shafi<\/span><\/strong><\/a>, repeating the same accusation about me concerning a plot to accuse Gotabaya Rajapaksa of the Easter attacks. Apart from the anti-Shafi campaign regarding \u2018fallopian tubes\u2019, Dr. Jayasumana is also known for his ultranationalist propaganda performances in Geneva.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was also horrified to see a video of Dr Wickremabhu Karunaratne of the opposing political camp, alleging that as a key \u201cpundit\u201d and \u201cadvisor\u201d of the Rajapaksa camp \u201cfor ten years\u201d, it was significant that Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka had now expressed suspicions about Gotabaya Rajapaksa\u2019s supposed complicity in the Easter attacks. Manusha Nanayakkara of the same camp has repeated this on \u2018Vaada Pitiya\u2019. This too is the same dastardly disinformation.<\/p>\n

The sole sliver of a fact behind all this is that having watched the revelations regarding the Islamophobic campaign and elections made on TV by former Army Commander Mahes Senanayake, and seen in passing a post on my Facebook wall on the chain of events involving the Easter massacre, the Islamophic campaign on television and the issue of the candidacy, I had shared it on my FB without any comment, let alone endorsement or approval. I share many posts which appear on my FB wall but if I agree with the sentiments, I say so. In this case I did not\u2014and desisted from any comment whatsoever. If for instance I share a post with a quote from the movie \u2018Joker\u2019 or a \u2018Game of Thrones\u2019 character, it does not mean the quote is attributable to me, or that I share or approve of the sentiments. However, that re-post which bore the source of the original post, was then turned into a prominent fake news story on LankaCNews which falsely attributed to me the view that Gotabaya Rajapaksa was responsible for the Easter attacks! I immediately posted a rebuttal in red, which said \u2018Fake News Alert\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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