In an exclusive interview, Dailymirror spoke to the Secretary General of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) Ven. Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara Thera on the Aluthgama incident and on the allegations levelled against his organizations

Although the Aluthgama incident is now a thing of the past do you think the speech you made on June 15 in Aluthgama led to the violence which erupted afterwards?

One of the most serious allegations they have levelled against us is that we instigated the people. I dismiss and reject the allegation.

Language is a relative thing. We should not look at the language, we should look at the point we are trying to make not how it is being said. The Sinhalese Language is a language which could be used in anyway. The motive was to attack poison with poison like anti-venom treatment.

Before we talk about how I spoke we should look at what happened in Aluthgama. On Poson Poya Day, which was Thursday, Venerable Samitha Thera was attacked by a group of extremists.

A few days before the incident the remains of a cow were found in front of his temple and he did not retaliate but  lodged a complaint with the police. But we have questions about the state of these investigations.

On the day of the attack on the monk, the tensed Buddhists were advised and dispersed. Around 2000-3000 people gathered to protest but we managed to disperse them peacefully.

We decided to hold a press conference on Friday but nothing was reported about it. So we decided to hold a rally on Sunday.

Our objective was to advise the people to be calm in solving these issues without being violent. Now if you listen to my speech, during most of the time you can hear people clapping and whistling in response to the remarks I made on the police, area politicians and other issues we are facing.

From the speech we were able to calm down the people who gathered and we were there for 40 minutes. While they were returning home after the rally was peacefully dismissed they were passing a mosque at which time they came under attack. When a monk was injured the people became tensed and then the news spread to the adjoining areas.

If they were instigated by my speech, then within seconds they should have started attacking.

If you listen to the language of Anagarika Dharmapala, it was that which enabled to wake up the people. This was the same with people like Sir John Kotalawela.
What we are we are doing is performing a national responsibility, a national cause to wake up the people. In our teachings there is no extremism.

But you have been criticized as an extremist organization?

That is the most surprising thing. We are transparent and people are aware of our views.

But are these Muslim extremist organizations transparent like us? For instance the All Ceylon Jamaiyyatul Ulama and the National Shoora Council, are they transparent?

Who has given power to establish Shoora Councils in Sri Lanka? But they go and say BBS is a terrorist organization. In Middle Eastern countries these Shoora Councils are the highest national councils in the land.

Only the president can appoint such national councils. People like Alavi Mowlana have even spoken against such extremism. There were incidents in Dodamgaslanda, Galle that were due to extremism.

Right now even in India they are attacking each other because of extremism, so is it the BBS which is responsible for that too.
Because of the immense religious freedom in Sri Lanka there is room for such extremist groups to establish themselves within the country in a short space of time.
Most of the teachings that these extremists follow needs to be questioned. Therefore the educated individuals of their community should rethink whether such teachings are applicable at this time.

We do not harm anyone but it should be questioned whether it is the same view taken by such extremist organizations. This is a historical injustice and that is why we are fighting to correct it.

Palitha Thewarapperuma’s allegation is that it was your followers that committed the crimes on that day?

There is an allegation that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is behind us and the President is behind us and even Norway is behind us.
If these allegations are proven true we are ready to disband our organization by tomorrow. When we look at these allegations we can easily see the politics which is going behind it.

Now these allegations leveled by Therwarapperuma are simply baseless. We did not even see him on that day. So if he is saying that he was assaulted, he can go and complain it to the police. I tell you with responsibility that the BBS consisted only of monks on that day. Before that we organized 40 such rallies even in Mawanella and Kurunegala.

For every rally that we held there were more than 15,000 people. We never assaulted anyone at any of those rallies.

But the allegation is that you brought in people from outside who were armed with clubs and poles?

That is why we are stepping up to take legal action against the individuals who are making these baseless allegations that are being brought against us. There should be an end to such baseless allegations.

So you’re saying that BBS is going to take legal action against Palitha Thewarapperuma?

Definitely. Without knowing anything about the incident, he is putting the blame on the entire Sangha community.

We do not like to take up personal matters of these people because we do not want to go down to their level.

But when a Buddhist MP goes and says to the international community that it was us who attacked the people, we have to take action. People who were tensed at that time may have attacked others but because of that the blame should not be on us.

So we can see that these individuals are engaged in low class politics which we roundly condemn.

The Police acted blindly when everything was happening that day? Do you agree with that?

The police needs to be rehabilitated and reorganized which is something that everyone would agree with.

I tell you with responsibility that a majority of the policemen in Aluthgama and Beruwala were under the influence of the Muslim community living in these areas in order to make sure that they can smoothly engage in the businesses they are involved in.

Therefore, it is natural if the police acted blindly. People do not have any trust in the police.

There is an allegation that you are being backed by foreign elements who want to destabilize the country, there are also questions about your trip to Norway?

It is very wrong and a baseless allegation. There is this belief that a monk should only be a liberator but not a social activist.
So when we become social activists we become the butt of a lot of allegations.

Even during Buddhas time there were attempts to curtail this. That is why the Buddha has also said that there is no individual in this world who is not being subjected to insults and humiliation.

Now if you listen to my speech, during most of the time you can hear people clapping and whistling in response to the remarks I made on the police, area politicians and other issues we are facing

The victims are the ones who attempt to rehabilitate our society. So when we engage in social activities these allegations are levelled against us. I would like to tell you clearly that our intention is not to put the country in a difficult position or topple the government or even to bring someone from the opposition into power.
We do not have a political party agenda we have a national agenda.

This is a straight question so I need a straight answer. Do you get foreign aid?

No. I do not get aid from NGO’s, embassies or any other foreign country. We receive funds from Sinhala Buddhists around the world.

What did you tell the CID?

They asked me about the speech I made and asked me, like you did, whether it instigated the incident.
So from word to word I explained.But I also told them not to curtail the activities of Buddhist organizations only but also to question these so called extremist groups about their activities.In 1915 when there was an issue between the Buddhist and the Muslim communities it was our colonial rulers who were able to benefit from it. Finally they took revenge and punished everyone who was involved.

Don’t you think that the people do not have a good opinion about the BBS after the incident?

We do not accept that. Incidents happen everyday.  Unfortunately the people have lost the right to know the truth. So no one knows what exactly happened that day but the finger was pointed at the speech I made.

Now after the incident your leader resigned and senior monks have advised you as well. What did they tell you?

Our leader has not resigned. He was also under lot of stress as he was told many versions about what happened in Aluthgama and Beruwala.
His mind was completely confused at the beginning but now he is very much aware of what happened on that day. What came first were the lies and the truth came later.
Yes, senior monks advised me to control the language and words that I use. But I told them not to look at the words I used but at the meaning and focus on the point I am trying to make. We told the Muslim leaders to stop because we have stopped. The day after the incident we held a meeting at the Kalutara Kachcheri which was chaired by Prime Minister D.M Jayaratne and attended by Minister Basil Rajapaksa. The goal of the meeting was to have reconciliation among the religions and the communities. But immediately after the incident the Muslim leaders organized harthals around the country as well as in London and Paris.
Some extremists want to enter the political arena and they have very powerful links. Irony is that without looking at the issue they are trying to turn it into something else completely.
Muslim leaders should solve these issues otherwise this country will become another Sudan. Some call us terrorists. You have to define that. Do we act like terrorists?

One could say that you’re engaged in politics. Is it true?

Yes we are doing politics but it is not party politics, what we are engaged in is called national politics. We are doing a service to protect the ‘Shasanaya’.

But aren’t you putting the foundation to contest future elections?

Yes, people have the right to think like that. We are not trying to engage in party politics. Who are these people in the parliament? How many politicians have criminal records? Within this national framework we believe that we can change the present political culture. There will be a significant change in politics in the future at the national level and that is why we always say that these elements are attempting to do everything possible to hinder our efforts.