-By LeN Investigative Team
(Lanka-e-News -02.Jan.2025, 11.40 PM) In the pantheon of Sri Lankan political theater, few figures command as much incredulous fascination as Namal Mudiyanselage Kumara. Hailing from the unassuming village of Mahaoya–Samagipura, Namal has made a career out of turning conspiracy theories into headline news, all while managing to keep himself in the public eye with a mix of audacity, absurdity, and alarming accusations.
From his schooldays at Borapola, where he flunked his O-Level exams, to his alleged involvement in dismantling the Yahapalanaya government, Namal Kumara’s life story reads like the script of a poorly edited political thriller—complete with fake Facebook pages, botched intelligence claims, and a penchant for dramatic press conferences. And now, the man who once claimed to have thwarted an assassination plot is back in the spotlight, detained yet again for accusing former MP Ranjan Ramanayake of insulting Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith.
Namal Kumara's early foray into public life began with a spectacular nonstarter. In 2009, armed with counterfeit educational certificates, he attempted to join the Sri Lankan Air Force. While his forged qualifications might have flown under the radar, Namal himself didn’t; he left the Air Force before passing out, an apt metaphor for a career characterized by aborted ambitions and unfinished narratives.
By 2017, Namal had joined President Maithripala Sirisena’s anti-drug campaign, participating in operations in the Kalutara district. This stint brought him into contact with the State Intelligence Service (SIS) and its then-director Nalaka Silva, setting the stage for the chaos that would follow.
In July 2017, Namal first dipped his toes into activism—or what he later claimed was an SIS-backed operation—by organizing a protest in Kandy against then-Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s suggestion to lower beer prices. The irony of protesting affordable beer in a country riddled with deeper systemic issues was lost on no one but Namal himself. His insistence that the SIS orchestrated the event only added to the farce.
The turning point in Namal Kumara’s career came in September 2018, when he held a sensational press conference alleging a conspiracy to assassinate President Maithripala Sirisena and former Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The accusations were flimsy at best, but they gained traction when ex-Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage amplified them in his own press conference.
The fallout was seismic. On October 6, 2018, President Sirisena dissolved the Yahapalanaya government, citing the alleged assassination plot as part of his reasoning. Namal claimed to have audio recordings as evidence, but these tapes turned out to be as reliable as his O-Level certificate—completely fabricated.
The accusations spiraled further, leading to the arrest of DIG Nalaka Silva, who was accused of planning to murder another police officer, Prasanna Alwis. The entire episode left the country reeling, not least because it highlighted the ease with which misinformation could destabilize an entire government.
Namal’s connections extended beyond the realm of politics and into the world of cinema. His friendship with Tushara Peries, the director of Prabhakaran: The Movie, raised eyebrows when it was revealed that Peries had allegedly funded Namal’s purchase of firearms. Namal, ever the opportunist, claimed these were part of a Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) undercover operation—because, of course, who wouldn’t trust a man with his track record to run covert operations?
Fast forward to the present day, and Namal Kumara has once again landed himself in hot water. This time, his accusations target former MP Ranjan Ramanayake, whom he alleges insulted Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. Namal’s knack for dragging high-profile figures into his personal theatrics is nothing new, but this latest episode has reignited questions about his motives—and his credibility.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, a respected figure in Sri Lanka’s Catholic community, has often been a focal point in the country’s socio-political discourse. Accusations against someone of his stature, especially if unfounded, have the potential to stir unnecessary controversy, which seems to be Namal’s modus operandi.
What drives Namal Kumara? Is it a genuine (if misguided) sense of civic duty, or an unrelenting hunger for attention? His knack for staying in the spotlight suggests the latter. Whether through wild accusations, dubious alliances, or poorly staged protests, Namal has proven himself a master at manipulating the media and leveraging the chaos for his own gain.
But his antics come at a cost. The misinformation and baseless claims he peddles erode public trust in legitimate institutions and processes. They divert attention from real issues, creating a circus where there should be substance.
In the end, Namal Kumara is less a political figure and more a national punchline—a caricature of the opportunism and recklessness that often plague Sri Lankan politics. But his story is also a cautionary tale about the dangers of allowing unverified claims and sensationalist rhetoric to dictate the national agenda.
As Namal faces his latest detention, one can only hope it serves as a wake-up call—not just for him, but for a society that has allowed figures like him to thrive. Sri Lanka deserves better than the chaos he represents.
For now, though, Namal Kumara remains a man of many accusations and few answers, an emblem of a political culture that all too often confuses noise with action.
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by (2025-01-02 23:04:33)
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