Maha Sanga Protests Appointment Of First Transgender Governor
After the appointment of the new Governor, President Maithripala Sirisena tweeted “Congratulations to Niluka Ekanayake, Governor of Central Province. She replaces the eminent spokesperson for women, Surangani Ellawala“.
March 26, 2016
One of Sri Lanka’s main Buddhist institutions, the Asgiriya Chapter, has protested regarding the appointment of the newly appointed Governor of the Central Province on the basis of gender.
President Maithripala Sirisena appointed Niluka Ekanayake to the post of Governor Central Province on the 17th, March 2016.
She is the first transgender person to hold such a high profile post in Sri Lanka’s history.
She was charged on two counts one for impersonation and one for forgery
“Niluka Ekanakayake has no qualifications to justify her appointment to such a lucrative government position. Her only qualification is that she is the secret horoscope reader for President Maithripala Sirisena.”
” I’m not sure whether he is promoting a marginalised person or promoting his secret astrologer. I didn’t ask President about this since it is his choice and he has power to appoint anyone he wants, since this appointment didn’t want the approval of the Constitutional Council” one of the President’s close confidantes told Colombo Telegraph on the condition of anonymity.
History
Although she was born as a man and named Sattambige Don Neil Sriyaratne at birth, she behaved like a girl from her childhood days, Niluka’s father told media some time ago.
According to Colombo Telegraph research, as a transgender person, especially a transgender woman, she has been experiencing widespread prejudice, discrimination and other forms of stigma.
Earlier in 1997 a man named Sattambige Don Neil Sriyaratne pleaded guilty to a Criminal Investigation Department charge for impersonation.
