concerned" about next week’s debate in Sri Lanka’s parliament to amend the constitution to make "Buddhism the state religion."
"We are extremely concerned at this latest development," CSW’s Advocacy Director Alexa Papadouris told BosNewsLife. "In recent years we have been monitoring these events very closely, and have highlighted our concerns over anti-Christian violence and proposed anti-conversion legislation."
The 19th Amendment, which was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in December 2004, has been placed on the Parliamentary Order Paper for a Second Reading on October 4, CSW said.
BUDDHISM "FOREMOST"
While Sri Lanka’s Constitution accords Buddhism the "foremost place", it does not recognize any religion as "the state religion", CSW noted. It said religious rights were currently protected in the constitution and that the "proposed 19th Amendment raises serious concerns that religious freedom could be undermined."
The debate comes shortly after about 1,000 Buddhist monks marched through the streets of Colombo this month to demand anti-conversion legislation that calls for prison sentences of up to five years and high fines for anyone found guilty of converting others "by force or by allurement or by any fraudulent means."
It also encourages members of the public to report cases of suspected forced conversion. CSW suggested that the constitutional amendment would be in line with the controversial proposed anti conversion law. It would make Buddhism the "official religion" and stresses that "other forms of religions and worship may be practiced in peace and harmony with Buddha Sasana".
ANTI-CONVERSION
"The proposed constitutional amendment…would introduce anti-conversion legislation through the back door [and] would be a serious setback for religious freedom and human rights in Sri Lanka," Papadouris said. "It also represents a clear breach of Sri Lanka’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We urge the Sri Lankan Parliament to defeat this proposal, and to uphold fundamental human rights," the CSW official added.
While freedom of worship would be protected under the constitutional amendment "the exercise of worship shall not contravene public order or offend morals." Buddhists would be required to raise their children as Buddhists, and conversion of Buddhists to other religions would be prohibited, CSW said.
The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) has reportedly described the proposed constitutional clauses as imposing "fetters on the freedom of worship of non-Buddhists" and "violated the absolute freedom of religion granted to all citizens." There is also concern about violence against Christians.
INTERNATIONAL CONCERN
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has said that "in the past two years, over 140 churches have been forced to close down due to attack, intimidation, and harassment." The USCIRF stressed that "particularly in the rural areas, there are reports that Christian churches have been desecrated or burned to the ground and individuals have been physically assaulted by mobs."
Sri Lanka’s upcoming parliamentary debate has been linked to anger within the Buddhist establishment over the spread of Christianity in the country. The hard-line Buddhist Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), or National Heritage Party, has accused Christian "ultra fundamentalists groups" of offering "money and other financial benefits to our poor people" in exchange for conversion.
In published remarks the JHU stressed that "Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country with 70% of its inhabitants practicing the teachings of Lord Buddha." Evangelical Christians argue that they do not force Buddhists to accept the Christian faith as this would be against the Bible and everyone has in their words "to make a personal choice to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior." (With BosNewsLife Research, BosNewsLife News Center and reports from Sri Lanka).
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