Rupavahini channel is said to have had to halt its live telecast of a religious sermon held at the Bingiriya Devagiri Rajamaha Vihara coinciding with the state Vesak festival as Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero had been called suddenly to attend the event.
Not informed even during prior announcements of the event - Production Team
According to the production team, they had been informed that a different monk would be attending the sermon prior to the event. However they say the organizers had at the last moment informed then that Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero will be attending the event instead.
Therefore the team had halted the live telecast as the event was being held coinciding with the state Vesak festival and therefore after informing officials they were advised to stop the telecast.
They say organizers should have been more responsible and informed them beforehand rather than at the last moment so the telecast could have continued without a hitch even with the attendance of the controversial monk.
Despite several rounds of discussions were held recently among the Minister of Buddha Sasana and top Ministry officials regarding the festival, the Rupavahini production team says no mention was made about a sermon by Gnanasara Thero.
Why was his attendance hidden? : Had to halt telecast due to the risk of an issue being created as a result - Rupavahini Chairman
When asked by isis.lk Chairman of the Rupavahini Corporation, Attorney at Law Ravi Jayawardene said that officials of the Buddhasansana Ministry had not informed them of the Thero’s attendance and therefore the last minute bomb shell news left the production team at a loss. According to him this was the cause of the serious issue.
He also said as a state organization if a racist or extremist sentiment was expressed during the telecast this could have jeopardized the government. As the result the team had to seek advice from the Ministry and as a result halted the live telecast he said.
Meanwhile expressing his views an official from the Ministry of Mass Media said the Ministry of Buddha Sasana must take the responsibility for the fiasco..
Issue is not him attending the sermon but it being done in a devious manner without being informed prior to the event : Government also had to take the blame once before - Ministry official
He also said it is unfair that a different monk’s name was informed but then going on to inform that Gnanasara Thero would be attending instead.
The official also went on to say :
At a previous time as well during the President’s visit to Japan the government was slammed with people alleging that Gnanasara was invited by the government. This was because he has been acting in an extremely racist manner in the recent past. Several race related incidents took place in the country recently as well. What if such a sentiment was expressed by him at the State Vesak fest? Government would have been slammed as a result. That is why this decision was taken to halt the telecast. There is still racist elements in the country and any time a fire can be stoked. Therefore we had no other option as the government must always be responsible. It cannot be helped if someone’s feelings were hurt. If a wrong sentiment was spread in the society government and the society would have been harmed. Therefore underhand things such as this should not take place.
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