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Sunday, October 25 2026
Sunday, October 25 2026
MONETABRIEF — The leader of Buddhist monks campaigning for a pardon for their convicted colleague, Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara, held a secret meeting at a Colombo hotel to hammer out strategy, according to security footage leaked on social media.
Ven. Balangoda Kassapa, the newest firebrand priest, was seen covering himself from head to toe with a saffron robe as he entered The Kingsbury hotel over the weekend, with social-media users saying he was wearing a “saffron burqa”.
The leaked footage showed the monk, along with two other clergymen who did not attempt to conceal their identities, entering a hotel room. A short while later, former minister Sarath Weerasekara entered it.
The footage also shows Weerasekara, a strong supporter of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), a Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist organisation, leaving the room after meeting the monks leading the campaign to secure the release of BBS leader Ven. Gnanasara.
While several social media users defended the right of the monks to go to any hotel for meetings and even relax while holding a protest at the Vihara Maha Devi park in Colombo, others said the leaked footage exposed those behind the protester.
Some said the monk had gone to the hotel to see a doctor because he had high fever.
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks recommended that the BBS be banned, along with the Muslim extremist group identified as Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath (SLTJ).
Both extremist groups had been created and funded by military intelligence between 2011 and 2012, according to testimony before the PCoI.
The latest protests led by Ven. Kassapa began with a call to allow Ven. Gnanasara to wear his saffron robe, which prison authorities had removed when taking him to attend another court hearing.
Ven. Gnanasara, who had been imprisoned twice before, was disrobed and asked to wear a prison while serving his previous sentences.
The demand over the monk’s robe has now turned into a call for a full pardon and release. Ven. Kassapa has repeatedly said he will not end his protest until his mentor is released.
The Government, meanwhile, accuses the opposition of using Ven. Gnanasara’s robe to drum up support and undermine the administration.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has publicly accused the opposition of launching a racist campaign against his Government and trying to drive a wedge between ethnic and religious communities. (Colombo/Oct25/2026)
| 3 month bill | 9.26% | 1bp ▲ |
| 12-m bill | 9.95% | 2bp - |
| Gold (Ounce) | $4187 | - ▼ |
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