Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel
On October 11, 2026, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told a public meeting in Ibbagamuwa that he expected substantial financial assistance from India for the Anuradhapura sacred area development plan (Newswire). The plan was already a sensitive subject, with some parties claiming it would harm Buddhist heritage. Three days later, a news card carrying the BBC Sinhala logo and a photo of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya began to spread on social media, putting words in her mouth on exactly that question.
We checked BBC Sinhala’s official Facebook page, the response from the Prime Minister’s office, and what she has actually said about Anuradhapura. First, the posts.
Social Media Posts:
The card carried the headline “The Anuradhapura sacred city belongs not only to Buddhists but to all Sri Lankans,” and gave as “our view” that trying to claim the sacred city for Buddhists alone did an injustice to other ethnic groups and religions.
Some of these posts were shared more than a thousand times. They were presented as the position of the Prime Minister or the government and shared with critical captions.
Facebook 1 | Facebook 2 | Facebook 3
Claim under review: That Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya said the Anuradhapura sacred city belongs not only to Buddhists but to all Sri Lankans, and that BBC Sinhala reported it.
Fact Check:
BBC Sinhala Published No Such Report
We searched the posts published on BBC Sinhala’s official Facebook page over the past 30 days, including the text inside images, for the words “Anuradhapura”, “sacred city” and “Harini”. No such post or report exists. No other mainstream outlet has reported the Prime Minister making such a statement either.
The card also contains several Sinhala spelling errors, including “පුජා” for “පූජා”, “උත්සහා” for “උත්සාහ” and “ජාතින්” for “ජාතීන්”, which a BBC newsroom would not have let through.
The Prime Minister’s Office Confirmed She Made No Such Statement
S. Wijitha Basnayake, the Prime Minister’s coordinator, told us the posts attributing a statement on the Anuradhapura sacred city to the Prime Minister were completely false, and that she had made no such statement in any form. He urged people not to share posts of this kind, which could create conflict between communities.
What the Prime Minister Actually Said About Anuradhapura Concerned Its Value as a World Heritage Site
The Prime Minister’s main recorded statement on the Anuradhapura sacred city was her address to the international expert conference at UNESCO headquarters in Paris on April 1, 2025. The government news website reported it under the headline “Anuradhapura is not only Sri Lanka’s but a universal heritage” (here).
At the conference she described Anuradhapura as a city where sacred activity and everyday life are intertwined, and said a balance had to be kept between conservation, sustainable development, and the needs of local residents (The Island). She also noted that heritage, history, and archaeology had in the past been used to divide people (news.lk).
The wording of the fake card, “not only to Buddhists but to all Sri Lankans,” echoes the pattern of that 2025 headline, “not only Sri Lanka’s but a universal heritage.” But the UNESCO address was about the city’s value as a world heritage site. It said nothing about taking the sacred city away from Buddhists.
The Fake Card Spread Amid the Debate Over the Sacred Area Development Plan
The President’s Media Division said in August 2026 that the President had instructed that the Anuradhapura sacred city development plan, with an investment of up to Rs. 6.5 billion and Indian government support, begin this year (Newswire). It was also reported that the sacred area boundary would be expanded from 28 to 38 square kilometers (here).
The draft proposal, with an initial estimate of Rs. 7.7 billion, was handed to the Indian High Commission on September 30 (Newswire). Some parties alleged that the plan would damage Buddhist heritage and that there were preparations to build kovils in the sacred area. The fake card spread in the middle of that debate.
The Department of Archaeology said on October 18 that no permission had been given to build a kovil within the sacred area boundary, and that such talk was baseless (here).
Deputy Minister Gamagedara Dissanayake was reported on October 19 as saying that the sacred area would be developed as a Sri Lankan heritage site without ethnic or religious distinction, and not to promote any religious ideology (here). That remark came five days after the fake card began to spread, and it was not made by the Prime Minister.
Fake News Cards Using Media Logos Keep Circulating
We have reported before on fake cards that use the logos of well-known media outlets to attribute statements to politicians (here). When you come across a card like this, check whether the story appears on the outlet’s official page or website, whether the speaker’s name, the date and the occasion are given, and whether there are spelling errors.
Join us to learn more about our fact-check investigations.
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google News | TikTok
Conclusion:
The posts claiming that Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya said the Anuradhapura sacred city belongs not only to Buddhists but to all Sri Lankans are fake cards that misuse the BBC Sinhala brand. BBC Sinhala published no such report, and the Prime Minister’s coordinator, S. Wijitha Basnayake, confirmed that the cards are fabrications.
The Prime Minister’s only recorded statement on Anuradhapura was her April 2025 UNESCO address, which spoke of the city as a universal heritage. The debate over developing the sacred area is real, but there is no source for attributing this statement to the Prime Minister.
