The Sri Lankan Government has agreed to a request by the United States to shelve the controversial Anti-Conversion Bill, the Daily Mirror reported Monday.
A top US State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity said extensive discussions were held with the Sri Lankan government to express US concerns before receiving a positive reply.
However he said it was up to the Sri Lankan Government to translate the pledge into action now.
The development comes in the wake of a call by the hardline monks’ party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), to table the Anti-Conversion Bill in Parliament before the November 17 Presidential poll.
The JHU this week accused the United States of “blatant interference” in Sri Lankan affairs and of shamelessly coercing the government to shelve the bill.
Accused the US of interfering in religious affairs and human rights in Sri Lanka, JHU policy maker Champika Ranawaka told The Island newspaper that religious fundamentalism is strong in the United States and people practicing Islam are discriminated against there.
The State Department official told the Daily Mirror in addition to the Sri Lankan government officials, discussions were held with representatives of various religious groups - including Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims.
He observed that although several of these representatives spoke of instances where alleged unethical conversions had taken place, when asked for evidence, none could provide any.
The official added that any legislation banning unethical conversion as in the case of six states in India, always had the tendency to be abused by authorities and that the issue had been raised even in the Sri Lanka chapter of the 2005 US International Religious Freedom report, due this week.
The Freedom of Religion Bill, widely known as the “Anti Conversion Bill” that was gazetted on June 27.
It was presented to Parliament last year by the government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga to pre-empt the Bill Against Forcible Conversion presented by the JHU.
Claiming to protect the freedom of religion, the bill, paradoxically, seeks to prohibit ‘unethical’ conversions through compulsion or coercion from one religion to another.
It clearly targets Sri Lanka’s Christian communities. The bill declares, for example, that if the offence is committed by a body of persons all members of the body are deemed to be guilty unless they are able to prove that it was committed without their knowledge.
Christian groups had expressed “deep concern and regret” when the bill was proposed, arguing it would “enforce limitations on religious freedom, legitimise violence and harassment of minority religious groups and further de-fragment our already divided society.”
The UN has also expressed concern at these moves. A United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief had warned that bill could result in the “persecution of religious minorities” instead of protecting and promoting religious tolerance.
A top US State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity said extensive discussions were held with the Sri Lankan government to express US concerns before receiving a positive reply.
However he said it was up to the Sri Lankan Government to translate the pledge into action now.
The development comes in the wake of a call by the hardline monks’ party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), to table the Anti-Conversion Bill in Parliament before the November 17 Presidential poll.
The JHU this week accused the United States of “blatant interference” in Sri Lankan affairs and of shamelessly coercing the government to shelve the bill.
Accused the US of interfering in religious affairs and human rights in Sri Lanka, JHU policy maker Champika Ranawaka told The Island newspaper that religious fundamentalism is strong in the United States and people practicing Islam are discriminated against there.
The State Department official told the Daily Mirror in addition to the Sri Lankan government officials, discussions were held with representatives of various religious groups - including Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims.
He observed that although several of these representatives spoke of instances where alleged unethical conversions had taken place, when asked for evidence, none could provide any.
The official added that any legislation banning unethical conversion as in the case of six states in India, always had the tendency to be abused by authorities and that the issue had been raised even in the Sri Lanka chapter of the 2005 US International Religious Freedom report, due this week.
The Freedom of Religion Bill, widely known as the “Anti Conversion Bill” that was gazetted on June 27.
It was presented to Parliament last year by the government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga to pre-empt the Bill Against Forcible Conversion presented by the JHU.
Claiming to protect the freedom of religion, the bill, paradoxically, seeks to prohibit ‘unethical’ conversions through compulsion or coercion from one religion to another.
It clearly targets Sri Lanka’s Christian communities. The bill declares, for example, that if the offence is committed by a body of persons all members of the body are deemed to be guilty unless they are able to prove that it was committed without their knowledge.
Christian groups had expressed “deep concern and regret” when the bill was proposed, arguing it would “enforce limitations on religious freedom, legitimise violence and harassment of minority religious groups and further de-fragment our already divided society.”
The UN has also expressed concern at these moves. A United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief had warned that bill could result in the “persecution of religious minorities” instead of protecting and promoting religious tolerance.
