The BBS organization on Sunday said it was not aware of the terms and conditions under which Rishad Bathiudeen’s All Ceylon Muslim Congress extended its support to President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the presidential election.

A delegation of ACMC stalwarts, led by Bathiudeen, met President Rajapaksa at Temple Trees yesterday evening and pledged to support him at the election, after President Rajapaksa vowed to address their grievances. The BBS, a strong critique of Bathiudeen and his party, has also said that it would support the President to defeat what they term as ‘foreign conspiracies’.

“There are two camps at the moment and both camps are vying for power. When there is such a huge competition, curry leaves (karapincha) are needed to get some more votes,” Ganansara Thera said. He also added that there was nothing “significant” in Bathiudeen’s party supporting President Rajapaksa’s candidature as it was a constituent party of the United People’s Freedom Alliance.

When reminded that Minister Bathiudeen was accused of forcible land acquisitions in Wilpattu and supporting the Jathika Bala Sena movement to counter the BBS, Gananasara Thera said, “Such things happen in party politics.” 

"We are still not aware of their conditions. We don't know whether the government has accepted their demands. The meeting, as I know, happened last night and it is still too early to arrive at final conclusions on the matter," the BBS General Secretary added.

“We are not against the ordinary Muslims in the country and their religious practices. We are against extremists and extremism. Our struggle is against them,” Gnanasara Thera said while dodging the core question. The BBS has repeatedly stated that Minister Bathiudeen is a supporter of “extremist elements” in the Muslim community.