{"id":220890,"date":"2021-07-17T05:02:29","date_gmt":"2021-07-16T23:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=220890"},"modified":"2021-07-17T05:02:29","modified_gmt":"2021-07-16T23:32:29","slug":"malsha-slams-varuni-amunugama-women-with-body-confidence-are-not-mentally-ill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/malsha-slams-varuni-amunugama-women-with-body-confidence-are-not-mentally-ill\/","title":{"rendered":"Malsha Slams Varuni Amunugama: \u201cWomen With Body Confidence Are Not Mentally Ill\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>SLFP politician Malsha Kumaranatunga slammed <em>Derana<\/em> Media Tycoon <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Varuni+Amunugama\">Varuni Amunugama<\/a><\/span> on Thursday, after a newspaper owned by Amunugama\u2019s media house slandered female cartoonist and artiste <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=shanika+somatilake\">Shanika Somatilake.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you are speaking about women\u2019s empowerment and have set up a newspaper to promote it &#8211; a good way to start is not to shame and label women for just having an opinion. Women with opinions don\u2019t have psychological disorders. Women with body confidence are not mentally ill,\u201d the SLFP woman politician said in a post uploaded on Facebook and Twitter.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_220905\" style=\"width: 728px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Malsha-Kumaranatunga.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-220905\" class=\"size-full wp-image-220905\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Malsha-Kumaranatunga.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"718\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Malsha-Kumaranatunga.jpeg 718w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Malsha-Kumaranatunga-300x181.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 718px) 100vw, 718px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-220905\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image Source: MalshaKumaranatunge\/Facebook<\/p><\/div>\n<p>On Wednesday 14<sup>th<\/sup> July, the <em>Dharanee<\/em> newspaper, a tabloid women\u2019s weekly owned and promoted by Amunugama published unauthorised pictures of Somatilake clad in swimwear in an article that claimed those who post \u201chalf naked\u201d pictures on social media were mentally ill. The same issue published an article claiming that those who criticized \u201cpublic figures\u201d were attention seekers suffering from personality disorders.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?height=476&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FShanika.Somatilake%2Fvideos%2F871977436760571%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=357&amp;t=0\" width=\"357\" height=\"476\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/varuni-amunugama-unmasked-media-tycoon-launches-campaign-of-slander-against-parody-maker\/\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">The attack from Amunugama\u2019s media house<\/span><\/a> came after Somatilake published a series of videos on Twitter parodying remarks made by the media mogul in <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NHiaIWrNtL4\">a controversial interview with host Alanki<\/a><\/span> that was widely condemned on the internet.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"und\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BePositive?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BePositive<\/a> \ud83d\udc81\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fouJjalmAH\">pic.twitter.com\/fouJjalmAH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; \ud83c\udf31Shanika (@Nikshazz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Nikshazz\/status\/1409324297223426053?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 28, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Kumaranatunge noted that business leaders, especially those running media organisations with the ability to influence millions, are and should be open to the same level of accountability and scrutiny as any other public figure. \u201cMoney, wealth and connections shouldn\u2019t make anyone of us immune from the consequences of what we say and do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>She said there were ways to address bullying if people were feeling aggrieved. \u201cBut using unauthorised images and labelling women with opinions or body confidence as having psychological disorders is not the way to redress a grievance. This is also bullying &#8211; on a much larger and more dangerous scale,\u201d Kumaranatunge charged.<\/p>\n<p><em><span class=\"d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m\" dir=\"auto\"><strong>&#8220;Business leaders, especially those running media organisations with the ability to influence millions, are and should be open to the same level of accountability and scrutiny as any other public figure. Money, wealth and connections shouldn\u2019t make anyone of us immune from the consequences of what we say and do&#8221;<\/strong> <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The SLFP politician expressed solidarity with Shanika Somatilake, saying she had also been subject to bullying and sexual harassment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI understand the hurt and pain it causes. I also understand that anyone can be a victim of sexual harassment &#8211; even the most powerful and &#8216;magical&#8217; woman,\u201d Malsha\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n<p>Alluding to Amunugama, she urged public figures to grow a thicker skin about criticism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a public figure I have come to accept that I will be criticised and even ridiculed for what I do and say. As public figures, I believe that we should be open to a higher level of scrutiny than the general public. That comes with the job unfortunately. After all, our words and actions have a wider impact,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Malsha-FB.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-220893\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Malsha-FB.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"574\" height=\"719\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Malsha-FB.jpg 574w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Malsha-FB-239x300.jpg 239w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 574px) 100vw, 574px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":220905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-220890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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