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Monks’ role in Sri Lanka protests raises familiar questions

FILE - A man picks up a tear gas canister to throw it away after police fired it to disperse the protesters in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, July 9, 2022. The street protests that drove Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from office last month brought together people from across the country’s diverse and sometimes warring ethno-religious groups: Tamils, Muslims, Christians and Sinhala Buddhists — including, unmistakably, the saffron-robed Buddhist monks who are fixtures of Sri Lanka’s political scene. (AP Photo/Amitha Thennakoon, File)

FILE - Protesters react as a tear gas shell fired by police lands next to them in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, July 9, 2022. The street protests that drove Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from office last month brought together people from across the country’s diverse and sometimes warring ethno-religious groups: Tamils, Muslims, Christians and Sinhala Buddhists — including, unmistakably, the saffron-robed Buddhist monks who are fixtures of Sri Lanka’s political scene. (AP Photo/Amitha Thennakoon, File)

FILE - A man throws back a tear gas canister after it was fired by police to disperse protesters in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, July 9, 2022. The street protests that drove Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from office last month brought together people from across the country’s diverse and sometimes warring ethno-religious groups: Tamils, Muslims, Christians and Sinhala Buddhists — including, unmistakably, the saffron-robed Buddhist monks who are fixtures of Sri Lanka’s political scene.(AP Photo/Amitha Thennakoon, File)

Monks’ role in Sri Lanka protests raises familiar questions