Did SJB MPs protest in support of Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya?

Social media often recirculates political events with misleading contexts. This fact-check addresses one such case.

Social Media Posts :

Photos of members of parliament protesting with stickers which reads into “Stop Violence against women” were published on Facebook with the caption, “We stand for Harini, Stop violence against women”.

Facebook | Archived Link Facebook | Archived Link

The above post was published, indicating that MPs of Samagi Jana Balawegaya are standing up in solidarity for the support of Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya against the recent backlashes. We conducted a fact-check regarding this.

Fact Check :

The opposition, led by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, has proposed a no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister and Minister of Education Dr Harini Amarasuriya. The allegations involve failure to address concerns about the Grade 6 English module under recent education reforms. A debate on the no-confidence motion is scheduled for January 22 and 23.

In this context, the claims about SJB MPs protesting in support of PM Harini are getting shared, but the actual events date back to an earlier protest for a different cause.

The images in the social media post contained the News 1st Digital logo, and we checked the News 1st Digital platform in order to check whether they have posted anything regarding a protest in the Parliament. However, there weren’t any such reports in News 1st or in any other mainstream media outlet.

Moreover, some MPs, such as Buddhika Pathirana and Lakshman Kiriella, visible in the photographs, are not part of the current parliament.

Also, some of the MPs in the relevant photographs are wearing face masks, but recently, there hasn’t an instance where the Parliament members wore face masks.

A protest in the Parliament on December 25, 2021

Since the above facts suggest that the relevant photos are quite old, we checked their origins using a Reverse Image search. Accordingly, it was confirmed that they were taken during a protest in Parliament on November 25, 2021.

On 25^th November, 2021, in conjunction with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, MPs from Samagi Jana Balawegaya protested by wearing orange armbands and stickers reading “Stop Violence Against Women.” The mainstream media reported on the matter as follows. Archived

Below is the Newsfirst Facebook post regarding the event, posted on November 25, 2021. The photos included in the posts match that of the ones being shared recently.

Around that time, a comment made by the former Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna MP Tissa Kuttiarachchi, by then SJB MP Rohini Kaviratne, had also been a cause for these protests staged by SJB MPs. A video at the instance can be referred to here. More media reports regarding this are available here.

Incidentally, even Harini Amarasooriya, then a member of parliament for the National People’s Power, had also arrived at the Parliament in an orange saree on that day back in 2021. She had published a post on November 2021 stating, “Today, the Parliamentary Women’s Forum was dressed in orange to mark the start of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence.”

The hateful and personal attacks directed at Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya.

A group of civil society activists and academics has issued a joint statement condemning the current hateful and personal attacks on Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya. The statement states that these attacks exceed the bounds of civility in a democratic society and expresses deep concern and shock over them.

According to their statement, while they do not have any objection to the fair criticism of such wrongdoing, they emphasise that what is being carried out now is an organised hate campaign that is damaging her privacy and dignity.

Fifty-eight leading professors, lecturers, and civil society activists in the country have signed this statement.

Similarly, a few days ago, Member of Parliament Nilanthi Kottahachchi had also joined a protest, saying that “NPP leaders have become a challenge to the opposition”.

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Conclusion :

Our investigation shows that social media posts circulating suggesting that SJB MPs staged a protest in Parliament, standing up for Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and protesting for violence against women, are false and misleading.

Such a protest has not been held by SJB members in Parliament recently. The pictures show a protest by Samagi Jana Balawegaya members of Parliament wearing orange armbands on November 25, 2021, coinciding with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.