Gnanasara Thera Is NOT Critically ill: Misleading Claims Go Viral, Alongside a 2018 Photo of Thero!

දිනපතා සත්‍ය කරුණු දැන ගැනීමට අපගේ WhatsApp සමුහයටමෙතනින් එකතුවන්න.

A recent concerning trend in Sri Lanka has witnessed several prominent Buddhist monks increasingly becoming victims of misinformation and disinformation campaigns.

Social Media Posts

A social media post claimed that two famous Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka, Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera and Ampitiye Sumanarathana Thera, are critically ill, with their health conditions deteriorating. The post includes images of the monks lying in sick beds.

Facebook | Archived

Users commented on it like below.

We decided to do a fact-check on this.

Fact Check

Ampitiye Sumanarathana Thera:

The image posted on social media was traced back to the post published by the admin of Ampitiye Sumanarathana Thera's official Facebook account a few days ago. According to their account, Sumanarathana Thera is indeed critically ill due to an accident.

Therefore, this part of the social media post is accurate, and Sumanarathana Thera is facing health issues.

Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera:

However, mainstream media reports did not confirm any severe illness of Gnanasara Thera, and a representative from Bodu Bala Sena confirmed that Thero is in good health.

Further evidence indicates that Gnanasara Thera attended a religious sermon yesterday, 25^th January, on Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day at Palliyagodella Viharaya, broadcast live on Facebook as seen below.

The reverse image search showed that the image of Gnanasara Thera in a hospital bed is from 2018.

Lankadeepa

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Conclusion

In conclusion, the social media post is partly false. While Ampitiye Rathana Thera is indeed facing health issues due to a recent accident, Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera is not facing any serious health issues, as claimed in the post. Verifying information before sharing it is essential to prevent the spread of misinformation.