Abductions and assaults as Buddhist monks tussle over MP seat
 |
A Sinhala Buddhist monk has lodged a complaint at the Swiss Embassy in Colombo, claiming that rival extremist monks abducted and assaulted him as the clergy tussle over a seat in Sri Lanka’s parliament.
Monks from the Our Power of Peoples Party (OPPP) are currently engaged in a dispute over the sole National List seat that the party is entitled to in Sri Lanka’s parliament.
Arambepola Ratanasara, a member of the OPPP claimed he was “kidnapped and held illegally” by Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, another monk who is the general secretary of the Sinhala supremacist Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) organisation.
Gnanasara had reportedly been appointed the seat, however, no official declaration has been made as other monks within the party attempted to seize the post.
General Secretary of the OPPP, Vedinigama Wimalatissa claimed that “groups supporting Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, Athureliye Rathana Thero and the Chairman of the OPPP Saman Perera are looking for me”.
“I have been sleeping in a different location every night,” he told a reporter last week. “My vehicle was chased by them in several cars as far as Kalutara one night.”
Meanwhile Randika Athukorala, the OPPP’s candidate at the parliamentary election, began a hunger strike demanding that Gnanasara be given the seat.
“I will continue my hunger fast until Gnanasara Thero enters Parliament,” he declared.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.