September 9th 2007

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickramasinghe during a meeting with the Malwatte Mahanayake theras had said that all media personnel should be ordained as monks. The maha sangha, and scholars have denounced frequent statements made by him discrediting the sangha and journalists.

Mr. Wickramasinghe said during a meeting with the Malwatte Mahanayake that all journalists should be ordained.
Meanwhile the Venerable Kumburugamuwe Vajira thera said Ranil’s new opinion is that the journalists should be ordained as they are making mistakes. He queried whether the Sambuddha Sasana was an organisation of miscreants.

Scholar Pandula Endagama said if any leader claims that journalists should be ordained, he thinks they are suffering from a mental illness. If not he may be insulting the Sasana or discrediting the journalists. If ordination is considered as a better solution to overcome shortcomings of journalists, he pointed out that persons making such statements should be ordained and directed towards the correct path.