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A short video clip that went viral during the "Aragalaya" period in 2022 has started going viral again. In the backdrop of Sri Lanka's presidential election 2024, the video clip implies that the opposition leader and presidential candidate from SJB, Sajith Premadasa, is bowing down to Rathindu Senarathne, a popular YouTuber known as Ratta. It was shared even through WhatsApp, and many users had inquired about the veracity of these claims.
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Fact Check

When we examined this video in 2022, we could see a webcam in it, which means the video was captured by a device while it was playing on a computer with a webcam. We could also see another phone in the background at the end of the video.

The root cause behind this video was a meeting held on July 18, 2022, between Sajith Premadasa and the representatives of the 'Aragalaya' at the opposition leader's office in Colombo. During that meeting, the opposition leader made a special statement that neither he nor his party alliance has ever betrayed the demands of the people of the 'Aragalaya' and that it will not happen in the future.

It appears that Rathindu Senarathne or Ratta, featured in the shared video, also participated in this meeting. However, we had to contact the opposition leader's then-media secretary, Sajith Premadasa, to get the details of the scenes posted on social media.


Media Secretary of the opposition leader, Sajith Premadasa.

Mr Ranjith Kumara, then media secretary of the Sajith Premadasa, stated that several monks also participated in the meeting to meet the activists of the 'Aragalaya', and a series of video footage taken after the meeting had been edited inappropriately to spread a blatant lie against the opposition leader.

We were also given the original video clip at the occasion, which showcased a Buddhist monk beside Ratta and Sajith Premadasa bowing down and worshipping the Buddhist monk.

When examining the video given by the opposition leader's media secretary, we found that the clip was cropped, leaving out the background part where the Buddhist monk was captured while being played on a particular screen and recording only a part to make the video misleading. Below is a comparison of footage taken from the angle of the original video and the misleading recreated video.

Hence, it is clear that Sajith Premadasa is bowing to the Buddhist monk, not Ratta. Below is a photo taken at the meeting, including Ratta and the Buddhist monk. It can also be seen that Ratta's attire (T-shirt and cap hat) is very similar to the video shared on social media.

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Conclusion
Our investigation shows that the video circulating through social media is misleading and that Sajith Premadasa is worshipping the Buddhist Thero, not Ratta. It is obvious that half of the video, where the Buddhist Thero was captured, was cut out.


Sajith PremadasaRattaAragalayaSri Lanka
Claim Review :   Sajith Worshipped to Ratta !!
Claimed By :  Social Media Users
Fact Check :  ALTERED