President Mahinda Rajapaksa, at the weekly cabinet meeting which was held at Temple Trees last week, has ordered cabinet ministers to avoid clashes with religious organizations.

The President made this remark in the wake of the meeting between a group of ministers and Mahanayake Thera of the Asgiriya chapter over the conduct of BBS General Secretary Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera.

Speaking to Ministers, the President said he had received complaints that the ministers who met the Mahanayake thera had failed to inform the party of the visit. The group of ministers who met the Mahanayake of the Asgiriya chapter was led by Minister Rajitha Senaratne.

Mervyn Silva, Salinda Dissanayake, Janaka Bandara Tennakoon and Thilanga Sumathipala were other members of the delegation.

At this point, Minister Senaratne had said the objective of their meeting was to clear the air on allegations which have been made against them by BBS General Secretary Gananasara Thera. However, President Mahinda Rajapaksa responded strongly to Senaratne’s remark saying he was aware of what was going on!

“No need to worry about such organizations. No one takes their allegations seriously. But when ministers create new problems, that affects the government,”

The President also stated that ignorant behavior on the part of the ministers would also jeopardized the Sinhala-Buddhist vote base of the government.