January 19 2004

The Sri Lankan President has warned that anyone who incites the Buddhist public to attack Christians and their places of worship would be dealt with firmly.

In a public statement, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga appealed to the media to act responsibly and help promote ethnic and religious harmony.

The warning came after the government received intelligence indicating organised Buddhist lobby groups with political patronage were preparing to incite anti-Christian attacks.

This latest wave of anti-Christian hostility was sparked off by the sudden death of one of Sri Lanka's most revered monks.

Venerable Gangodawila Soma Thero, a champion of Buddhist nationalism, died in mid-December last year while visiting Russia. Although an autopsy confirmed he died of natural causes, the Sri Lankan media has speculated on the 'mystery' surrounding his death, indicating a possible Christian conspiracy. Some of Ven. Soma's supporters even claimed that he was number four on a 'hit list' of an unnamed Christian group.

Tamils were also targeted after false rumours that some Tamils denigrated the deceased monk.

At the state funeral of Ven. Soma on Christmas Eve, a small number of nationalist monks reportedly called for a 'holy war' against Christians.

In the five days between 24 and 29 December, the Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka documented 20 incidents of violent attacks against Christians and Tamils. At least 15 people were injured. One man at the state funeral was reportedly badly beaten by the crowd after being identified as a Christian. Two churches in a district east of the capital Colombo were also attacked and extreme nationalists took to the streets.

On December 29 2003, dozens of Buddhist monks protested against 'unethical conversions' by Christians and demanded that anti-conversion laws be enacted immediately.

Thousands of colour posters bearing anti-Christian slogans appeared on the streets of Colombo. Christian charities, such as World Vision, were particularly targeted.

Protesters carried pictures of the late Ven. Soma walking with the Sri Lankan Army. The image symbolised an expectation that along with Sri Lanka's monks, the state army should be a protector of Sinhala Buddhism.

Some one hundred monks also staged a hunger strike 'unto death' outside the government's Buddha Sasana Ministry.

CSW has recently worked with a cross-party group of UK MPs to table an Early Day Motion (EDM no.210 Attacks upon Christians in Sri Lanka) in the House of Commons to raise concerns with the UK government.

CSW's National Director, Stuart Windsor, said, "We welcome the warning given by President Kumaratunga, but remain gravely concerned that attacks on Christians have again risen sharply over the past two months. We strongly urge the Sri Lankan authorities to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for these attacks and media smear campaigns. We also urge the government of Sri Lanka to take further steps to promote inter-faith harmony in the country."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Venerable Soma was the founder of a prominent Buddhist lobby group, the Sasana Sevaka Sangamaya. He referred to Christian charities as 'the instruments of a diabolical conspiracy by Christian powers to convert and corrupt the Sinhalese Buddhist public'.

Sri Lanka is a majority Buddhist nation and although not recognised as the state religion, the constitution accords Buddhism the 'foremost place'. About 70 percent of the population of 20 million is Buddhist with another 15 percent Hindu. The Christians, who number just under 1.5 million or about eight percent, mostly live in the west of the country.

In recent years, there has been an increased intolerance by the Sinhalese nationalists towards faith minorities. Christianity is often perceived as a threat to undermine Sri Lankan cultural and religious unity. Anti-Christian elements regard conversions with scepticism believing that they can be coerced and unethical. The Anti-Conversion Bill, if it comes into force, will be a powerful tool to repress the religious minorities, particularly the Christians.

Part of EDM 210 reads: "That this House recognizes that the people of Sri Lanka have a long-standing reputation for tolerance and respect; notes however that the plight of one of the religious minorities in Sri Lanka, Christians, is getting worse; is also aware that anti-conversion legislation, modeled on the controversial and divisive anti-conversion law in Tamil Nadu, India, is about to be presented to the Sri Lankan Parliament; and calls upon the Sri Lankan Government to give full protection to religious minorities, to bring to justice those found to have participated in attacks upon religious minorities, and to promote genuine and lasting inter-faith harmony in Sri Lanka."