Sri Lanka sentences a leading Buddhist monk has been to prison by a court for spreading religious hatred amongst the masses.
The court ordered Galagodaatte Gnanasara nine months imprisonment over racist remarks made by him in 2016, on Thursday.
The monk’s insult towards Islam and his actions, exacerbated tensions between religious groups within Sri Lanka. These acted as the factors that landed him in jail for the second time.
Gnanasara had previously served prison time for similar offenses against the nation’s Muslim minority. It constitutes more than 10% of its 22 million population.
He was appealing a four-year term imposed for similar charges and was on bail at the time. Despite his controversial conduct, the monk maintained good political connections.
Gnanasara headed a panel on legal reform in 2021 formed by then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to promote religious harmony.
Many criticized the appointment, with opposition lawmaker Shanakiyan Rasamanickam calling it “the definition of irony.”
Gnanasara was a controversial figure in Sri Lanka because of his history of using anti-Muslim language.
The court imprisoned him for a six-year term in 2018 for contempt of court and threatening the wife of a missing cartoonist, Gnanasara. But he was barely nine months in office when Maithripala Sirisena, the president at the time, pardoned him.
His release ignited public outrage-as there was obviously a political message attached to it.
Since, the sudden resignation of his patron Rajapaksa in 2022 after a mass protest, his political fortunes have greatly fallen.
Widespread unrest brought on by the most severe economic crisis Sri Lanka has seen in decades ended in Rajapaksa’s ouster.
Following Rajapaksa’s departure from office, Gnanasara found himself under greater scrutiny and facing legal consequences for his past actions.
The issues that its imprisonment raises in the predominantly divided island of Sri Lanka are those of a solution to religious conflicts.
In his case, it highlights the complex nexus between politics, religion, and justice in this island nation.
