Decision to Ban Vesak Celebrations in the Northern Province? Find out the truth…

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Posts claiming that the Northern Province Governor had decided to ban dansalas and other Vesak decorations during this year’s Vesak season circulated widely on social media. However, Fact Crescendo’s investigation found these claims to be entirely baseless.

Social Media Posts (Social Media Posts) :

The post implying a ban on dansalas and decorations in the Northern province was shared as a purported newspaper article, as seen below.

Facebook | Archived Link

These posts also circulated widely on Facebook in the following form.

Following several reader requests to verify this claim, we conducted the following investigation.

Fact-Check:

If the Northern Province Governor had issued a notice banning dansalas or decorations during this year’s Vesak season, mainstream media would have reported it. However, our investigation confirmed that no mainstream media outlet carried any such report.

Furthermore, although the viral image resembled a newspaper article, the typography, font style, and colour used in the purported article and headlines are not consistent with those found in Sri Lankan newspapers. This suggests a high likelihood that it was digitally generated using artificial intelligence (AI).

When we submitted the image to an AI detection tool, the tool further confirmed that the image had a high probability of having been generated using artificial intelligence.

The Northern Province Governor

In response, the Northern Province Governor N. Vedanayagam issued a media statement declaring that the viral image is false and baseless.

His statement states that the governor’s secretariat has not made such a decision and that there has been no discussion regarding such a matter. The statement further noted that certain parties were deliberately fabricating and spreading such false news with the malicious intent of destroying the long-standing national and religious harmony among communities in Sri Lanka and sowing confusion among the public. The Northern Province governor adds that a formal complaint had already been lodged with the Criminal Investigation Department regarding this matter.

The Governor further requested everyone to reject such baseless false news, avoid being misled by false propaganda, and live while upholding national and religious harmony and peace. The statement, issued in Sinhala, English and Tamil, can be found here.

Jaffna Police

We also contacted the Jaffna Police, who confirmed that the Northern Province Governor had not requested to refrain from holding dansalas or carrying out Vesak decorations. They further noted that the Jaffna Police itself was organising an ice cream dansala this year.

Local Journalists in Jaffna

Local journalists noted that the majority of people in Jaffna are Tamil, so they typically do not hold large-scale dansalas during the Vesak season. However, the Jaffna Security Forces Headquarters, the Navy, and the Police jointly organise Vesak zones and dansalas, and locals join these celebrations.

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Conclusion (Conclusion) :

Our investigation confirms that the social media posts claiming the Northern Province Governor decided to ban dansalas and other Vesak decorations in the Northern Province are false. Through an official statement, the Governor himself confirmed that no such notice had been issued.

Furthermore, the post, which was designed to appear as a newspaper article, was generated using artificial intelligence, and no such article appeared in any official Sri Lankan newspaper.