Free Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero from Prison and ask for his pardon.

Change of Regime in 2015 was for Sri Lanka  a march backwards from progress and development in  all aspects of life beginning from the elimination of a terrorism that lasted a thirty years of untold suffering  a nation could have faced.  Above all it was a backward  march from its Sinhala Buddhist historical past, its unique identity.

It was a paradox that the transition began by  a Buddhist monk Venerable Sobhitha thero. But once the change was initiated he did not live long enough to see the negative results coming from that change. The change came with a direct attack to Buddhism and  even today four years after the change, it is Buddhism that is still  being directly attacked.

Apart from the serious economic calamity the country faced with the government itself robbing its own Central Bank, the most negatively affected was its  legal system which has completely lost its Sri Lankan identity. Sri Lankan identity is first and foremost in its Sinhala Buddhist Culture and any direct or indirect attack of it changes the whole of what Sri Lanka is,  and if the people were to subscribe to that change we may as well call Sri Lanka hence forward Orumitta Nadu, and say good bye to the 2600 years of our historic past.

It is time at least now that we realise  the Independence from British colonial rule in  February,1948, was not regaining  our ancient values which were there before the country was colonised by  the Portuguese, then the Dutch  and finally the British. Though SWRD Bandaranaike was able to recover the ancient Sinhala national values, it was partial and Sri Lanka was never what it had been before the advent of the  Colonialists.

Seventy years after the end of colonialism, the administration, and the legal system did not change its colonial character. We have inherited a social class mentally imbibed with the colonial culture, which it values over and  above the  ancient Sinhala Buddhit culture we inherited from our forefathers. We were also impeded by Communal conflicts, from bringing  the country and the people to accept the  ancient Buddhist Cultural values including the Sinhala language we had sacrificed when we were forced  to accept foreign  values that came along with different colonial administrations from 1505.

The result is that we are still slavishly and mentally bound to English colonial values , and that is very much seen in our  legal system where the Judges still wear the English Wig and Cloak and the lawyers the black  tie , coat and the black English Cloak.  For our Universities a convocation ceremony for passing out Graduates is incomplete  without  the black cloak and the mortarboard. With these values that still mark the social status and academic achievements ancient Buddhist values have taken a backseat.

It is in this background that we have to see the change that took place on the 19 January,2015 with Ranil Wickramasinghe swearing in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. That change pushed backwards the ancient pre-colonial values that SWRD Bandaranayake had tried to bring back, and Mahinda Rajapakse commenced to revitalise after eliminating 30 years of suffering under terrorism.

But with the change of regime in January,2015, the Colonial values have come back, while  ancient Buddhist values have been cast aboard. In 1956 SWRD initiated a change to get back the lost Sinhala Buddhist values, but he was snatched from the nation too early. Mahinda Rajapakse too helped to go a long way forward, but neither had he the time necessary  to bring changes to the Sri Lanka Legal System.

The white wigged black cloaked Speaker of the Parliament and the Judges sitting in  judgment with laws still fit for Colonial times , pay scant respect to ancient Buddhist Values  of Sri Lanka with which it was nurtured  for thousands of years,

The concept every one is equal  before the law  included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is followed to the letter by the very British white wigged judges in our  law courts. But in Sri Lanka a country marked by its  Sinhala Buddhist beginning there should have been a change in the rule of law at least with  regard to the offence of contempt of Court.

In the application of the law in Sri Lanka an exception should have been made to the Buddhist Clergy in view of the Constitutional protection given to  Buddhism  which  is the religion which  was there before the advent of the believers of Hinduism , Christianism and Islamism.

For the Sinhala Buddhists who venerates the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, the Buddhist Monks are the third Jewel  after the Buddha and Dhamma. There is none equal to them. Therefore to hold them as criminals for a contempt of Court is an insult to the Buddha , Dhamma and Sangha the three jewels the Sinhala Buddhist majority hold sacred.

No layman has the right to accuse a Buddhist Monk for a Common Law Crime. If a Monk Commits a murder, he should first be reported to the Maha Sangha and disrobed by them before taken into Custody.   If a monk “scolds” or  “shouts” at some one in the precincts of a court, he has only spoken harsh words and it cannot be termed a crime, and a Buddhist Monk should not be  remanded or imprisoned , forcing him to disrobe on that account as he cannot be placed in the position of a layman. A Buddhist Monk has all the right  to speak in defence of his country.

In the case of a Buddhist Monk who has committed an offence , the Law should stand out side and allow the Maha Sangha to deal with the  monk. A Buddhist Monk in Sri Lanka should never be taken into custody by the police, or any accusation  made in the absense  of  the representative of the Maha Sangha.

The persons present in a British  Court got up when the Bailiff called out them to do so,  historically because the Judge carried the Bible when entering the Court, - and he was the representative of the King or Queen.  It was also to respect the Court house where the judge holds out the law.   In Sri Lanka a Buddhist Monk is above any lay person, and if he does not stand up when a judge walks in  he is not being disrespectful.

Before the change of Regime in January,2015, there was at least one occasion when a Buddhist Monk Present in Court was held for contempt of Court for not having stood up when the Judge came into the Court. These are matters that should have been settled when Sri Lanka became independent and had to organise customs and ceremonies coming down from colonial days  to suit Sri Lanka’s own cultural background.

There is no necessity for a new Constitution to Sri Lanka now. We can continue with the  1978 Constitution,  but an amendment  should be made to ascertain the protection for the Buddha Dhamma Sangha, and to provide them immunity from Law, and making it a Criminal Charge to do any act that would be an insult to Buddha, such as  defacing or damaging Buddha Statues and harm the person of a Buddhist Monk by way of insults or assaults.

In the meantime Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Maha Thero should be released from imprisonment and  an apology should be tendered   to him on behalf of the Sinhala Buddhists for all the inconveniences caused  to him and for  desecrating the Buddha Dhamma and Sangha  through his imprisonment and forcing him to disrobe during the period of his imprisonment.