Hindu & Buddhist Extremists

Galagoda Gnanasara was born in the southern district of Galle in Sri Lanka. He was educated at the local village school up to grade six before becoming a monk. After his training as a young monk, he joined the Wanawasa Sanga Temple in his home village. He moved to Colombo in 1996 to pursue his studies at the University of Kelaniya.

Ashin Wirathu, who was born in 1968, dropped out of school at the age of fourteen to become a monk. In 2001, he became an active member of the 969 movement. His activities did not last long, as he was sentenced to 25 years in jail in 2003, as a result of his sermons that included hate speech and incitement to violence against Muslims.

Vinay Katiyar is an Indian politician and the founder-president of Bajrang Dal, the Hindu nationalist movement Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (VHP) youths’ wing. He also served as the Secretary-general of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - the current ruling party of the Republic of India.

Around the 1990s, Adityanath left his family to join the Ayodhya Ram temple campaign. Around this time, he became a disciple of Mahant Avaidyanath, the leader of the Gorakhnath Math. After the death of his teacher Avaidyanath, in September 2014, he was raised to the rank of Mahant or head priest of the Gorakhnath Math.

Yati Saraswati is an extremist Hindu fundamentalist. He grew up in an influential upper-middle-class family in Uttar Pradesh province. His grandfather was a prominent Congress official before the independence and his father was the national level leader of the Union Government Employees Union.