Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara and followers #fundie morningstarnews.org

Based in the capital city of Colombo on the island nation’s western coast, Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, general secretary of the Buddhist extremist Bodu Bala Sena, made the 71-mile trip to Sri Lanka’s central Kandy District to lead 250 villagers and 11 Buddhist monks to the premises of a Holy Family Church leader identified only as Pastor Susantha, according to the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL).

After storming the pastor’s Asgiriya premises at about 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 16, the villagers and 11 Buddhist monks belonging to the Bodu Bala Sena demanded that he immediately stop worship services that take place there. As Pastor Susantha was explaining to Gnanasara his right to continue worship services, the mob dragged the church leader and his wife from their home and assaulted them, sources said.

“The mob punched, slapped and hit the pastor and his wife with their fists,” a Christian leader told Morning Star News. “The pastor and wife both suffered minor physical injuries.”

The Buddhist extremists also verbally abused the couple’s 18-year-old daughter, sources said.

The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), translated as the Buddhist Power Force, is a Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist group founded by monks Gnanasara and Kirama Wimalajothi with headquarters in a facility in Colombo owned by the Buddhist Cultural Center, which Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa opened in 2011. The BBS is responsible for much of the increase in persecution of Christians since 2012.

36 comments

Confused?

So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!

To post a comment, you'll need to Sign in or Register. Making an account also allows you to claim credit for submitting quotes, and to vote on quotes and comments. You don't even need to give us your email address.