Sri Lanka

Even as Sri Lanka is engaged in a difficult process of post-civil-war reconciliation, disturbing reports are emerging of Christians being targeted for persecution by Buddhist fundamentalists.

In Sri Lanka, and many other countries, Christians need only be accused of forcibly converting someone to Christianity to validate a mob attack or arrest. In this situation a woman was accused of being paid by a pastor to convert. When she replied she had “become a Christian based on conviction and was not paid to do so,” the angry mob beat the pastor again anyway.

While it is unclear if the recent harassment of Sri Lankans on a Christian pilgrimage in India was based on religious or ethnic grounds, the way it happened is very typical of India. This article briefly discusses Sri Lanka’s reaction to the attack of their people.

“A tense situation prevails in the area with the minority Christian community fearing further attacks led by persons who are clearly acting above the law.” - National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL)

A Pastor in Sri Lanka was severely injured when a mob of 40 people, accusing him of “spreading Christianity” and paying people to convert, “viciously” beat him. 

Religious freedom is under constant threat of extinction in Sri Lanka. In this situation a Buddhist professor has received death threats, and Christians have risen to defend him. They said, "In view of recent cases of abductions and disappearances, the threats against Prof Devasiri worry us." This is because if the rights of the Buddhist are not defended, neither will the rights of Christians. They go on to say, “The government cannot allow such things. It must promote freedom of thought and freedom of expression, which are fundamental principles in every democracy.” We are inclined to agree with them.

A Christian Sri Lankan has won a “Citizens Peace Award” for her work promoting human rights, fighting discrimination, including discrimination against religion, and doing it all in a peaceful way. We send our congratulations and pray that Sri Lanka will indeed see an end to religious discrimination and a full return to human rights for everyone.

Displaced during war, the government has relegated these 145 Christian families to the jungle instead of allowing them to “enjoy the resettlement programs promoted by the government” as Internally Displaced People (IDP).  Would they have received better treatment if they weren’t Catholic?  “What crime could these people have ever committed, to live like animals?”

A 14 year old boy was “severely assaulted… [until he] was bleeding from his left ear.” The monk who assaulted the boy was teaching a religion class at school. Legally the boy, being Catholic, didn’t have to be involved in the class, however the monk harassed him.  The boys teachers told him not to tell anyone and refused to give him medical attention. It wasn’t until her returned home and began vomiting that his parents were able to take him to the hospital.  

With civil war over, Sri Lanka is moving towards peace and democracy. The Sri Lankan government has been asked to ensure equality for all walks of faith.  "Protection of religious freedom is essential if Sri Lanka is to move forward as a nation," said Release International UK director Colin King.

Christians in Sri Lanka have been attacked by Buddhists and Hindus who have declared their ways of spreading religion ‘unethical.’  At times “forceful intimidation” has been used to stop Christians from building places of worship. This new bill, which was submitted to parliament, asks for the constitution to be amended to “prevent priests or religious leaders of any faith from becoming members of parliament or local government bodies.” It begs the question: Is this just another way to suppress religious freedom in Sri Lanka?

Christians have been leaders in defending the rights of the Tamil people and Christians in Sri Lanka. The current regime has declared they will “break the bones” of any one defying them. As a result, “More than a dozen Christian ministers have “disappeared”, suspected to have been abducted and murdered...” The editor of the only paper to criticize the regime was even murdered in broad daylight. Please pray for these brave people as they speak up for those who are being discriminated against; turning themselves into targets for this anti-Christian regime.

An Anglican priest in Sri Lanka believes the third child subsidie is an attempt to create a Sinhalese and Buddhist majority population.