A spokesman for the Bodu Bala Sena Organisation (BBS) claimed today that the organisation aims to create a moral society in Sri Lanka.
Programme Coordinator, Dilantha Withanage, blamed ‘groups with ulterior motives' for misrepresenting their campaign as a fight against Muslims.
The Coordinator claimed that the BBS was ready to accept that Sri Lanka was a multi-religious and multi-racial country, and outlined the organisation's intention of allowing other communities to hold their festivals in Buddhist temples, provided they were willing to reciprocate. Casting doubt over other communities willingness to collaborate, Withanga also told the Sri Lankan Sunday Times,
“I will let them play on my field if they let me play on theirs, but what is the assurance that they will?”
Earlier this week the BBS Secretary, Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera, denied all allegations of the organisation's involvement in violence against other communities, stating,
“If we are using violence, why won’t security forces arrest us?”
His claims come amidst a recent report that outlined the failure of state institutions to stop extremist nationalism.
Gnanasara also spoke about the organisation's aim to combat drug trafficking, drawing attention to the fact that nine out of the 11 leading narcotics importers that were destroying the country were also Muslim.