I only went to rehearsal halfway - Sirimavo Nabhashi Perera speaks

Nabhashi Perera, who won the Most Outstanding Sportswoman award at the Colours Night ceremony held on December 19th at Sirimavo Bandaranaike Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo, has commented on the speech given by her fellow student Chanithma Sinali and the problematic situation that arose thereafter.

Her opinion is as follows.

"Finally, I received the school's 'Most Outstanding' student trophy. My name was nominated from there. I went and took the trophy. However, that decision was not made with my involvement. It was decided only by the subject teachers, the Principal, and the Interview Board.

So, whether I am suitable for it or not is decided by the Principal and the Interview Board. Therefore, don't troll me for it, don't bully me. I am not involved in this. I am the 2023 Games Captain.

So, I have submitted my performances to the school. I faced the interview. I went and faced the interview related to 'Most Outstanding'. I faced it along with the other child. There is no animosity between us. We are the best friends. We worked face-to-face with the board. I have no animosity with her, and she has no animosity with me. I respected the decision given by the school. I went and took the trophy, that's all. Beyond that, I gave a speech.

Janithma says that the award she was entitled to was given to someone weaker than her. What I have to say about this is that it was a decision made by the school's Judge Board.
So, whether this was changed because she didn't come for rehearsal... I also went for rehearsal only one day. Only on Friday morning. So, this was a decision made before that. Therefore, the decision was not changed because she didn't come to school in the morning.

It was stated in the message sent by the school that appeals could be submitted. So, as mentioned in that, this is not something I snatched away. I merely bowed my head and accepted what the school gave me.

I did not take it by force.

Therefore, don't bully me. Don't scold me saying I took something I wasn't entitled to. I haven't done anything like that here. I also faced the interview, I faced the interview genuinely. My parents have never come into the school and pressured them saying 'we want this, we want that', they have never appeared.

So, this is something I went and obtained by myself. And while that is the case, a lot of things are being published on social media, saying 'Not Qualified' for what I received, a lot of things are going around. So, what I'm saying is, I accepted the decision of the Judge Board when they decided 'Most Outstanding'. I want to say that I haven't snatched anyone's things here."
Her audio clipclick here