The General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), a Sinhala extremist group in Sri Lanka, has vowed to settle in Mullaitivu at the site of a controversial Buddhist vihara, located in a Tamil majority district in the North-East.
Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara told a press conference that regardless of the result of next month’s presidential elections, he could not be prevented from settling in the region, which has been a focal point for Sinhala Buddhist colonisation.
The Buddhist monk, who has served prison time for previous offences and has come under fire for his numbers hate speeches, went on to launch an attack against the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) during the press conference last week.
Claiming that the TNA was speaking about a “separate country” on the North, he said that he would never submit to their “separatist” demands.
“The law which is being enforced upon us is not being enforced on the separatists,” he claimed, adding that Sinhala Buddhists were “losing their places”.
“We will never allow them to enforce the law as per their will,” he concluded.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.