Kuala Lampur, Oct. 8 -- Sri Lanka has found itself in a furious national argument about a convicted man's clothes.

Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero is back in prison, serving the remainder of a six-year sentence for contempt of court. The Supreme Court has invalidated the presidential pardon that freed him. Then he appeared in court without his saffron robes, wearing prison-issued clothing. Now senior Buddhist prelates have objected, saying the decision to remove a monk's robes belongs to the Sangha, not prison officials. They also argue that prison rules allow a prisoner to wear the clothes he normally wore before conviction - which, in his case, means robes.

That is the official argument. But the public question is harder to dodge: why...