Nilshan Fonseka

[Nilshan Fonseka @nilshanfk]

@alphonsus_mimi @BGowthaman @ExaminerLK Uncanny

https://t.co/WmzAphvbR0

[Nilshan Fonseka @nilshanfk]

@ExaminerLK Uncanny

https://t.co/WmzAphvbR0

[Chaminda Dias @chami9539]

For a week now, a familiar mob has been shouting that the Trincomalee coastline is temple land already given by Mahinda Rajapaksa, waving around PDFs and photocopies to make their case. They lied and used that lie to manufacture hate.

The actual documents show something entirely different.

In July 2023, Rev. Mihidupura Maithree Kalyanawansa Thero received Permit No. CCCRM/ADC/6578, which authorised only the construction of a temporary 127 sq ft hut, not ownership, not a temple, not a land grant, and certainly not any form of presidential transfer relating to the specific site in question.

The permit conditions are explicit. Construction must follow the approved plan with mo extensions or additions and no blocking the coastline. Crucially, the permit itself states... "This permit will not be considered the ownership of the land."

The Survey Department doc goes even further. The land parcel relevant to this construction is officially recorded as State land, categorised as "Sea Beach."

Its boundaries are entirely coastal.

North – Sea Beach
South – Sea Beach
East – Sea
West – Fort Frederick Road

There is no recorded ownership of this land by any temple. The only mention of the temple anywhere in the survey is in a remark referring to a possible long-term lease for a different 40-perch area... a consideration, not a transfer of title, and entirely unrelated to the coastal buffer zone where the 127 sq ft structure was approved. Nothing in the documents relating to the location of this construction shows any form of presidential grant or ownership transfer to the temple.

What actually happened is straightforward. The monk exceeded the approved 127 sq ft plan. A field inspection confirmed the violation and the Coast Conservation Department cancelled the permit, declared the construction unauthorized, ordered its removal, and warned that failure to comply would result in demolition and the cost being recovered from him under the Coast Conservation Act. A subsequent letter from the Ministry of Environment in 2025 reinforces this position.

And let me say this clearly... The reason I looked into this myself is because I needed clarity in my own mind. When there is no clarity, there is conjecture and that leads to misinformation, disinformation, and manufactured outrage.

Thanks to @shabeer_kamil, who did the legwork on the ground and helped gather these documents, I now understand the issue fully.

Everything the mob shouted was BS. They were neither defending Buddhism nor protecting heritage. All they were doing was justifying an illegal land grab on State coastal land, using religion as a convenient shield.

If you spent the last week attacking minorities, insulting journalists, and howling about "temple land," you owe the country an apology. You incited disharmony on the basis of a lie.

Watch for how this will be weaponized tomorrow at the opposition rally.

#SriLanka
#AccountabilityProjectLK

[Nilshan Fonseka @nilshanfk]

@NewsWireLK Wtf did I just watch! 😐

[luwie niranjan @LuwieNiranjan]

Is it any surprise that,
rather than taking action against LR the Ministry of Justice appointed a committee to "investigate" his torture of Tamil prisoners in the A'pura prison.
That the then Minister of justice then buried the report.. rule of law? https://t.co/XpxqY0ckzD

[Dr. Thusiyan Nandakumar @Thusi_Kumar]

A powerful short film on Chemmani, made in the Tamil homeland.

Please spare a few minutes and watch this. Created by the Pakidiya Kathaippam team.

https://t.co/gvev3vbRI4

[Nilshan Fonseka @nilshanfk]

https://t.co/N4ckctjAEq

[Nilshan Fonseka @nilshanfk]

@AndrewPtkFCDO That’s great Ambassador @AndrewPtkFCDO. Will you also be visiting Chemmani or is that too much of an inconvenience at this point?

[Nilshan Fonseka @nilshanfk]

@PresRajapaksa I’m here for the comments 🙃

[Nilshan Fonseka @nilshanfk]

@NewsWireLK https://t.co/vBz7zp4BBq

@GGPonnambalam #holdmyleaflets

[Kumanan @kumanan93]

Tamil National People’s Front Former MP and #GeneralElection2024 candidate,, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, has been arrested by the Nelliady police.

[Bhavani Fonseka @bfonseka]

A good read/reminder when we vote this Saturday #PresidentialElection2024 #SriLanka

Chased out by protesters, a political dynasty plots its comeback https://t.co/VWzctO5i0c

[Nilshan Fonseka @nilshanfk]

@kulanthisilva @hytyasiru Don’t really engage with SM pundits, but putting this out here since no one else has pointed it out as yet.

SL has had 3 presidential elections since 2005. There are reasons as to why RW didn’t run for them, which I’m sure you know but prefer selective memory.

[Rajit @rajit_h]

“This once in a generation opportunity was destroyed by a single individual”.

I wasn't expecting such a direct and strongly worded editorial in the https://t.co/2CeK01e5vE Admirable journalistic independence given the ownership of the paper.
https://t.co/DuCWx1unJW

[Nilshan Fonseka @nilshanfk]

@ChrisStephen80 Oops 😬

[Nilshan Fonseka @nilshanfk]

@afidelf Aswesuma is a magic bullet! 😁

🤦🏽‍♂️

[Nilshan Fonseka @nilshanfk]

@dinidu @Appu42069 @NavinDissa Yes please 🙏🏽 And also on what wasn’t ‘saarthakai’ about it and who Ananda Coomaraswamy is. Thanks!

[Nilshan Fonseka @nilshanfk]

@Jamz5251 Is this a front page news headline or an op-ed? 🤔

[Amjad Moulana @MoulanaAmjad]

DO NOT CHANGE THE NARRATIVE @alisabrypc. You’re a lawyer skilled at twisting facts but some haven’t forgotten the truth.

There was NOTHING “decent” in those burials in Oddamavadi. Ask those 3500 families if it resembled a “decent” experience.

[Nilshan Fonseka @nilshanfk]

@flysrilankan @ShangriLaHMB Congratulations are in order perhaps? 🤔🎊

[Bhavani Fonseka @bfonseka]

Let us never forget the overwhelming demand by the people for a system change in #SriLanka & those who betrayed the people to protect the corrupt & prevent change.

https://t.co/TRzJyBWI3I