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Fact Check
A viral video shows Tilvin Silva justifying the ongoing doctors’ strike during a press conference.
The video dates back to June 23, 2017, and is unrelated to the ongoing GMOA strike in 2026. It refers to a separate issue involving protests against SAITM, a private medical college.
A video circulating on social media shows Tilvin Silva, general secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), addressing the media in Sinhala regarding a doctors’ strike. The video is being shared with captions praising his stance and suggesting he is supporting the current GMOA strike against the government.
Some of these posts include Sinhala captions such as, “Tilvin’s support for the medical strike against Nalinda’s stupidity and arrogance”, “This is a stupid government”, among others. The posts can be seen here, here, here and here.
The posts, shared in April 2026, frame his remarks as a response to the recent strike launched by the Government Medical Officers’ Association, implying that he is criticising the current administration.
To verify the claim, we conducted keyword searches using combinations such as “GMOA strike”, “Tilvin Silva”, “Sri Lanka”, “2026”, and “JVP”. However, we found no recent credible news reports indicating that Tilvin Silva had made any statement regarding the ongoing GMOA strike.
We then carried out a reverse image search using keyframes from the viral video. This led us to a YouTube video published by Ada Derana on June 24, 2017, titled “Doctors’ strike is justified – Tilvin Silva.”
Further verification showed that the official JVP Sri Lanka Facebook page had also shared the same footage on June 23, 2017. This confirms that the video originates from 2017.
In the original context, Tilvin Silva was expressing support for a strike organised by the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA). The protest at the time was aimed at pressuring the government to shut down the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM), a private medical college in Malabe, over concerns about its educational standards.
This places the video during the presidency of Maithripala Sirisena, nearly eight years before the current events.
The current GMOA strike began on March 31, 2026, as a protest against alleged politicisation and procedural irregularities in the medical transfer process, particularly concerning post-internship appointments.
The situation developed through a series of intermittent strikes in early April. A temporary suspension on April 6 allowed for discussions with the Health Minister, but tensions escalated after a disputed transfer list was released during negotiations.
This led to a 48-hour island-wide strike starting on April 9, which was temporarily called off on April 11, 2026, to minimise public inconvenience during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year period. While hospital services have resumed, the GMOA has taken the matter to court and indicated that further trade union action may follow.
In this context, the 2017 video of Tilvin Silva is being reshared and misleadingly linked to the current strike, creating confusion about his present stance.
A viral video claiming to show Tilvin Silva supporting the current GMOA strike is misleading. The footage is from June 23, 2017, and relates to protests against the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) during the presidency of Maithripala Sirisena. It is unrelated to the ongoing GMOA strike in 2026.
FAQs
Q1. Is Tilvin Silva supporting the current GMOA strike?
No. There is no evidence that he has made any recent public statements supporting the ongoing GMOA strike in 2026.
Q2. When was the video actually recorded?
The video was recorded on June 23, 2017, during protests led by the GMOA against the SAITM private medical college.
Q3. Why is this video being shared now?
Old footage from 2017 is being reshared on social media and misleadingly linked to the current GMOA strike, creating confusion about Tilvin Silva’s current position.
Our sources
YouTube video published by Ada Derana on June 24, 2017.
Facebook post by the official JVP Sri Lanka page published on June 23, 2017.
Misleading
