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Namal Rajapaksa, the SLPP’s national organizer and a Member of Parliament, was arrested on Friday, 4 September 2026, and his detention immediately set social media alight with speculation about what would happen next. Within a day, posts began suggesting that powerful Tamil political leaders were quietly lining up behind the Rajapaksa family.
One claimed that M.A. Sumanthiran and R. Shanakiyan had rushed to meet former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to negotiate his detained son’s bail. Another claimed that Mano Ganesan had called on all Tamil people to raise their voice for Namal. The suggestion that Tamil nationalist leaders were rallying to the Rajapaksas was politically charged, and it spread quickly. Fact Crescendo examined both claims. Here are the posts that carried them.
Social Media Posts
Claim 1: Sumanthiran and Shanakiyan met Mahinda
This post, shared among Tamil-language social media users on 5 September 2026, claimed that M.A. Sumanthiran and R. Shanakiyan of the Tamil National Alliance had suddenly met former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to discuss bail for Namal Rajapaksa, who had been arrested and remanded. It read: “Sumanthiran and Shanakiyan of the Tamil National Alliance hurriedly met Mahinda. They consulted together to secure bail for Namal Rajapaksa, who is currently in detention.”
Fact-Check
No mainstream media reported any such meeting
If Tamil National Alliance figures M.A. Sumanthiran and R. Shanakiyan had met former President Mahinda Rajapaksa the day after Namal Rajapaksa’s arrest, it would have been major political news. Our search of mainstream outlets found no report of any such meeting. We also checked the Facebook pages of MP Shanakiyan and M.A. Sumanthiran, general secretary of the Tamil Arasu Party (ITAK) and a President’s Counsel, for any mention of meeting the former President, and found nothing.
Regional journalists confirmed no meeting took place
To check whether the meeting had happened, Fact Crescendo contacted journalists in Jaffna, Batticaloa and Colombo. They confirmed that had any such meeting between the TNA MPs and the former President actually taken place, they would have received information about it, and that they had received nothing.
Shanakiyan and Sumanthiran denied meeting the former President
Contacted directly, MP R. Shanakiyan said the claim circulating on social media was completely false. He said he had remained in Batticaloa from the day Namal Rajapaksa was arrested right up to the time of our inquiry and had not travelled to meet anyone. He also pointed out that there was no reason for him, for Sumanthiran, or for the Tamil Arasu Party to discuss Namal Rajapaksa’s arrest or his bail. Shanakiyan added that Sumanthiran was tied up with court work during this period, which made him harder to reach, but confirmed that Sumanthiran had likewise not met former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s spokesperson also denied any meeting
Attorney Manoj Gamage, media spokesperson for former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, told Fact Crescendo that no such meeting had taken place when asked whether Shanakiyan and Sumanthiran had met the former President after Namal Rajapaksa’s arrest.
The photograph is from a February 2024 condolence visit
The image shared with the post was not recent. We traced it to February 2024, when Mahinda Rajapaksa visited M.A. Sumanthiran’s home in Dehiwala to offer his condolences after the death of Sumanthiran’s mother. News reports about that visit can be seen here and here.
NewsWire tweet, 28 February 2024: view on X
Claim 2: Mano Ganesan asked Tamils to raise their voice for Namal
Another post circulating on social media claimed that Tamil Progressive Alliance leader and MP Mano Ganesan had declared that Namal Rajapaksa was imprisoned because of a conspiracy by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government, and that all Tamil people should raise their voice for him.
Fact-Check
Mano Ganesan made no such statement
If Mano Ganesan had actually said anything of the kind after Namal Rajapaksa’s arrest, it would have been reported by mainstream media. Our investigation found no such report.
We also observed that MP Mano Ganesan had posted a note on his Facebook page stating that false news was being spread about him.
When we contacted MP Mano Ganesan to confirm the information spreading on social media, he said the posts were entirely false, and that a fake Facebook page operated using a UK phone number was creating and spreading such fabricated news. He added that the same page had published fake news about several other MPs, not only him.
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Conclusion
Fact Crescendo’s investigation confirms that both claims spreading on social media around Namal Rajapaksa’s arrest, suggesting that Tamil political leaders had aligned with the Rajapaksa family, are false. There is no evidence that M.A. Sumanthiran and R. Shanakiyan met former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to arrange bail for the arrested MP Namal Rajapaksa. MP R. Shanakiyan called the claim completely false and confirmed that Sumanthiran had not met the former President either. Attorney Manoj Gamage, spokesperson for Mahinda Rajapaksa, also denied the meeting claim. The photograph attached to the post was from a February 2024 condolence visit, not a recent bail negotiation. On the second claim, Mano Ganesan confirmed that he made no such statement and that the post came from a fake propaganda page.
Title: Fake Posts Claim the Rajapaksa Family Is Getting Tamil Political Support After Namal’s Arrest
Fact Check By: Fact crescendo Team
Result: False
