{"id":19863,"date":"2026-07-24T13:07:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T13:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/?p=19863"},"modified":"2026-07-24T13:11:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T13:11:57","slug":"a-false-post-circulating-claims-deputy-minister-eranga-said-the-dalada-perahera-street-procession-should-be-stopped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/a-false-post-circulating-claims-deputy-minister-eranga-said-the-dalada-perahera-street-procession-should-be-stopped\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0Words Twisted, Truth Restored: Debunking the Dalada Perahera Claim Against Deputy Minister Eranga"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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With the Esala and Dalada Perahera season under way, a claim spread fast across social media: that Deputy Minister of Urban Development Eranga Gunasekara had said the Dalada Perahera\u2019s street procession should be stopped and confined to the Temple of the Tooth alone. Carried on a card bearing a newspaper\u2019s logo, it drew sharp reactions in a religiously sensitive moment. We investigated. Here is what we found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Media Posts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Facebook<\/strong><\/a> | <\/strong>Archived Link<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related posts also circulated further on social media, as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fact-Check:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The viral post carried The Morning newspaper\u2019s official logo, so we first checked whether it had been published on The Morning\u2019s official social media accounts. We found no such post on any of The Morning\u2019s official accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had the deputy minister genuinely made such a statement, other mainstream outlets would certainly have reported it. Our investigation confirmed that no mainstream media outlet has reported Deputy Minister Eranga Gunasekara calling for an end to the Dalada Perahera\u2019s street procession, as the post claimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The photograph of the deputy minister used in the post is, in fact, from footage of him speaking to journalists after an event in Colombo on 27 March 2025, during which he made no statement whatsoever about the Dalada Perahera. In that statement he discussed several matters concerning Sri Lanka\u2019s political situation, economic direction, and government transparency. The full statement is below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n