A series of attacks on Buddhist temples and the intimidation of monks in Parliament, allegedly by a ruling hardline leftist party in Sri Lanka, has sparked fears among the monks, who entered the political arena in this month's elections.
The party accused of engineering the pre and post-poll harassment of the newly formed Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) is the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a coalition partner of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA).
The latest provocation was the election of a new speaker in Parliament. The joint opposition candidate for the post defeated the UPFA candidate by one vote, due to help from the monks, who were wooed by various political parties for their votes.
The opposition candidate, former leader of the House and former minister of Buddhist affairs W.J.M. Lokubandara, secured 110 votes while the government candidate, Communist party member D.E.W Gunasekara, polled 109 votes.
When the results were announced, government members of Parliament started hooting and shouting at the JHU monks, and when one of them began congratulating the new speaker, ruling party members hurled files and books at him.
Immediately after the vote, Media Minister Reginald Cooray went on national television to launch a scathing attack on the JHU for defeating the government's candidate for speaker.
Protests the disturbed secretary of JHU leader Venerable Uduwe Dhammaloka, "After the way books and files were thrown at us in Parliament and the way abusive language was used against us on TV, people in this country know who are behind the attacks."
True to religious form, he adds that the monks hold no grudges and hope the wrongdoers will repent and reform.
But another politician isn't as forgiving. Snaps main opposition United National Party (UNP) member Hemakumara Nanayakkara, "The damage done to Buddhism by the new government, especially the JVP, in the last few days is unpardonable. In a country where 70 percent of the population are Buddhists, we have a government that is hunting down monks and damaging temples."
On the night the speakers' results were announced last week, the deputy JHU leader, Venerable Dr Omalpe Sobhitha, received death threats and his temple was attacked by JVP supporters.
The following day, posters sprung up all over the capital Colombo accusing the monks of being traitors. The chief incumbent of a temple in the Western province district of Kalutara, Venerable Hedigalle Wimalasara, also received threats from a JVP supporter.
In another instance of violence, six supporters of the JHU were brutally attacked in the suburbs of Colombo while they were pasting posters for a party conference. Interestingly, the attackers were traveling in a vehicle belonging to the state-run Electricity Board. Two of the injured had to be admitted to hospital.
The leader of the nationalist Sihala Urumaya (SU) party, Tilak Karunaratne, calls the incidents "ridiculous and shocking."
He asks, "Is it the fault of the monks that the UPFA government could not even get a simple majority in Parliament? Monks have a right to vote for whoever they want. According to the Constitution, it is the responsibility of the government to protect and foster Buddhism, but what we are seeing today is state-sponsored terrorism against Buddhism."
But the government denies all charges of harassing the JHU.
Says UPFA Secretary and Power and Energy Minister Susil Premajayantha, "We have been falsely accused of unleashing violence against the monks. The UPFA is definitely not involved in the attacks."
Agrees JVP strongman and UPFA Chairman Nandana Gunatilleka, who calls the charges "malicious fabrications" by the JHU.
Ever since the JHU entered the political fray in February, it has been targeted by the JVP because it is eating into the latter's vote bank. Before the polls, the JVP was accused of running a vicious slander campaign against the most charismatic JHU candidate, Uduwe Dhammaloka. Ironically, he won a seat from Colombo and topped the party's individual vote list.
For political analysts in Sri Lanka, the JVP's behavior comes as no surprise. For, the party has a violent history. It staged two rebellions in 1971 and from 1987-1990 that killed 50,000 people.