Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Galagodaaththe Gnanasara thera said that he was unaware of the picture which was published on Colombo Telegraph website, in which the Buddhist monk was practicing martial arts.

The picture displays a bare-bodied person practicing a martial arts ‘punch’ with another two monks. The photograph was captioned as ‘Hate Speech Star BBS Gnanasara In Action’.

Although the picture does not show his face, the side view of the person bears a resemblance to Gnanasara Thera. However, the person who appears in the picture looks more slender than the BBS chief Gnanasara Thera.

Speaking to Asian Mirror, the BBS General Secretary said he was unaware of any such picture.

“I don’t know about a picture of that nature. I didn’t even see that,” Gnanasara Thera said in a brief telephone interview with Asian Mirror.

Meanwhile, Uvindu Kurukulasuriya, Editor of Colombo Telegraph, said there was no issue about the authenticity of the picture. He said the person who appears in the picture is BBS General Secretary Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera.