A JVP member and NPP Pradeshiya Sabha councillor from the Vadamaradchi South West Pradeshiya Sabha in Karaveddy has ignited a religious and political controversy in Jaffna after posting an AI-generated image depicting President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) holding a vel, the sacred spear associated with Lord Murugan (Kartikeya, Kataragama deviyo)
The councillor, Santhirakumar Kanesaruban, shared the image on social media with the Tamil caption, “AKD முருகனுக்கு நிகரானவர்” (“AKD is equal to Lord Murugan”). Shortly afterward, another NPP activist in Jaffna, Nakenthirarasa Nishanthan, echoed the sentiment with a similar post using identical wording, a trend that was subsequently picked up by several sudden NPP sympathisers in Jaffna. suggesting that political devotion, like the image itself, was rapidly auto-generated — powered less by faith than by fresh political opportunism.
Public Backlash and Religious Sensitivities
The posts drew swift condemnation from many in Jaffna's Tamil community, who viewed the comparison as religiously inappropriate and culturally insensitive. Critics across social media platforms expressed outrage at what they described as a tone-deaf attempt at political glorification that crossed religious boundaries.
The controversy has also highlighted apparent double standards in how religious sensitivities are handled in Sri Lanka. Several social media users pointed to past incidents where individuals faced arrest or deportation over alleged disrespect to Buddhist religious symbols.
Social media users recalled past incidents in which foreigners were arrested for alleged religious offences, including the detention of British tourist Naomi Coleman for having a Buddha tattoo and the 2019 detention of a Russian woman for posing with a Buddha statue.
“Back then, even tattoos could land visitors in jail,” a political observer told Jaffna Monitor. “Now, political opportunism has gone so far as to compare a president with Lord Murugan.”
Another commentator went further, noting that even former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and his supporters, who often likened him to King Dutugemunu, stopped short of portraying him as a god. “These sudden NPP fans in Jaffna,” he said wryly, “seem determined to take political flattery to a divine level by turning AKD into a deity.”
Post Deleted, Screenshots Remain
Sensing the growing backlash, Kanesaruban deleted his Facebook post. But by then, screenshots had already gone viral.
Echoes of the LTTE-Era Personality Cult
The incident has evoked uncomfortable historical parallels for some in the Tamil community. A former LTTE cadre, who has since been rehabilitated and now lives in Sri Lanka, told Jaffna Monitor that the episode reminded him of the personality cult that surrounded LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
He recalled how competition among second-tier LTTE leaders to display loyalty to Prabhakaran led to increasingly extravagant forms of glorification, including a song with the lyric:
“எங்கள் தலைவன் பிரபாகரன் அந்த முருகனுக்கே அவன் நிகரானவன்”
(“Our leader Prabhakaran is equal even to Lord Murugan.”)
“Back then, Prabhakaran was regarded as invincible, much like AKD is by some today,” he said. “But history shows how that ended. Excessive flattery and personality cults help no one.”
