A protest march organised by the Janawarame Purawasiyo Organisation — “Citizens of the Mandate” — moved through Colombo on Saturday afternoon against the campaign to free Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera, calling on the government to apply the law equally to every citizen.
The march was led by members of the Maha Sangha and joined by religious leaders of other faiths and civil society representatives, NewsFirst reported. It began near the Colombo Fort Railway Station, and participants said conspiracies aimed at preventing legal action against thieves, corrupt individuals and drug traffickers should be defeated.
The organisers’ stated theme was “Defeat conspiracies against punishing the corrupt,” and the route ran from Colombo Fort towards Galle Face before the demonstration settled outside the Presidential Secretariat, Newswire reported at 6.13 p.m.
The contrast no filing states
This march reached the Presidential Secretariat, and a delegation of monks and organisers was granted entry to the building to hold discussions with officials. Police told the group that Additional Secretary to the President Kapila Bandara was present.
That happened one day after Colombo Fort Magistrate Pasan Amarasena barred 54 people from the Gnanasara campaign from the area around the same building, under section 106(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, on a police application citing public inconvenience in a high security zone. Thirty of those barred are monks.
Both marches are described by their own participants as led by the Maha Sangha. On Saturday one was received inside the Secretariat; the other was camped at Viharamahadevi Park, having dismantled its shelters outside the Secretariat in compliance with the order. Neither NewsFirst nor Newswire notes the comparison.
Police at Saturday’s march appealed for calm rather than moving against it. An officer was heard saying: “Please do not inconvenience the public. Please remain peaceful and do not block the road. Allow people to pass through peacefully.” The protesters dispersed peacefully after the discussions and a media briefing.
Monks arguing against monks
The most pointed criticism of the Gnanasara campaign came from the clergy taking part.
Ven. Meegahajadure Seelananda Thero said political groups were using the court ruling as cover. “A small group of corrupt and politically defeated individuals, many of whom are facing court cases and remain out on bail, are misusing the sacred robe in a deeply unfortunate manner,” he said, asking the President to act according to the people’s mandate.
Ven. Embilipitiye Ananda Wansa Thero disputed the role the campaign claims for the Sangha. “Our role is not to make rulers act according to our wishes. Our role is to advise and guide. Only a handful of monks are engaged in these activities. That is not the role entrusted to the Sangha,” he said. “This situation is like an elephant carrying the Sacred Tooth Relic casket losing control.”
Chandrasiri Mallikarachchi, Secretary of the Janawarame Purawasiyo Organisation, asked the President not to reverse anything already begun. “We request the President not to roll back any legal action that has already been initiated, even by the smallest degree,” he said, also calling for investigations against those facing allegations to be expedited.
Lay participants put the same argument more bluntly. “If Ven. Gnanasara Thero has committed an offence, then the law must be applied to him. Otherwise, I too can shave my head, wear a robe, commit an offence and ask for a Presidential pardon,” one said. Another questioned the example being set: “This is not the Dhamma taught by the Buddha.”
Why this matters to a contested question
This desk has recorded a running dispute over who is behind the robes campaign — the Police Traffic Division described the 15 October march as organised by a group including several opposition parties, while Hiru, the Daily Mirror and the campaign itself attribute it to the Maha Sangha. Tamil Guardian reported a Maha Sangha-led march that SLPP, Sarvajana Balaya, SJB and UNP figures joined.
Saturday adds a different fact to that argument: a second monk-led mobilisation, pointed the other way. Both sides now invoke the Sangha, and one of Saturday’s speakers explicitly characterised the other side as “a handful of monks.” The claim that the clergy speaks with one voice on Gnanasara Thera is no longer available to either camp.
The government’s position has meanwhile hardened. Minister K.D. Lal Kantha ruled out a pardon outright on Friday.
A note on sourcing
NewsFirst is the only verified newsroom in this archive’s list to have filed its own account of this march. Newswire is an aggregator and does not count toward this article’s credibility rating, but it is the only source carrying the organisers’ stated theme and the march route, so it is cited for those. Ada Derana published a headline on the march noting heavy traffic near the Secretariat; its site has been returning CloudFront 403 responses to this desk for four weeks and no publish date could be extracted, so it is not cited.
Not reported
Neither filing gives a crowd estimate beyond NewsFirst’s “thousands,” names the monks in the delegation received at the Secretariat, or says what officials told them. Whether the Janawarame Purawasiyo Organisation is newly formed or established, who funds it, and whether it has any party affiliation are all unreported — a question worth asking of a body that marched in support of the government’s stated position.
Also unreported: whether the organisation sought permission for the march, whether any traffic plan was issued, and whether the government will respond to its demand that no legal action be reversed.
