The leader of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), a Buddhist monk Galagoda Gnanasara said the Muslim community poses a threat "not only to Sri Lanka, but to India as well", in an interview to Outlook India.

"They [Muslims] are a minority in number but if you look at their economic power and their international network, they are not a minority," said Gnanasara.

"We are aware that the majority of Muslims are innocent, but once they come under the influence of Muslim extremists, they can easily fall into smuggling, illegal weapon handling and even terrorist activities," he added.

Dismissing local and international concerns about Buddhist mob violence against the Muslim community and places of worship, Gnanasara said:

"I don’t think this violence will continue—though we never know. The violence is not a new phenomenon. In 2009, this Muslim group had attacked a mosque and killed two people. However, this group is only present in that particular area and I don’t think there will be any problem elsewhere. Buddhists are very peaceful people and these problems are created only by such Muslims. They set fire to their own mosque and kill their own people who don’t follow their instructions."

"We should not be blamed. We have not thrown a single stone at anybody. But, these groups are spreading a lot of rumours; they are very powe­rful, they own some media houses and they have a lot of contacts."

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