News

News

Soma Thera’s death
Commission split on conspiracy theory
By Nalaka Nonis
Two of the three-member Presidential Commission which probed the death of the well-known Buddhist preacher Ven. Gangodawila Soma Thera have concluded that a conspiracy by a Christian fundamentalist group led to the death of the monk.

This conclusion was reached by Commission’s chairman former Court of Appeal Judge, G.W.Edirisuriya and Consultant Physician Dr. Anula Wijesundara.
But the third member, Professor Mendis Rohanadeera, has given a dissenting opinion, concluding that there was no conspiracy in the death.
Prof. Mendis told The Sunday Times he was of the view that the monk died of natural causes.

The 26-page report was handed over to President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Thursday.Two members of the Commission held that the initial conspiracy to embarrass the popular monk by conferring him a doctorate from a Christian university in Russia later led to another conspiracy to eliminate him, a task facilitated by the monk’s weak health.

“When the Thera fell ill, neither the Maharagama Dharmayathanaya nor his close relatives were kept informed and the failure to carry out a timely by-pass operation led to his death,” they said.

They alleged that Shanthi Jayasekara, the person who was instrumental in taking the monk to Russia to confer him a doctorate, had shrewdly delayed medical attention for the monk.

“It was an inhuman act by Shanthi Jayasekara to irresponsibly ignore when Soma Thera was complaining of a chest pain and seeking medical attention for it and only later put him on a three-to-four-hour plane ride to St Petersburg from Moscow without giving him any treatment,” they said.

The Government should have been more mindful of the security as well as the health of eminent personalities like Soma Thera even though they did not hold state office, the two members said.

The Ven. Soma Thera died in Russia in December 2003 and his mystery death led to massive protests and eventually the formation of the Jathika Hela Urumaya. In the dissenting report, Prof. Mendis said his findings showed the persons who sponsored Thera’s visit to Russia had not shown any negligence in getting the monk treated.

He said the Ven. Soma Thera had been suffering from a heart ailment for sometime and had stopped western treatment three months before his death and switched to ayurvedic treatment. He said evidence indicated the monk experiencing a silent heart attack even when he left Sri Lanka.

Top

Back to News