Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) has said that Myanmar’s hard line monk Ashin Wirathu Thera would be an honored guest at its convention in Colombo on Sunday. It was announced that Wirathu Thera arrived in the island today.

The BBS has accused ‘Muslim and Catholic groups’ were trying to block Wirathu’s visit.

“Racists, extremists and fundamentalists are trying to undermine our international convention,” the BBS has reportedly claimed in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka had earlier warned the authorities that allowing Wirathu to visit “would pose a serious threat to peace in our beloved motherland”.

The BBS has links with Wirathu’s nationalist 969 Movement in Myanmar. BBS General Secretary Galagodaatte Gnanasara has been compared to Wirathu by some commentators. Wirathu has been accused of ratcheting up tensions between Buddhists and Muslims in his own country. However, Gnanasara has described both of them as “peaceful monks with no blood on our hands”.