Three opposition leaders held separate press conferences in Colombo on Monday over the removal of Galagoda Atte Gnanasara Thera’s robes in prison, with Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader Udaya Gammanpila alleging the disrobing was carried out under pressure from the top leadership of the National People’s Power, the Daily Mirror reported.

Gammanpila’s account

Gammanpila, who spoke dressed in black, said he visited the Thera at Welikada Prison on 8 October at the monk’s request and was given an account of what happened.

He said prison officers tried to put the Thera in a prison jumpsuit and that the monk objected strongly. A similar attempt in 2018 was abandoned after the monk protested, Gammanpila said; this time, he alleged, a large group of officers pressed ahead despite objections from the monk and reluctance among the officers themselves.

He further alleged that during the incident an officer switched on a mobile phone camera so that someone at another location could watch.

Describing the removal of the anda-kada, the waist-cloth worn by monks, Gammanpila said the Thera was deeply distressed and threw the garment upwards rather than hand it over, and that it caught in a ceiling fan that was turning at the time.

The Daily Mirror notes that the claims about senior NPP figures and the circumstances of the removal have not been independently verified. No government response is reported in any of the three filings.

Two other leaders widen the charge

United Republic Front leader Patali Champika Ranawaka said other religious leaders would soon be targeted in the same way. “Other religious leaders should also be careful, as they too could soon face suppression,” the former minister said. He also raised the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna’s conduct during the 1989 insurrection, saying it had formed the “Kudapola Rahula Balakaya” and killed 42 monks — a contested historical allegation the filing carries without corroboration.

UNP chairman Wajira Abeywardena drew a comparison with Fr. Mathew Peiris, the Anglican priest tried over two deaths, saying he had been produced in court in his white cassock. “We are not finding fault with allowing Fr. Peiris to wear his religious attire. The issue is the alleged targeting of Buddhism by the authorities,” he said.

Where the government stands

The three statements land while the question is already before a formal process. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake appointed a committee on 8 October to draft amendments on how jailed monks are held and transported, telling the Maha Sangha at the same meeting that he would not bypass existing prison law to resolve the case. That committee’s report is due with the Presidential Secretary on 15 October and then goes to the Mahanayake Theras for review.

The Malwathu Mahanayake Thera told a Samagi Jana Balawegaya delegation on the same day that the government had indicated legislation would follow “within a short period”.

Not reported

None of the filings carries a response from the NPP, the Ministry of Justice or the Prisons Department to Gammanpila’s allegation, and none names the “top leadership” he refers to. No filing says whether the prison officers he describes have been identified or questioned, or whether the alleged phone recording exists. Gammanpila’s account of the 8 October visit is attributed entirely to what the Thera told him; no other verified newsroom had filed on these three press conferences at the time of writing.

Sources: Daily Mirror, Daily Mirror, Daily Mirror.