VEN. ELLAWELA MEDHANANDA SAYS FUNDAMENTALIST LINK TO VENERABLE SOMA’S DEATH IS CERTAINLY NOT ACCIDENTAL

By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles

Puravidya Chakravarthi Venerable Ellawela Medhananda Thero delivering his funeral oration at the cremation of Venerable Gangodawila Soma Thero said that the Christian Fundamentalist connection to Soma Thero’s untimely death in St. Petersburg, Russia was not an accident.

The Venerable Ellawela Medhananda was representing the island nation’s largest sect of Buddhist monks, the Siyam Maha Nikaya at the funeral .

Accusing the Ranil Wickremesinghe government for failing to introduce new legislation in the parliament to prevent “unethical and immoral” conversions by foreign aided Christian Fundamentalists in Sri Lanka despite repeated requests by them, the Venerable monk who is also head of the Supreme Sangha Council, which represents the majority of Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka said the government should take the full responsibility for its inaction. He added the government’s inaction in this regard had indirectly led to the death of Soma Thero in Russia.

Reminding the government that it was the duty of it to protect the Buddhist monks and the Buddhist laity of this country, he demanded on behalf of them, to appoint a commission of inquiry to comprehensively investigate the sudden death of Venerable Soma Thero. A Commission of Inquiry, in Sri Lanka is somewhat similar to a US Grand Jury.

Venerable Medhananda’s request for a full inquiry into the death of Venerable Soma Thero was the second in a row of similar requests that came from Buddhist monks officially. The first one came when Sri Lanka’s second largest sect of Buddhist monks, the Amarapura Sangha Sabha made a request from the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Colombo to make a full inquiry at St. Petersburg, where the monk died of alleged heart ailments in what is described as “in very suspicious circumstances.” It is widely alleged that he died of an induced heart attack.

Venerable Medhananda said the dead monk had been campaigning for a long time for the introduction of parliamentary legislation to prevent unethical conversions through bribes using money coming from Western nations and it was the urgent duty of the government, who neglected that, to introduce such legislation immediately.

Venerable Medhananda severely warned the Ranil Wickremesinghe government that if it did not take actions to stop the “immoral and unethical conversions” of the foreign funded Christian Fundamentalists the result would be dangerous religious conflicts.

The Venerable Soma, a forceful campaigner against the activities of the Christian Fundamentalists in Sri Lanka was encouraged to travel to Russia by a Fundamentalist Sri Lanka born Christian priest, Rev. Shanthi Pushpakumara Jayasekera, for the award of a PhD degree and a Professorship for a book the dead monk wrote on “Buddhist Stupa”. The degree and title were to be awarded by a relatively unknown institution called, The International University of Fundamental Studies. The Rector and founder of the Institution is Jayasekera. Funds of the US based fundamental Christian movements are believed to be invested in the project. The book was in Sinhalese language and there was no board or Senate that knew that language to consider and evaluate that book for a degree. Just after the alleged award of the degree the Venerable monk died in St. Petersburg allegedly without adequate medical support despite assurances and the generous offer of Moscow Buddhists to bring him over to Moscow from St. Petersburg to the care of better medical experts and hospitals. They also allegedly handed over more than five thousand dollars to Rev. Jayasekera to help the Venerable Soma. It was also alleged a large sum of money sent from Sri Lanka for the monks medical expenses was also returned unused. Anyway, Rev. Jayasekera said he had five PhD level degrees to his credit. A fundamentalist Christian institution in Pasadena, California offered at least one of them, a Juris Doctor (JD) degree. The institution, International Theological University offers degrees by postal tuition. Repeated requests by this correspondent to explain from which and which universities he received the other degrees were not replied. Another Buddhist monk related to Sri Lanka, the Venerable Olande Ananda is also included in a list of honor degree awardees published by this institution. Jayasekera’s brother , who allegedly worked for Aratuwa , a publication owned by Lalith Kotalawela’ Ceylinco Group , later joined Janavijaya foundation’s newspaper and was very close to the dead monk during his last days.

Following an anonymous poster campaign in Colombo, alleging Kotalawela’s connection to the death, he has categorically denied the charges and described the accusations as baseless and vicious.

Meanwhile addressing the funeral assembly the Maha Nayaka Thera of Amarapura Dharmarakshitha Maha Nikaya, a branch of the Amarapura Maha Sangha Sabha said despite the requirement in the Sri Lanka Constitution from the government to protect Buddhism in the island nation the government had gravely neglected its responsibility. He said the government must immediately stop any NGO spending money against religions in Sri Lanka. He said great church buildings in countries like the United States and Australia were being sold since the church authorities were unable to find out enough devotees in the congregations who could pump in enough money to maintain them. Such monies, from church building sales were pumped in to poor third world countries to buy new converts, he charged.