WORLD NEWS JULY 7, 2019 / 4:06 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Hardline Sri Lanka monk calls for Buddhist Sinhalese government

Shihar Aneez, Aditi Shah
5 MIN READ

KANDY, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s most powerful Buddhist nationalist group rallied its hardline base on Sunday, saying they must aim to take democratic control of parliament to protect the community, amid heightened sectarian strains after the Easter attacks by Islamist bombers.

The influential chief of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, addressing hundreds of monks and followers in Kandy, called on Sri Lanka’s 10,000 Buddhist temples to help win votes for candidates from the Sinhala Buddhist majority.

“We the clergies should aim to create a Sinhala government. We will create a parliament that will be accountable for the country, a parliament that will protect Sinhalese,” said Gnanasara.

He also said the politicians should leave the fight against Islamist extremism to the monks.

“We can talk to them face to face in villages and create the Muslim culture as we want without going for extremism. It’s our responsibility because this is a Sinhalese country. We are the historical owners of this country,” he said.

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