Game of chicken between govt. and protesting monks continues

By Counterpoint Political Desk

Oct.  25, 2026

Buddhist monks' Satyagraha at Viharamahadevi Park in Colombo has been going on for 10 consecutive days with no end in sight. The protesters are demanding an immediate presidential pardon for Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, who is serving a six-year jail term for contempt of court.

For the benefit of the uninitiated, Gnanasara Thero was convicted in 2018 by the Court of Appeal and sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment for contempt of court and intimidating Sandhya Ekneligoda, the wife of missing person named Prageeth Ekneligoda. President Sirisena granted him a presidential pardon on May 23, 2019, allowing him to walk free after serving less than a year. Fundamental rights petitions challenging his pardon were filed in the Supreme Court by Sandhya Ekneligoda and the Centre for Policy Alternatives. Last month, a three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Janak de Silva, ruled that former President Maithripala Sirisena's 2019 pardon for the monk was arbitrary and legally invalid. With the pardon invalidated, Gnanasara Thero was ordered to return to prison to serve the remainder of his six-year sentence. Monks’ protests erupted when Gnanasara Thera was produced in court over some other matter, dressed in civilian attire.

Festering political sore

The police have said they obtained an order from the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court, on Oct. 22, for the eviction of the Buddhist monks and lay persons protesting at Viharamahadevi Park. The Police announced the order, triggering a tense situation. The protesters refused to leave the park, and their Satyagraha is continuing. There are various interpretations of the court order at issue; some lawyers supporting the Satyagraha have claimed that the court order does not empower the police to evict the protesters forcibly from the park.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has made it clear that he will not consider the demand for a presidential pardon for Gnanasara Thera, claiming that he does not want to do anything in contravention of a court. However, protesters claim he has so far pardoned hundreds of prisoners.

The Satyagraha has become a festering political sore for the government, with the potential to trigger a domino effect. What begins as a minor irritant could turn into a political tinderbox, as we have seen in this country and elsewhere.

The government is in a dilemma. It cannot order the police to use force to disperse the protesting monks, given the political consequences of such action. It was the use of force to remove a group of protesters from Galle Face, in 2022, that turned Aragalaya uprising into a political firenado, which wreaked havoc, leaving an SLPP MP dead, the properties of a large number of SLPP politicians and their supporters gutted, and, above all, paving the way for the meteoric rise of the JVP-led NPP to power two years later. The police were accused of having allowed the SLPP goons to set upon the Aragalaya protesters.

Jazzing up Satyagraha, and counter-protests

The organizers of the ongoing Satyagraha seem to have learnt from the Aragalaya activists, who made their protest campaign quite colourful and attractive to the public. The Viharamahadevi Park protesters are also holding various cultural events, including the traditional devil dancing. They have given their protest campaign a dramatic, occult twist with vas kavi (curse poems) and voodoo while Buddhist monks at the main protest site are chanting Pirith.

A rumour spread on Saturday that President Dissanayake had been admitted to hospital, and the anti-government propagandists went into overdrive, claiming that the vas kavi had had the desired impact. But the President’s Office denied the rumour, asking the public not to share such social media posts irresponsibly.

Government supporters have launched a protest campaign against the Satyagraha, urging the President not to give in to the demand for Gnanasara Thera’s release from prison. One of the monks taking part in a pro-government demonstration was heard chanting a seth kavi (blessing poem) in a bid to neutralize the supposedly ill-effects of the vas kavi.

According to unconfirmed reports, the JVP recently arranged for a senior official to consult an Indian astrologer about the viral vas kaviya, titled Yaksha Raja Vajrapani vas kaviya, circulating on social media, among other matters. The astrologer is said to have arrived with a powerful minister and offered the country's leaders some useful advice. This is a mere unverified story, and the government has chosen to ignore it.

The social media war

The NPP government relies heavily on social media to explain its position to the public, and the Opposition responds in a similar manner. News and political commentary now reach people with no editor or gatekeeper in between, and are used either to attack the ruling party or to whitewash its conduct. This practice has left the public confused. The use of AI to generate sophisticated deepfakes has confounded their confusion.

The government is accused of many things. The imprisonment of Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera, and the removal of his robes, are cited as compelling evidence in support of the argument that it wants to turn Sri Lanka into a sinful or secular state. The pro-government social media supporters peddle the argument that the Opposition's mud-slinging machinery springs into action whenever the law is properly enforced.

The government has gone into overdrive to publicize its Buddhist activities, insisting that it treats all religions equally while giving Buddhism its due prominence. President Dissanayake recently announced that the Anuradhapura sacred city would be developed with the support of Indian Prime

Minister Narendra Modi. The Ministry of Buddhasasana has also launched Sasunodaya, a temple development programme aimed at remote villages in the Uva Province.

The Mihintale muddle

MP Dilith Jayaweera recently told Parliament that the government had failed to give due recognition to Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister, who had attended, as chief guest, a ceremony at Mihintale, a focal point of Sri Lanka's Buddhist heritage, to unveil the pinnacle of the great stupa there. He called for a parliamentary debate on the issue.

Replying for the government, Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the visit was a private religious pilgrimage, although all necessary facilities had been provided to her at the Thai Embassy's request. Questioning the need for a debate, he urged the Opposition not to let narrow political considerations damage relations between the two friendly Buddhist nations.

There may be more to the story. Chief incumbent of Mihintale Venerable Walawahengunawewe Dhammarathana Thera is known to be on poor terms with the government. According to information that reached the government in advance, the chief monk had planned to invite the Thai Deputy Prime Minister, Suphajee Suthumpun, along with Opposition figures including former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Namal Rajapaksa and Dilith Jayaweera. The pinnacle, worth tens of millions of rupees, was a gift from the Thai government.

Namal could not attend the pinnacle-unveiling ceremony because he was in remand custody. Some observers suggest the authorities may have viewed the ceremony as an Opposition-backed religious gathering, since other Opposition leaders were present beside the Thai guest. This however remains mere speculation.

President on the economic front

Complaints of unbearable cost of living abound, but the government has not been able to grant any tangible relief to the public. The prices of essentials are increasing, and cooking gas queues have reemerged much to the inconvenience and resentment of the public.

President Dissanayake has been meeting Treasury officials regularly on relief measures for the Budget. He has reportedly asked them to take steps to reduce the prices of schoolbooks and equipment, medicines and electricity by certain percentages. International Monetary Fund restrictions are said to be an obstacle, though reports indicate public sector salaries will be increased further. The Treasury Secretary has also reportedly been told to set aside funds for new teacher appointments and for recruitment to the health sector.

These steps look like an effort to appease the voters and ease public discontent. As the village saying goes, the problems of the rich start in their heads, and those of the poor in their stomachs.

A letter from Mahinda to Namal?

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, now receiving hospital treatment, has sent a letter to his son, MP Namal Rajapaksa, who is in remand custody.  According to media reports, one of Mahinda’s secretaries drafted it on his instructions. This column has not independently verified the content of the letter, and the following English translation is based on what is reported of it.

"Dear Namal,

"You may remember that in 2010, when you told me that you intended to enter politics, you sought my permission. I hope you also remember my advice given to you then. I told you that you could

enter politics if you wished, but must be prepared to go to prison and endure suffering.

"I said so because, shortly after I entered politics, the government of the day imprisoned me on baseless charges. You had not yet been born by that time. My only faith then was in the judiciary. Whatever anyone may say, you too should place your faith only in the judiciary.

"By a strange twist of fate, your mother and I are now hospitalised at the very Nawaloka Hospital where you were born. Your brothers, Yoshitha and Rohitha, visit us and ask after our well-being. Yoshitha has a case against him because he joined the Navy. You may remember that among the thousands of young people we employed during our governments were children of people now associated with the present government.

"Even so, never pursue those people when you have power.

"My view is that children should not be held responsible for what their parents do. Refraining from revenge is the Rajapaksa way. It is our tradition.

"The Rajapaksas will not allow society to brand them as criminals for having liberated this country for the hundreds of thousands who suffered. Although we were defeated at the polls, act on the assumption that the people of this country remember and repay kindness.

"May the Triple Gem bless you!"

It is also reported, again without confirmation, that SLPP MP D. V. Chanaka handed the letter to Namal Rajapaksa when he came to Parliament.