Gnanasara Thero, who is against the law, and his 2012 highway 'Pure Sinhala' (video)

The propaganda elevating Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero to heroism has now echoed across social media. Even the Mahanayaka Theros, who did not speak about the 63 individuals who came to court without robes, spoke about it because of Gnanasara Thero.

Gnanasara Thero is prominent in national politics. He is not known for Buddhist sermons. However, 14 years ago, in 2012, when most people did not know much about Gnanasara Thero, many came to know who he was due to an incident where he addressed the police in 'pure Sinhala'. Media attention was first drawn to this Thero in June 2012 due to an incident of scolding on the Southern Expressway. At a time when smartphones were not very popular, a video clip related to it was captured by someone and circulated on social media, leading to a huge discussion.

There, the Thero shouted at the police, scolding Muslim people as 'Hambayas' (a derogatory term) and saying, 'You treat Hambayas well,' and so on. 

When entering the Southern Expressway from the Pinnaduwa entrance and exiting at Kottawa, a heated argument occurred with the officers present regarding one non-functioning brake light on the vehicle carrying Gnanasara Thero and Kirulapana Nanda Thero, and issues related to toll payments. The Thero's argument was that they should be allowed to leave, overlooking the offense out of respect for his robes. He further stated, arguing his point, 'You take bribes, you let Muslims go, but we can't.' However, the police later summoned the group that had left, enforced the law, and fined them. 

After this incident, the Thero commented that he had used harsh words (expletives) because he could not tolerate the injustice that occurred. Although reports indicated that Kirulapana Nanda Thero, who was in the vehicle with him, was involved in this incident, it was actually Gnanasara Thero who did the scolding.

Political commentators have stated that this incident in 2012 was the first instance where external forces used him to spread anti-Muslim sentiment that emerged in the country, as monks were used in various socio-political events at that time.

Subsequently, Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero, who became a co-founder of the Bodu Bala Sena organization in 2012 and was appointed its General Secretary, developed his 'nationalistic' image with this incident, before his journey to where he is today. The video of Gnanasara Thero's 'pure Sinhala' scolding is still available online.

Watch the video related to this incident ›