Leader of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (an ultra-nationalist Sri Lankan political party), Udaya Gammanpila, has alleged a global and well-financed conspiracy to denigrate Buddhism.
In his speech at the party headquarters yesterday, Gammanpila claimed that “leaders and priests of other religions fearlessly insult Buddhism” adding that “secularists who insult Buddhism also receive money from abroad”.
The statement comes as there is increasing alarm of Buddhist majoritarianism in Sri Lanka.
The US State Department latest report on religious freedom has raised concerns over religious discrimination noting numerous reports of religious motivated attacks against Christians, Hindus and Muslims. Citing the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL), the report notes that in “many of the incidents, police or other state actors played a role, and in cases of intimidation or attacks by Buddhist groups on Christian churches, police often said the pastors were to blame”.
Tamils across the North and East have continued to protest against the imposition of Buddhist viharas on their land.
Gammapila further alleged that individuals were dressing up in robes to impersonate Buddhist monks and claimed that he would push the government to make illegal for anyone who is not a monk to wear religious robes.
Last October, extremist Sinhala Buddhist monk, Ampitiye Sumanarathana, was caught on camera threatening to kill all of the Tamils in the South.
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