Memes

February 9, 2025 – February 22, 2025

This week’s memes

(The memes published by MPA are presented as objects of analysis and documentation. Their inclusion does not imply endorsement of the views or positions expressed within them, but serves to examine how such narratives circulate in the public sphere.)

Meme 1:

When Kassapa is jailed, “Anura’s judiciary”
When the verdict on the Amarakeerthi case was given, “The independent judiciary”
Bayi logic (SLPP supporters)

Context: Kassapa refers to Ven. Balangoda Kassapa Thera, who was one of the Buddhist monks jailed in connection with installing a Buddha statue in Trincomalee.

Meme 2:

Top: The ones who were engaging in a peaceful aragalaya (struggle). (Newsline: Those convicted of murdering Amarakeerthi Athukorala being taken to prison).

Bottom: The baiyas (SLPP supporters) who gathered at Temple Trees (on May 9, 2022)

Meme 3:

Top: The ones who were engaging in a peaceful aragalaya (struggle). (Newsline: Those convicted of murdering Amarakeerthi Athukorala being taken to prison).

Bottom: The baiyas (SLPP supporters) who gathered at Temple Trees (on May 9, 2022)

Meme 4:

Context: On February 10, a teenager in Alaipiddy, Jaffna, was fatally shot by Sri Lanka Police after he reportedly failed to comply with orders at a checkpoint. This meme asserts that in the North and East, the rules of engagement used by the police involve guns, rather than pursuit and capture.