A campaign to collect five million signatures calling for a presidential pardon for Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera was launched at the Mihintale sacred site today (26).
The Chief Incumbent of the Mihintale Rajamaha Viharaya, Ven. Dr. Walawahengunawewe Dhammarathana Thera, joined other members of the Maha Sangha and supporters in signing the petition. Speaking at the event, he appealed directly to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to grant Gnanasara Thera a pardon.
Dhammarathana Thera said former President Maithripala Sirisena had previously instructed officials to grant Gnanasara Thera a presidential pardon. He claimed that shortcomings in the documents prepared by those officials had allowed the pardon to be challenged in court.
“Gnanasara Thera was not at fault. It was the officials who made the mistake,” he said, referring to the preparation of the pardon documents. He urged the current President to have the matter handled correctly and grant Gnanasara Thera a pardon.
The Chief Incumbent said the organisers planned to seek signatures from Buddhist monks and nuns, lay devotees and people of other ethnic and religious communities across the country. Although the campaign had set a target of five million signatures, he said they could collect as many as 10 million.
He said the completed petition and supporting documents would first be presented to the Mahanayake Theras before being forwarded to the President.
Gnanasara Thera, the General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena, was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment after being convicted of contempt of court. Former President Sirisena subsequently granted him a presidential pardon and he was released. On 10 September, however, the Supreme Court ruled that the pardon was invalid in law.
Dhammarathana Thera said Mihintale was a fitting place to begin the appeal, invoking the message traditionally associated with Arahat Mahinda Thera that a ruler was a custodian rather than the owner of the land. He called on President Dissanayake to exercise his powers to grant Gnanasara Thera a pardon.
