The satyagraha at Viharamahadevi Park in Colombo demanding the release of the imprisoned Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera has been temporarily suspended, ten days after it began, following word that the Mahanayake Theros of the Three Nikayas are intervening with the government on the monks’ behalf.
Ven. Ulapane Sumangala Thera announced the suspension to reporters on Sunday afternoon, flanked by the monks who had been taking part. He said the decision followed information that the senior prelates were stepping in to secure Gnanasara Thera’s release, the Daily Mirror reported. Hiru News reported the same announcement in near-identical terms.
The protest had run at the park since 16 October, placing Sunday at its tenth day. Gnanasara Thera is general secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena.
What the prelates actually said
A separate statement issued the same day by the Mahanayake Theros, also reported by the Daily Mirror, is more pointed than the suspension announcement suggests.
The prelates confirmed they had already intervened and opened discussions with the government to resolve the matter “through legal means and dialogue”. But they also called on monks of all Nikayas to uphold monastic discipline and harmony and to settle disputes in accordance with the Dhamma and Vinaya — and warned that certain groups were exploiting the ongoing protests in ways that could damage the dignity and reputation of the Buddhist clergy both in Sri Lanka and abroad.
The statement was signed by four prelates:
| Prelate | Office |
|---|---|
| Most Ven. Tibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera | Mahanayake, Malwathu Chapter, Siam Nikaya |
| Most Ven. Warakagoda Sri Pannananda Dhammasiddhi Thera | Mahanayake, Asgiri Chapter, Siam Nikaya |
| Most Ven. Karagoda Uyangoda Maithree Moorthi Thera | Supreme Mahanayake, Sri Lanka Amarapura Nikaya |
| Most Ven. Makulawewa Sri Wimala Thera | Mahanayake, Sri Lanka Ramanna Nikaya |
Four signatures for three Nikayas is not a discrepancy: the Siam Nikaya is represented by both its Malwathu and Asgiri chapters.
The full text, and the condition the prelates attach to it
Hiru News published the letter in full at 9.09 p.m. on Sunday, where the Daily Mirror had summarised it. The wording is more conditional than the summary conveys.
The prelates open by describing monks as spiritual guides who hold the people’s highest reverence — and then make that standing contingent. That unique respect and acceptance, they write, endures only for as long as the restrained monastic conduct proper to the bhikkhu and the Vinaya of the Buddha are protected. The sentence is addressed to the entire Maha Sangha, not only to the monks at the park, and it frames the protest as a matter of the clergy’s own discipline rather than of the government’s conduct.
On the intervention itself, the letter is explicit that it has already happened: “we, as the Mahanayake Theros of the Three Nikayas, have made the necessary intervention with the government” to resolve the question concerning Gnanasara Thera “by lawful means and through discussion”.
The closing passage is the one that gives the letter its force. The prelates ground their appeal in a canonical formula — appasannānaṃ vā pasādāya, pasannānaṃ vā bhiyyobhāvāya, the Buddha’s instruction that monks should act “for the faith of those who have no faith, and for the increase of those who have it” — and ask all Nikayas to conduct themselves so that public confidence grows rather than erodes.
Read against that standard, the warning about “certain groups” exploiting the protests is not only a complaint about outsiders. It is paired with an instruction to the Sangha itself not to give them the opening.
How the protest got here
The satyagraha has been among the most persistent political stories of the month. Police arrested participants at the park on 21 October, a court ordered the protesters to disperse the following day, and a further motion by the monks was rejected on 23 October. On Saturday, council officials and monks confronted each other over display boards at the site. An earlier satyagraha in Kandy, in October, had made the same demand.
The Asgiri Chapter had already been drawn in: Gnanasara Thera’s position on a presidential pardon was raised with the chapter on 21 October.
One difference between the two filings
The Daily Mirror’s two reports describe the protesters’ demand differently. The suspension report calls it a campaign demanding Gnanasara Thera’s release; the Mahanayake advisory describes protests demanding a presidential pardon for him. These are not the same remedy — a pardon is an executive act, while release could follow from either a pardon or a court decision — and the distinction matters given that the prelates say they are pursuing “legal means and dialogue”.
Update: NewsFirst’s account adds a notice, a second monk and the magistrate
NewsFirst filed on the suspension at 8.38 p.m. on Sunday, and its account changes the picture in one material respect.
The monks did not simply act on news of the intervention — they were asked to stand down. Ven. Balangoda Kassapa Thera, speaking to reporters, said the decision followed a notice informing the protesters that the Mahanayake Theros would intervene and communicate with the government over Gnanasara Thera’s release, and that the same notice had requested the protesters to temporarily suspend the campaign. The Daily Mirror and Hiru both present the suspension as a response to word of the intervention; only NewsFirst reports that a request to suspend accompanied it.
Ven. Kassapa framed the outcome as a transfer of responsibility: “This means that the Mahanayake Theros are taking responsibility for this. That brings us a sense of relief. This also means that we can now return to our temples and resume our religious activities.” He said the protesters would abide by the prelates’ decision, describing them as guardians and guides of the Buddhist community.
Three further details appear only in this filing: the protesters physically left the park shortly after the announcement; the vacate order the protest had defied was issued by Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama; and the campaign was wound up after a Sambuddha Pooja held on Vap Full Moon Poya Day. NewsFirst also states the ground of Gnanasara Thera’s imprisonment directly — he is serving a sentence after being found guilty of contempt of court.
Not reported
No filing says what form the Mahanayake Theros’ intervention with the government has taken, who they have met, or on what timetable. None names the groups the prelates accuse of exploiting the protests. Nothing in any of the three reports indicates the suspension is permanent — all describe it as temporary, and no condition for resuming is stated. Who issued the notice to the protesters, and in whose name, is not stated either.
Ada Derana has returned a CloudFront error to this desk for 42 consecutive days, so any filing it made could not be dated and is not cited.
Correction, 26 October: an earlier version of this report said NewsFirst had not filed on the suspension. It had — at 8.38 p.m. on Sunday, before this article was published. Its account is now summarised above and the outlet has been added to this report’s sources, which raises it from two verified newsrooms to three.