The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) said that they will be contesting the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled to be held on August 17 and will represent the Sinhalese community.
BBS General Secretary Galagoda Aththe Gnasara Thero said that his group will contest the elections under the party titled Bodu Jana Peramuna (BJP) and their main objective will be to represent the Sinhalese majority in parliament. The party symbol will be cobra.
“While we have many small parties representing the Tamils and the Muslims, we do not have any one representing the Sinhalese. A lot of people are against monks entering parliament but we are doing so as today the political culture in Sri Lanka is very bad,” Gnasera Thero said.
“Today more than 50% of Sri Lankan parliamentarians are uneducated. The politicians are all two faced. Minority parties representing the Tamils and Muslims are pressurizing the government. We need to change all this,” he added.
He further said that the group will be contesting the elections independently as they did not support any major political party and will be contesting in 15 districts in the island nation .
Last year the BBS was accused of igniting religious tension in the Muslim dominated town of Aluthgama in Southern Sri Lanka. The tension led to clashes between the minority Muslims and the Sinhalese majority which left atleast 4 people dead and over 80 injured.
The monks had also agitated against the issuing of the ‘Halal’ certification for food products which Muslims depend on before making purchases.(Colombo Gazette)