MONETABRIEF – Hundreds of Buddhist monks, backed by lay supporters, blocked Sri Lanka's Presidential Secretariat in Colombo demanding assurances that jailed monk Galagodaatte Gnanasara would be pardoned.
Gnanasara’s supporters began their march from the central city of Kandy on October 10 and reached Colombo by Thursday afternoon.
Despite heavy rain, saffron-robed monks led by former MPs Udaya Gammanpila and Wimal Weerawansa continued the protest.
Police stopped the monks at barricades outside President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s seafront office. Presidential Secretary Nandika Kumanayake came out to meet them, but some protesters used unprintable language towards the senior official.
The protesters are demanding a pardon for Gnanasara, who was convicted of contempt of court and is serving the remainder of a six-year prison term after the Supreme Court annulled an earlier presidential pardon.
The President’s aides told the monks that a response could take about a month, but the protesters said that was too long.
The President was not in his office; his aides said he was away from Colombo on an official visit. (Colombo/Oct 15/2026)