The Hon. Dilith Jayaweera
Raising a point of order, Dilith Jayaweera responded to a direct reference to him, clarifying that a short clip had aired on “Derana” while other channels carried longer broadcasts, including a one-hour programme. He argued that the criticism was not directed personally at him but amounted to an attack on the Kelaniya Temple and Buddhist cultural beliefs, and called for what he described as a cultural assault to be stopped.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Sir, I rise to a point of order. Mr. Chairman, he made a direct reference to me. So, let me clarify it. I have spoken about this before as well. It is true that I had a channel. A clip of two minutes and thirty seconds was broadcast on the “Derana” channel. That is true. Others broadcast for a longer period. I also said, there was a one-hour programme on another channel. All of this was broadcast.
¶ 02 Sir, I say this because you are a good Islamic devotee. These blows are not aimed at me. These blows are aimed not at Dilith Jayaweera or anyone else, but at the Kelaniya Temple, where they believe one can attain Nibbana if one pays homage even once. I propose that this cultural assault be stopped. If you speak of a cobra, then speak of Muchalinda Naga as well—the Naga King who sheltered the Buddha from the rain, and the Buddha’s great work—
Provenance
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- Hansard, Monday, 17 March 2025 ·No. 1745486934006324 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Dilith Jayaweera. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 17 March 2025. No. 1745486934006324. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/12716