The WICCC, a platform of churches, pastors, ministries, Christian schools and individual members in 76 nations, reacted to reports that Pastor Christian Velu Selvarajah and Stephen Thomas were to face a court hearing Thursday, June 7, for allegedly destroying two small statues of Buddha placed by the roadside at Unkelipitiya and Thalathuoya, in Kandy
district.
The chief monk at a local Buddhist temple has accused the men of destroying the two small statues and claims to have two eye-witnesses to the attack. However human rights watchers have linked the charges to the Christians’ activities as officials of the Mt. Carmel Theological College in Kandy.
The men were detained May 27 along with Pastor Suresh Ramachandran, principal of the college, who was released the next day after authorities learned he had a clear alibi, Christian news agency Compass Direct News said.
PRAYER TOWER
It came shortly after unknown persons set fire to the Prayer Tower Church in Karawilawelpitiya of Sri Lanka’s Puttlam district in the early hours of May 12, the news agency added.
Flames reportedly consumed the simple wooden walls and thatched roof of the church, along with the pulpit, carpets, drapes and banners.
Buddhist monks and individual groups have launched a wave of violent attacks against Christian churches and individuals since 2002, apparently seeking to discourage a growing number of conversions to Christianity.
Human rights investigators logged at least 160 such attacks by the end of May 2006.
CULTURAL MINISTER
In November 2002, T.E. Maheshwaran, Hindu Cultural Affairs minister, reportedly vowed to introduce anti-conversion legislation to Sri Lanka modeled on similar laws in India. Senior Buddhist monks supported this idea and soon launched their own legal campaign.
The WICCC said in a statement to BosNewsLife that it would continue to expose "these injustices to local governments, national governments and when necessary directly to the Human Rights Commissioner of the United Nation and the United States Department of State."
Nearly 74 percent of the island’s 19 million people are Sinhalese and about 18 percent are Tamils, who predominate in the north and parts of the east, according to church sources.
About 70 percent of the people are Buddhists and 15 percent Hindus. The seven percent who are Christians come from both ethnic groups, while the slightly larger Muslim community is considered a separate group, analysts say. Besides reports of persecution, Christians in Sri Lanka are also increasingly in the cross-fire in fighting between Sri Lanka’s security forces and independence seeking Tamil rebels. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from the region).
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