Rathana Thera recently told JHU activists in Polonnaruwa that he received no support from the party in his efforts to make Sri Lanka free of poisonous chemical use.

Especially, minister Champika Ranawaka did not support him to get glyphosate, which is harmful to kidneys, banned, he charged.

This made him absent from the JHU’s convention, he went onto say.

Rathana Thera and JHU theoretician Ashoka Abeygunawardena are presently involved in manufacturing poison-free fertilizer, which is backed by president Maithripala Sirisena.

Ranawaka’s changing principles

Ranawaka, at the time he led ‘Janatha Mithuro’, published a book titled ‘Third principle of development’ which envisaged an environmentally-friendly country.

He is accused of having changed his policies after accepting his present portfolio.

Rathana Thera says the past environmentally-friend vision of the JHU is more relevant now than before.