Tag: Maithripala Sirisena

Lawyer ordered to apologise or be barred from work after highlighting Sri Lanka’s intolerance

June 29, 2017 Sri Lanka Colombo, Lakshan Dias, Maithripala Sirisena, Protestants

The Sri Lankan government is facing criticism from human rights groups after ordering a lawyer to apologise and offer a retraction for comments he made in a TV interview, when he highlighted growing religious intolerance in the country. During the interview on 14 June, Lakshan Dias referenced a recent report . . . Read More

Sri Lanka: over 20 attacks on Christians this year

June 13, 2017 Sri Lanka Bodu Bala Sena, Buddhist nationalism, Maithripala Sirisena

There have been over 20 violent incidents against Christians so far this year, according to the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka. Following a parallel surge in violent attacks on Muslims in the country, the alliance calls on the government to ensure the protection of minorities and their places of worship. . . . Read More

‘Peaceful’ Buddhism’s violent face in Sri Lanka

October 10, 2016 Sri Lanka Bodu Bala Sena, Buddhist nationalism, Maithripala Sirisena

Image, ‘Buddha in front of wood fence,’ by Harminder Dhesi, 2010 CC License Thanks to its promotion by figures from Hollywood (Richard Gere) and Silicon Valley (Steve Jobs), Buddhism in the West presents a ‘peaceful’ face. Yet Christians in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka, as well as other minority religions, see things . . . Read More

Minorities fear backlash over Sri Lanka’s proposed new constitution

January 27, 2016 Sri Lanka Bodu Bala Sena, Buddhist nationalism, Constitution, Maithripala Sirisena

Sri Lanka’s minority religious groups are concerned after Buddhist hardliners reacted angrily to the President’s proposed new constitution. President Maithripala Sirisena’s new constitution, proposed on 9 Jan., would decentralise power in a bid to prevent ethnic tensions in the country, but Buddhist hardliners say it contains provisions that regulate the . . . Read More

Give all religions a voice, Pope urges Sri Lanka

January 14, 2015 Sri Lanka Buddhist nationalism, Catholics, Colombo, Maithripala Sirisena, Pope Francis, Sri Lanka

Religious freedom must be central to Sri Lanka’s future, Pope Francis urges on his arrival in the capital, Colombo. In his arrival speech at Colombo’s airport, he said that followers of various religious traditions “have an essential role to play” in the process of the country’s reconciliation and rebuilding, adding: “For that process . . . Read More

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