We categorically deny all allegations on the recent attacks -BBS spokesperson

„Sinhala Buddhists were under threat from the beginning „We are branded as a ‘militant’ organization „The episode fabricated by certain politicians for political gain

Speaking to the , BBS spokesperson Dilantha Withanage said that the global Sinhala Buddhist community has become a minority. “Sinhala Buddhists have had threats right from the beginning. This is because they only represent close to 15 million of the global population, while there are approximately 1,600 million Muslims live globally. Various global forces such as economy, media and politics have a major impact on this break down. Back in the day there was an International Christian agenda.

This was at the time of the Dutch when they burnt down temples and other places which belonged to the Buddhist faith. Several Evangelical groups too were on the rise but this ‘trend’ has now died down and is not as bad as in the yesteryears. There were instances when people gave up their religion for money.”

In his further remarks, Withanage said that in the case of most religions, there’s a global community. “Take for example the case of Tamils. They too have a Global Tamil Agenda. One of their main concerns is that they don’t have a country of their own. They wanted to settle down in India but this didn’t work out as expected. So they are trying to find their ground in Sri Lanka. Likewise there is a ‘Global Islamic Agenda’ and this is funded by wealthy nations such as Saudi Arabia.

During Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunga’s regime she requested to set up a Presidential Commission on Buddha Sasana and she wouldn’t have wanted to set up such a committee if not for any underlying issue. People think that Buddhism is our state religion but that is not the case either. The report was published when Ranil Wickremesinghe was the Prime Minister. These groups allegedly went on destroying Buddhist archaeological sites and created a crisis situation and this may have been one reason to setup this Commission.” The media have a huge role to play in giving us the appropriate backing. But it was not up to our expectations, says Dilantha, referring to several reports which were published in various print media. “We have been described as a ‘militant’ organization, and I don’t think that is the correct adjective to describe us.” Dilantha further challenged the relevant groups to present evidence and prove that it was the BBS supporters who were involved in the recent turnout of events burning down shops owned by Muslims and destroying their property. “If I refer to the attack on the mosque, they obviously have CCTV cameras there. But what I heard was that these cameras too didn’t work when collecting evidence. So there is something wrong in the process. Hence, we categorically deny all the allegations on the recent attacks.”

The BBS was known to have been supported by certain groups in Norway but when asked about this, the BBS spokesman again denied it. “This was a story fabricated by Asad Salih and Wimal Weerawansa. When Weerawansa told this at the beginning, Ven. Gnanasara asked him to prove it. But they failed.

These allegations do not have any solid base and they are mere rumours. There were also speculations that we had a link with Gotabhaya Rajapakse. That was a political stunt by the UNP. If I refer to a lone incident, we invited Gotabhaya to one of our events in Galle along with the then Mayor M.J.M. Muzammil. The media published photos of Ven. Gnanasara and Gotabhaya and not Muzammil. So what are we to do?”

That was a political stunt by the UNP. If I refer to a lone incident, we invited Gotabhaya to one of our events in Galle along with the then Mayor M.J.M. Muzammil. The media published photos of Ven. Gnanasara and Gotabhaya and not Muzammil. So what are we to do?