Three Buddhist monks on a fast-unto-death near the Ruwanweli Maha Seya in Anuradhapura were taken into police custody on Thursday, November 12, after a clash at the protest site left a rival monk hospitalised with head injuries.
Police said a group led by Ven. Rajanganaya Saddharathana Thero arrived at the dansal premises where Ven. Balangoda Kassapa Thero and two other monks have been refusing food and water, and that an argument escalated into a physical confrontation. Saddharathana Thero was admitted to hospital after being struck on the head. Reports said wooden poles were used for physical assult; there was no immediate police statement naming a suspect, and no finding has been made yet.
Officers then dismantled the protesters' temporary structure and escorted a Buddha statue back to the Ruwanweli Seya premises, saying the satyagraha and fast violated standing court orders. Ven. Kassapa and the two accompanying monks were taken into custody.
The protest began on the morning of 7 November at the dansal grounds against the Anuradhapura Sacred Area Development Plan, notified by the National Physical Planning Department on 27 February this year. The plan would expand the protected sacred zone from 28 to 38 square kilometres and fund roads, sanitation and pilgrim facilities at an estimated cost of about Rs 8.8 billion. Monks and residents fear it will allow other places of worship inside the zone, restrict Buddhist activity and put a protective fence around the stupa.
The National Physical Planning Department's director general, Ruchira Vithana, has denied the plan allows new religious buildings or bars devotees from sacred sites.
Tensions flared within a day of the protest starting when the group tried to erect an elevated structure and police moved in. The Anuradhapura Magistrate's Court then ordered the sacred zones around the Ruwanweli Maha Seya and the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi vacated and the tents removed; but nevertheless the monks stayed. On 9 November the court refused a request to dissolve that interim order, and the Chief Magistrate, Siyapath Pasindu Wickramaratne, summoned five monks, including Ven. Kassapa, to appear on 20 November.
The monks are also demanding the release of Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, who returned to prison to serve the remainder of a six-year contempt sentence.
(Compiled from PTI and media reports with the help of our in-house AI tools, and edited by our desk)