Courtesy Daily News
Picture by Gayan Pushpika
Colombo Additional Magistrate Tharanga Mahawatta yesterday (06) ordered that social media activist Sepal Amarasinghe, who was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department and produced before the Court on the charge of insulting the Temple of Tooth Relic in a way that hurts the feelings of the Buddhist people to be remanded until January 10.
The Magistrate after issuing the order said that there has been disappointment and sadness among the Buddhists for the statements insulting the Temple of Tooth Relic which is the pinnacle of Buddhists.
The Magistrate warned the suspect that the public are more sensitive about matters such as religion. The CID by presenting the suspect before Court said investigation was conducted based on a complaint made by the Commissioner General of Buddhist Affairs Sunanda Kariyapperuma and Ven.Jinananda Thera of Buddhist centre. The CID stated that it was an incident of antagonizing the Buddhists.
The CID stated before the Court that the suspect had made a statement on social media saying, “There is nothing you can do with that tooth of yours. Officials informed the Court that this statement has caused a great public disturbance.
Statements were obtained from Buddhist Affairs Commissioner General Sunanda Kariyapperuma and the Buddhist Affairs Ministry Secretary Nihal Fernando, and they requested the Police to conduct an investigation as the statement has caused disgust among the Buddhists and confusion among the Buddhist society.
According to the orders given by the Inspector General of Police to the CID, the suspect was arrested and presented to in Court.
The CID informed the Court that due to his statement, a major controversy and uproar has been created on the Internet and that the computer he used has been taken into custody and kept at the forensic laboratory. They said that it will be presented to the Court as evidence in the future case.
The CID told the Court that the Chief Prelates of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters and Diyawadana Nilame Nilanga Dela have informed the Court that they are ready to give statements before the Criminal Investigation Department.
On behalf of the aggrieved Buddhists, Attorney-at-Law Shiran Punchiheva said here that the Buddhists are very disappointed due to this verdict and stated that the division in a political party has surfaced into society.
He strongly said that the suspect should not be forgiven for insulting the Temple of the Tooth which is the pinnacle of the Buddhists.Attorneys Namal Rajapaksa, Manjula Pathiraja, Lalith Pathirana and Nalaka Primayawansa appeared for the suspect and stated that the suspect was spreading popular Buddhism and was making statements about the damage caused to Buddhism in its pristine form.
He stated that the suspect had given facts to the public as the Government has planned to hold a public exhibition of the Sacred Tooth Relic to take the people’s attention about the burning issues of the people and is ready to spread a false ideology that this will solve the problems and bring prosperity to the people.