SL Muslims Living In Australia Urge Authorities To Deny Visa To Gnanasara
July 18, 2014
Nine organizations representing Sri Lankan Muslims living in Australia have issued a joint statement urging the Australian government to reconsider their decision to allow Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary,Galagoda Atte Gnanasara to visit the country.
Gnanasara
The Collective of organizations representing Sri Lankan Muslims living in Australia, in a letter to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and Australian Minister of Immigration and Border Control Scott Morrison, has urged for a reconsideration of the decision to grant visa for Gnanasara to visit Australia under the pretext of a ‘spiritual awakening mission’ based on Buddhism.
The Collective that has drawn the Ministers’ attention on the recent anti-Muslim riots in Southern Sri Lanka that Gnanasara is accused of having instigated, points out he should not be allowed into Australia as he fails to pass the character test defined in Section 501 (06) of the Migration Act of 1958.
They have asserted that Gnanasara’s association with a group that has been suspected of criminal conduct and the possibility of his arrival in Australia inciting discord in the local community and resulting in a segment of the Australian community being vilified, have compromised Gnanasara’s credibility to enter Australia.
They have also shed light on Gnanasara’s close association with the extremist Burmese monk Ashun Wirathuand his infamous role in inciting hatred on the Muslim community in Sri Lanka since 2012.
Furthermore, they have stated that against the backdrop of several countries including the UK, US and France denying access for Gnanasara to visit the respective states, Australia too should follow the ‘well considered lead set by the other countries’.
Read the letter here
