New Delhi, Oct. 21 -- Sri Lanka's Marxist government's attempt to break the stranglehold of Buddhist monks over the majority Sinhala Buddhist population has backfired badly, with hundreds of Buddhist monks and laymen taking to the streets to protest the move. They have demanded not only the restoration of a monk's right to wear his saffron robe but also his release through a presidential pardon.

The maverick monk, Galabodaaththe Gnanasara Thera, was imprisoned for contempt of court in 2019 and sentenced to nine years in prison. However, President Maithripala Sirisena granted him a presidential pardon. When the current government came to power, the Supreme Court ruled that the pardon was invalid because it had been granted without followi...