On August 8, 2018, controversial Bodhu Bala Sena General Secretary Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara was sentenced to 19 years of rigorous imprisonment by the Appeals Court on four Contempt of Court charges based on his conduct during a court hearing regarding the case of missing journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda.
The sentences were to run concurrently to be completed in six years. Nevertheless, after much agitation by his supporters on May 23, the Thera was released from prison after being granted a Presidential pardon.
But just four months later the firebrand monk, who has been the face of fear-mongering and hate speech against minority communities, is now once again embroiled in a similar controversy and is being accused of demeaning the country’s legal system. Calls are now mounting asking for his immediate arrest.
The controversy erupted when, on September 24, Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera appeared to take the lead at the final rites of Ven. Kolamba Medhalankarakkhitha Thera, the Chief Incumbent of the Mullaitivu Gurukanda Vihara.
Gnanasara Thera and his supporters, arriving in Mullaitivu from Colombo, gave instructions and made the necessary preparations to ensure the final rites of the Chief Incumbent was held within the temple premises while defying the court order issued against it by the Mullaitivu Magistrate on the same day.
The dispute over the final rites of the Ven. Kolamba Medhalankarakkhitha Thera stems from a land dispute between the Nayaaru Mullaitivu Gurukanda Vihara and the Neeraviyaddi Pillaiyar Kovil located in the temple premises itself. Both, while claiming to have a historical presence and claim to the land, have been embroiled in a legal battle before the Mullaitivu Magistrates Court for a number of years.
Issuing Gazette No. 1823/13 in 2013, the Department of Archaeology had granted 93 acres to the Vihara. The Neeraviyaddi Pillaiyar Kovil is located within these 93 acres.
While the Vihara claims it has a history dating back to B.E. 244, the Hindu Kovil also claims a similar historical background and claim over the land.
According to sources, during the three decades of war, only the Kovil structure had remained while Hindu devotees in the area had continued to worship there.
The Vihara had been constructed later with Ven. Kolamba Medhalankarakkhitha Thera becoming its Chief Incumbent. According to Archaeological experts, despite Buddhist temples and Hindu kovils coexisting since the Polonnaruwa period, in the post-war era, land squabbles in the North and East between Buddhist and Hindu clergy have become commonplace.
While this particular land dispute continues before the courts, the Kovil management went before the Mullaitivu Magistrates early last week to prevent the cremation of the Chief Incumbent from taking place within the vihara grounds which the kovil is located on as holding final rites on the land would desecrate the kovil precincts.
Issuing an order on September 23, Mullaitivu Magistrate Lenin Kumar instructed the groups to come to an amicable settlement and that the cremation should not take place on the disputed land but instead can be held on the shore opposite the temple and the kovil instead.
However, following the order, groups of Bhikkus and Buddhist devotees led by Gnanasara Thera arrived at the temple. They proceeded to prepare for the final rites of the Thera within the temple grounds. As crowds gathered, a tense situation arose between the two parties and the Police were called in to prevent any further escalation of the issue. A lawyer who had arrived to point out that the Bhikkus were violating a court order was told by one furious Bhikku: “Yes, we know there is a court order, but, don’t you know that Buddhism has been given foremost priority in the constitution. Therefore, we have the right to hold the final rights of this Bhikku anywhere we want as this is a Buddhist land”.
Following the incident, the actions of Gnanasara Thera have now earned the ire of the legal fraternity in the North and East who are accusing him of once again holding the courts in contempt through his brazen actions. As a result, for several days this week, lawyers from the North and East voiced their dissent while staying away from Courts in protest. Posting on the social media platform Twitter, North based lawyer, K. Guruparan noted that the defiance by Buddhist monks of the order made by the Mullaitivu Magistrate is a reminder that, in Sri Lanka, the Buddhist monk is far superior to courts and the rule of law. He also commented that the impact of Article 9 in political constitutionalist terms on the ground in the North and East is far greater than what the article suggests.
“The invocations of Article 9 by one of the monks who acted in contempt of the Mullaitivu Magistrate order reinforces this,” he added.
Speaking to the media, a counsel representing the Bar Association of Mullaitivu said they will continue with their struggle until justice is achieved. “The law must be put into action in a fair and correct manner,” he said, adding that the behaviour of a prominent monk on September 23 has insulted the legal system of the country. According to him, the Bar Association has requested the Attorney General to take necessary steps while they will also lodge a complaint with the Human Rights Commission and the National Police Commission in this regard. “The Justice Minister must also take steps to protect the honour of the court,” he noted.
The protesting lawyers stressed that the law must apply equally to all. “It does not matter even if it is a Buddhist Bhikku,” they said, claiming they will take stern action if they do not receive a favourable response this week.
Meanwhile, the Governor of the Northern Province Dr. Suren Raghavan says no religious clergy can go above the law of the country. According to Raghavan, politicians from both the North and East are attempting to stir communal issues ahead of the upcoming Presidential election and are sending in groups to instil fear in the people of the North. “These elements are now residing and carrying out their activities from the North,” he alleged.
However, despite the calls to take action against the errant monks including Gnanasara Thera, the Police and the Attorney General’s Department are yet to take any steps in this regard.
According to Former MP Suresh Premachandran, it is evident that Gnanasara Thera brought in the other Bhikkus and the group of people. “He is behind all this and the Police must take severe action,” he said. But according to Premachandran, the Police continues to act as if it only serves the interests of the Sinhalese. “They don’t listen to the Tamil people in the area, they must be impartial,” he said.
“Our people will not do anything against Buddhism,” Tamil National Alliance MP Shanthi Sriskantharajah said. However, according to her, people are deeply worried about what took place recently.
“They believe in one nation and one country. But they too have their rights” she noted.
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Incident demonstrates racial discrimination, marginalisation of minorities: Hindu Congress
The All Ceylon Hindu Congress has vehemently and categorically condemned the recent degrading act of cremating the remains of a bhikku within the premises of the Holy Semmalai Neeraviyadi Pillayar Kovil in Mullaitivu, violating a Court Order not to carry out the said cremation within the compound of the said temple.
Issuing a statement, the Federation of Hindu Organisations in Sri Lanka said that this was despite the Court having identified a specific neighbouring area which was considered the most suitable place to carry out the said cremation. It is also noted that there were crematoriums in the vicinity of the area.
“Hindus consider it a sacrilege to cremate the remains of the deceased in the vicinity and within the places of worship and other places that they deem sacred,” the ACHC said. The statement added that the Congress was also shocked, disturbed and dismayed that a lawyer who requested a group of bhikkus and their followers who were gathered there, not to conduct the said cremation in violation of the Court Order within the compound of the temple, was attacked and assaulted by Buddhist monks and their followers in the presence of the Police.
“It is deeply regrettable that the Police have failed in their duty in upholding peace and harmony and protecting the citizens of this country by assisting those violating the Court Order instead of implementing and upholding the said Court Order.
The Police have also failed to take action for the said violation and have let down the people whom they are bound to serve and protect,” the statement noted.
The ACHC said the incident clearly demonstrated the racial discrimination, marginalisation and harassment faced by the minorities in particular the Hindus and Tamils since the independence.
“It is unfortunate that the same mistakes are repeated again and again and minority places of worship are being attacked with the assistance of the security forces in an attempt to insult, humiliate and hurt the Hindus and Tamils of the country,” the statement added.