Sri Lankan authorities have denied entry to a British tourist into the country over a Buddha tattoo on his arm, deemed to be ‘disrespectful’.
42-year-old Antony Ratcliffe from Nottingham was “shocked and upset” over the decision, over what he said was “inoffensive” body art meant to be a tribute.
Speaking to the BBC he said,
"As soon as he saw it the chief officer went crazy. You could see it on his face, he looked really angry and said I would have to go back to London… They took my passport and held me there for an hour and a half. All the time they were bringing people in to look at my arm, and they were shaking their heads.”
"I was explaining my case, pleading basically, and the chief officer just told me to 'shut up, shut up' and he refused to talk to me.”
"I like the artwork in tattoos obviously and, due to my belief in Buddhist philosophy which I have followed for many years, I thought a quality tattoo of the Buddha was rather apt. It wasn't something I took lightly or did on the spur of the moment."
"The whole experience has been a shock - it has been upsetting and a waste of my time. I'm not taking it further, but when I saw they had accused me of speaking disrespectfully about Buddhism, I had to put my side of the story"
See our earlier post: Police arrest tourist for Buddha tattoo (11 February 2013)
