Did Minister Dhammika Pledge to Build a Gold-Plated Statue in Memory of Bhathiya?

In the present world, it is common to spread false social media posts using photographs of the current government’s ministers and their statements. This is an investigation we conducted into a statement allegedly made by a government minister regarding the elephant, which recently attracted widespread attention.

Social Media Posts :

A Facebook post was posted with a photo of the Minister of Environment, Dr. Dhammika Patabendi, stating, “A large gold-plated statue is being built to commemorate the elephant Bhatiya- a pledge from Minister of Environment”. The post went on to thank the Minister for his decision.

The format of this social media post is similar to the format of the official ‘Dinamina’ Facebook page, the Facebook handle of a Sinhala daily newspaper, and it appears that Minister of Environment, Dr. Dhammika Patabendi, has made this statement at a press conference held at the Department of Government Information. Furthermore, a reference to “more details” can also be seen at the Facebook post.

Facebook | Archived Link

We investigated to determine the authenticity of this social media post, which had been shared by a significant number of people and had received numerous comments.

Fact Check :

Since the relevant post is based on the structure of Dinamina’s Facebook page, we first checked if such a story had been reported by Dinamina’s Facebook page recently. However, a post similar to the one posted by this Facebook user couldn’t be found on the Dinamina Facebook page.

But we observed several differences between the format of the post circulating on social media and the official format of the Dinamina Facebook page. The “reference to further details” element is not seen in any of the previous Dinamina posts. Furthermore, the official logo of the Dinamina Facebook page consists of a blue bar at the bottom, but it is missing in the image used in viral social media posts.

Further examination of this, we found that the official Dinamina Facebook page has published a post claiming that the relevant news is false and that they did not publish it. It was posted with the following caption (translated to English)

“The following news currently being circulated on social media by a certain group is false, and we would like to inform you that our media organisation has not published such news.”

Facebook | Archived Link

We also noted that the Dinamina clarification was shared by the Minister of Environment, Dr. Dammika Patabendi, as seen here, stating the above was a fabrication.

We contacted the Secretary of Dr. Dammika Patabendi, who also stated that it is an entirely fabricated statement, falsely attributed to the Minister.

With a reverse image search on the image used for the viral post, we found that the image also predates the passing away of Bhathiya Elephants, as it was taken in mid-July, related to a media briefing on the ‘Vanaspathi National Program’ as seen here on the official Facebook page of the Ministry of Environment.

Accordingly, there is no verifiable evidence that the Minister of Environment, Dr. Dammika Patabendi, made a statement regarding the construction of a statue to commemorate the Bhathiya elephant.

The passing away of Bhathiya Elephant

Elephant Bhathiya, who had been ill and receiving treatment for several days, passed away on July 15th, gaining much attention from the public. Wildlife officials, including veterinarians, made great efforts to treat and recover the elephant Bhathiya, who was in critical condition due to gunshot wounds. But those efforts were in vain, and the elephant lay down in a water pit in the Polpithigama area for about a week.

Villagers had first noticed the injured elephant in February at the Nikaweratiya Wildlife Sanctuary. Later, he became weaker, allegedly being shot several times in the area of his ear and leg. Later, after months of suffering from severe gunshot wounds, he passed away. Bhathiya, who was between 30 and 35 years of age, had a symmetrical, well-proportioned body and a pair of tuskers and was an elephant king who captured everyone’s attention. More details here.

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Conclusion :

Accordingly, our investigation reveals that the post circulating a claim that the Minister of Environment, Dr. Dammika Patabendi, had issued a statement declaring to build a gold-plated statue in memory of Elephant Bhathiya is false.

The viral image is a fabricated statement, falsely attributed to the Minister of Environment, using the structure of Dinamina’s Facebook page.