Fundamentalism

A host of civil society organisations yesterday issued a statement condemning the growing anti-Muslim rhetoric and attacks. At a time when we need to foreground our common humanity rather than the differences spawned by a long and difficult war, we must not permit the baser elements of our society to be our only voices.This post […]

The General Secretary of the Hela Urumaya Minister Patalie Champika Ranawaka has alleged that similar to the attempt made by the LTTE leader Prabhakaran to divide the country using weapons, the Jamiyathul Ulema Organization is attempting to divide the country by Halal.   He said that they are Islamizing the production process of this country and […]

Bodu Bala Sena once offered  take up police duty to enforce the law and rid Buddhism of thieves, rapists and other criminals While discussing a number of problems pertaining to Buddhist temples, priests and the practice of the Buddhist religion in the country overall, one of the main points of the conversation revolved around some […]

Laws and religion – some concerns of Sinhala Buddhists by Shenali Waduge in Ceylon Daily News Yes, the Sinhalese Buddhists are concerned. Do they have reason to be? Yet the concerns of Buddhists are never given an unbiased voice in the mainstream media and instead Sinhalese Buddhists are labeled as “racist”, “extremist” and even “militant”. […]

Part of the demonstration ( photo: Divaina) by DBS JeyarajThe recurring phenomenon of orchestrated demonstrations against “Halal”labelled foods, Muslim owned businesses and Muslim places of worship by organized groups of Buddhist Clergy and Laity took a different turn in Sri Lankas Northwestern Province of Wayamba on Thursday January 24th .A protest demonstration was staged by […]

by Dharisha BastiansConcerns are being raised internationally about the growing intolerance of Muslims, led by a Sinhala chauvinist group calling themselves the Bodhu Bala Sena with a heavy contingent of saffron-robed monks at their helm. The group is agitating against what it calls Muslim infiltration of the Sri Lankan food and cosmetics industry, the alleged […]

Bodu Bala Sena protest Muslim businessmen and corporate leaders expressed concern and disappointment over being targeted by the radical group ‘Bodu Bala Sena’, warning that it would have an adverse impact on the economy as the country struggles to mobilise both domestic and foreign investment while business chambers decried growing ultra-nationalistic sentiments in the country, […]

Hakeem slams hate campaign against MuslimsLeader of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and Minister of Justice Rauff Hakeem has slammed the hate campaign being carried out by some Buddhist monks against Muslims and also expressed dismay over the inability of the police to contain a protest staged by monks in Maharagama yesterday.Hakeem said that the derogatory […]

By Gamini Karunasena and Wasantha Rupasinghe President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government is again giving tacit support to communal provocations against Sri Lanka’s minorities in a bid to divide working people amid the country’s deepening economic and social crisis. This time, Muslims have become the main target of chauvinist groups. An organisation called Bodu Bala Sena, or […]

 Leaders of the ruling UPFA affiliates JHU and NFF have decided to promote a strong opinion within and outside the government against certain others’ supportive stance to the 13th amendment to the constitution. Patali Champika Ranawaka and Wimal Weerawansa announced at a media briefing in Colombo today (Nov. 07) they would forge a common front […]

Nalin de SilvaThe thirteenth amendment is in the limelight again. Soon after the Supreme Court decided that the Divineguma Bill should be approved by the Provincial Councils the writer in his column in The Island of Sept called for the abolition of the thirteenth amendment. A campaign for repealing it has gathered momentum after the […]

Warring to Police! by SLB How maitri (compassion) and ahimsa (non-violence) ended in a shower of stones! ‘My teacher is the Buddha. His teaching is about ahimsa, non-violence. Our actions are also based on that doctrine of ahimsa. As a country in which peace-loving people live, we do not like bloodshed. We do not like […]

Silva: A leading Sinhala nationalist ideologue Nalin de SilvaDivineguma bill should have opened the eyes of not only the government MPs but also of the others. The Supreme Court has decided that the Provincial Councils should approve the Bill before it is presented to Parliament. Some may argue that power would be concentrated in the […]

Hundreds of Sri Lankans protested Thursday against a visit by U.N. officials to discuss human rights issues during the country’s civil war. Monks led about 300 protesters from the Buddhist nationalist National Heritage Party during the demonstration opposite a local U.N. office. They complained Sri Lanka is being unfairly criticized for alleged abuses as the […]

Rathana Thera: Gaddafi faced trouble after allowing UN visit The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), which is an ally of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, said yesterday it was highly unwise on the part of the government to have permitted officials of the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) to visit Sri Lanka. Expressing its concern, […]

Barnabas is funding the construction of new churches in Sri Lanka Barnabas is funding the construction of new churches in Sri Lanka Vicious attacks targeting church leaders and the harassment of other Christian workers and church members are increasing the pressure on the vulnerable Christian community in Sri Lanka.On 9 August, a senior pastor and […]

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj A Leading Christian Pastor of the Assembly of Church (AOG) and his wife have been brutally attacked by a mob of around 40 persons at Deniyaya in the Matara district of the Southern Province on August 9th.The attack on the senior AOG pastor and wife was followed by another incident in Deniyaya where a […]

Muslim Congress leader, Minister of Justice, Rauff Hakeem is reported to have said at a public meeting at Kalmunai last Sunday that President Mahinda Rajapaksa should defeat ‘yellow robe terrorism’ just as he had defeated other forms of terrorism. This had caused much concern among certain sections of the Buddhists particularly among the Sangha. However, […]

Sri Lanka’s main Muslim party on Friday apologized for an anti-religious statement made in the run up to elections in September, a statement released by its leader said.  Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader and Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem apologized for a statement made regarding Buddhist monks engaging in politics and insisted that his words were […]

” Whatever possessed Minister Rauf Hakeem to condemn the Maha Sangha in such a manner, it can hardly be empathized with nor can it be easily forgiven. The statement comes to light at a time when the political leaders, the clergy as well as the people of this country are trying to lay aside their […]

By D.B.S.JeyarajIn a peculiarly aggressive display of “Saffron Terrorism” a mob led by a Buddhist Priest has deployed force and taken away a statue of the Elephant faced deity known as Pillaiyar in Tamil and Gana Deiyo in Sinhala from a Hindu temple in Panamai on the Eastern coastal district of Amparai.In a flagrant violation […]

by Patalai Champika Ranawaka” I have no issues with the Indian media. However, I cannot say the same for its politicians, especially those from Tamil Nadu. All political parties in Tamil Nadu have once again started a poisonous campaign to split Sri Lanka. The Tamil National Allaince (TNA) is aiding this attempt from this country”While […]

100 Mullaivaikal ! by Ranawaka  A controversial remark reportedly made by Sri Lankan Minister for Power and Energy, Champika Ranawaka has touched a raw nerve in Tamil Nadu. In a fax to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, DMK Chief Karunanidhi says the minister “threatened that one Mullaivaikal was enough and that no one should try to […]

A Sri Lankan cabinet minister has threatened with ‘hundred more massacres’ unless the island’s Tamil population avoid following the politics of the main Tamil parliamentary group. The warning came during a news conference on the 8 June in Colombo.“One Mullivaikkal is enough. Don’t try to get 100 more” said Power and Energy minister Champika Ranawaka, […]

A few persons introducing themselves as the officials of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) have walked into two mosques in Matara on Thursday and questioned the devotees there whether they were planning to stage any agitation against the government , according to Western Provincial Councillor Mujibur Rahman.  He said that certain racist elements were behind […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that PG Amila Tharanga Thilakaratne (14) a Year 9 student of Mahanama College Geatambe in the Kandy District was severely tortured by his teacher, a Buddhist monk. Amila was persecuted on a religious basis and is thus a victim of religious intolerance. Amila has been raised […]

The Jathika Hela Urumaya yesterday said that a parliamentary disciplinary committee headed by Senior Minister, D. E. W. Gunasekera should investigate TNA leader, R. Sampanthan, MP, for expressing separatist sentiments at the 14th Annual ITAK convention in Batticaloa recently. JHU National Organizer, Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe told The Island that the government and the parliament should […]

President of the Patriotic National Movement Dr Gunadasa Amarasekera yesterday said that the statement made by TNA leader R. Sampanthan at the annual ITAK Convention in Urani was a violation of the constitution and warrants his expulsion from parliament.The PNM leader said that the comments made by Sampanthan were very serious and President should not […]

By Nirmal Ranjith DewasiriThe recent attack led by Buddhist monks on the Khairya Jumma mosque located in the so-called “sacred zone” of the Dambulla rock temple in the central province is important even though it did not develop into a larger scale clash between the Buddhist and Muslim communities of Sri Lanka.The Dambulla Khairya Jummah […]

”The people of this country have resorted to protests to win their rights. We live in a country where even a letter written to a department goes without acknowledgement. Therefore the people have to resort to these kind of things.”Ven.Inamaluwe Sumangala Thero Interviewed by Niranjala AriyawanshaVen. Inamaluwe Sumangala Thero, the Chief Priest at the Rangiri […]