Sri Lankan Church denies monk’s claim on Islamic terror network
The statement could cause public unrest and have an adverse impact on the Colombo archdiocese, says its spokesperson
Updated: July 25, 2024 01:42 PM GMT
The Colombo archdiocese in Sri Lanka has refuted a Buddhist monk’s claim that he had warned Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of an Islamic terror network in 2014.
“The statement made by Venerable Gnanasara Thera to the media is false and dismissed,” said archdiocesan spokesperson Father Cyril Gamini.
Such baseless claims could exacerbate racial and religious extremism, leading to unnecessary tension and insecurity in the country, the priest told a press conference in the capital Colombo on July 24.
On July 22, Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera, general secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force), told the media that he had warned Cardinal Ranjith, against Zahran Hashim and the activities of his Islamic group in the eastern part of the island nation, at the 2014 meeting.
His group possesses swords and they could attack Catholics, the monk claimed to have told the prelate at the meeting.
Hashim is the alleged mastermind behind the 2019 Easter Sunday attack.
Father Gamini confirmed that there was a meeting with the Buddhist monk, but clarified that he did not warn of Hashim’s activities and potential attacks on Catholics.
The monk did not share any “specific information about swords,” the priest added.
Father Gamini said that the monk’s statement could cause public unrest and would have an adverse impact on the Colombo archdiocese headed by Cardinal Ranjith.
Post-Easter Sunday bombings, Buddhist extremist groups targeted Muslim-owned establishments in the country, escalating tensions between the two communities.
In 2018, nationalist groups caused anti-Muslim riots that damaged nearly 450 properties and 20 mosques. Since 2014, Muslims, who make up 9.7 percent of Sri Lanka’s 22 million population, have soured ties with Buddhists who account for 70.2 percent. Christians form 6.1 percent of the population.
Rights activist Nuwani Samadara said there were many attacks against Muslim religious places and businesses in the past few years but no one has been punished.
Activist Niluk Rowel said Thera was sentenced to a six-year prison term for contempt of court in 2020 after shouting at a judge for holding him guilty of accosting the wife of missing journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda.
“However, he was accorded a presidential pardon within a few months,” noted Rowel.
Thera was also sentenced to four years for inciting communal disharmony in 2016. However, he was granted bail by the Colombo High Court.
Sri Lanka will head to polls this year — the first election since a mass uprising dislodged former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022.
The import-orient South Asian nation was declared bankrupt last year with a burden of US$35.1 billion in foreign debt.
We urge all citizens, including Thera, to recognize the hardship faced by our people. Economic pressures and living conditions have reached unbearable levels, Father Gamini said.
“It is better to be vigilant because the elections will be announced soon,” Rowel told UCA News.
Rajapaksa, brother of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, announced his presidential candidacy days after the Easter Sunday attack and won the 2020 national polls.
But his government also failed to conduct an impartial probe and ensure justice for the biggest terror attack in the country that claimed the lives of 270 people and rendered more than 500 hurt.
“As elections are coming up, we have a question whether there are political objectives behind issuing such statement? Father Gameni asked.
“It seems people are trying to create religious and communal conflict to gain votes,” Samadara told UCA News.
