Mahanayake Theros has made a written request to the President to grant a presidential pardon, on the occasion of Vesak, to Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, who is serving a prison sentence,
Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero was sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of causing discord between races in a press conference held in 2016 regarding the Kuragala Rajamaha Temple.
Since he has been supporting the state security forces to prevent some extremist forces from spreading in the society by raising voices for the Sinhala Buddhist nationality in Sri Lanka and taking steps to inform the security forces about certain extremist activities in the society, this request has been made with the signatures of the Mahanayake Theros of Malwathu, Asgiri, Amarapura, Ramanya Nikaya to grant presidential pardon to him in remembrance of his actions.