ECONOMYNEXT –Popular Sri Lankan YouTuber Sepal Amarasinghe, who is in the eye of a storm over a remark he had made about the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha, has been arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).A police statement said on Friday January 06 that Amarasinghe was arrested in Colombo Thursday night.
The statement said that it has been “observed” that the suspect had committed an offence by insulting the tooth relic and by acting in a manner derogatory to Buddhism.Police said he was taken into custody in order to carry out further investigations, which will be conducted by the CID.
The statement was not more forthcoming.Sri Lanka’s parliamentarians across the aisle condemned Amarasinghe’s statement, with many MPs demanding legal action against him.An activist and popular YouTuber, Amarasinghe is known for being a freethinker and non-believer.
Amarasinghe’s YouTube channel has nearly 80,000 subscribers and the outspoken man, instantly recognisable from his voluminous grey beard, is well known on social media for his unorthodox views that challenge what he claims are parochial traditions and customs. He is also known for his biting, unfiltered political commentary and his tendency to take on religious extremists of all faiths.
A recent video of his appears to have drawn the ire of Sri Lankan government and opposition legislators alike, who accused Amarasinghe of using derogatory and inflammatory language to describe the tooth relic, an object venerated by millions of voters.
Island.lk
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