Crowd of Muslims assault a Sinhalese ... When such a thing takes place, only its contours are taken into account -- Galagoda aththe Gnanasara thero

Crowd of Muslims assault a Sinhalese ...

When such a thing takes place, only its contours are taken into account -- Galagoda aththe Gnanasara thero

Galagoda aththe Gnanasara thero of Bodu Bala Sena has released a newspaper statement in connection with the conflictory situation which had flared up in Kandy. It is seen below.

"We are these days spending a period where sad incidents are taking place and is also very complicated. Day in and day out several instances of aggression based on various phenomena is to be

seen within the country. We do not approve of incidents which took place in Kandy district. We ought express our regret to those who suffered from those incidents ... and at  the same time to all people who were gripped by shock irrespective of whether they are Sinhala or Muslim ... without any discrimination. It's because we can't arrive at a decision by being aggressive or through a fighting attitude.

Exactly on the 22nd of last month a person called Kumarasingha was subjected to a most unfortunate fate in the lorry which he was driving. This person called Kumarasingha was aged 42 years old. He servedas a driver. His mother was a paralysed patient. A leg of his father was amputated because of diabetes. Kumarasingha has 2 children while his youngest child was a mental patient. When the situation was such, this Kumarasingha was still able to become a lovable character among people in that area. He's attached to the temple. He helps the Muslim people also and helps the Sinhalese people too. He was someone who earned his bread and butter by his job as a driver. He had been driving the lorry on the road when a three-wheeler which came from behind had been beeping its horn continuously ... urging him to take the vehicle forward. We know that it's difficult for a lorry to take it forward as such. In the same way, lorry drivers would give way only if he's safe. Unfortunately, because this three-wheeler was not given room, it began pursuing the lorry. The lorry then stops at Singha filling station. Just as the lorry stopped, all 4 youth who came in the three-wheeler behind grabbed the chair of the watcher of that filling station and had started hammering the head of that lorry-driver until the chair broke, saying "Why didn't you let us overtake?"  ... even battering him with bottles. 9 days after that he had unfortunately passed away in hospital. These kinds of incidents may occur in many a community. People fight, kill each other, scold each other. Even the Buddha has preached about this. "Kuddo aththan najanathi, kuddo dhamman passathi". After people lose their temper, if they aren't able to appease the temper ... they don't see any meaning, dharma in it. People kill each other ... that's why they kill each other when drinking together.

Now the incident that has happened here is of a different kind. A batch of young Muslims have attacked Sinhalese. When a thing like that happens ... only the shape of it is looked at. That's how it's trained within the framework of this unscientific politics. It's not looked at as a Muslim being ... a human being and a Sinhala person as a human being. It has fallen into a state where it's looked in the perspective of 'how this fellow Muslim or this fellow Sinhalese is making hay out of this ... how can we gain a political advantage of this?'

We first of all accuse the Prime Minister and the Police of this country to be responsible entirely for these incidents that have happened and are to happen. The reason is that the Muslim youth who attacked Mr. Kumarasingha have been taken into custody. But, we notice that everywhere in the network the media being reprimanded. There's no point in the media being found fault with. Either the police media spokesman should release an announcement to broadcast this. If the police media spokesman released a statement that an incident like this has happened ... that an incident like this has taken place in Teldeniya ... a person has been assaulted and admitted to hospital ... and has died after some days and that the group of persons who attacked him have been arrested and remanded ... there wouldn't have been agitation.

I also attended the funeral house in the evening. The thero in that temple spoke and said, "Gnanasara thero ... this problem we have settled in an amicable manner, police have enforced the law and those who attacked have been taken into custody; now what has become our responsibility is not to scold or hit and set houses on fire. It's an act of foolishness. I of course use my efforts.

The mother is a paralytic patient. The father's leg has been amputated and is suffering from diabetes. They have a son who is a mental patient. There's a daughter who is studying in the 8th year. When this man is no more ... how can this woman who became a widow look after the home? How can they face the future? These people will shout and go away after two or three days".

What we said was, "Yes, it's true ... that's what should happen. Now what happened has happened. We should take care that things like this would not be repeated. We'll discuss about it. Nobody needs get into confusion. Everytime confusion takes place, this country falls. it's to our disadvantage. We've got much experience. Because though politicians talk many things on the surface, they think ...  what if these issues didn't take place in the country".

 Whatever it is, not exposing these things to the country is a terrible blunder made by the police. If the public was told that a certain person has died; the police have implemented the law ... then there wouldn't be issues of this nature. But this didn't reach the public; it wasn't given to any media. The problem now is that riots have emerged in the country founded on this incident. Shops have been attacked. People have been assaulted. This isn't something that should have been done. Therefore we plead that all parties who become frisky, play about and display their energy, to put a stop. The reason is that this country is on a very dangerous footing. On the other hand it's wondering how to carry on with this government. Discussions only. The country is stuck in one place ... like something is stuck in the throat ... can't take it up or down. There's no one to take decisions ... just straying along. Under such a situation we can't understand these powers ... we'll also give our support ... this is heaven ... be calm. Just because a building is set on fire, this won't stop. For those things money will come streaming in. So we are despondent. Have discussions on this. Appoint a commission. Let's solve this issue through discussion. Let's make this tragedy a resource and prevent a repetition of this.

Video when Gnanasara thero appeared on the night of the 4th when shops were set on fire for the first time in Teldeniya