More than 300 protesters gathered in Colombo on Sunday, April 28 to demonstrate against the recent wave of attacks on Muslims and Christians in particular.
The protesters, which included religious leaders, politicians and activists holding signs reading "Hate has no place in Sri Lanka", called on participants and the government to put an end to religious hatred and violence.
"Extremist groups are promoting a culture of religiously motivated hatred and racism in our country and as it is now, they can operate freely. No one talks about these organizations," said a Buddhist monk named Baddegama Samitha Thero. "What they are doing is very harmful to the cohesion between the different religions."
Two Buddhist groups in the country - Bodhu Bala Sena and Rawana Balaya - are accused by activists of provoking religious tensions in society, such as trying to limit the supply of halal meat during a Buddhist festival in March and advocating for government regulation of Muslim dress recently.
The two groups are also accused of being behind a series of attacks on Christian and Muslim religious buildings, of which more than 60 have been attacked since January this year, according to evangelical pastor Rohan de S. Ekanayake and Muslim rights campaigner Arshad Nizamdeen.
Bodhu Bala Sena and Rawana Balaya have both denied inciting religious hatred or involvement in the attacks, instead blaming unnamed countries that they say support Christian and Muslim fundamentalist groups that pose a threat to Buddhists.
Despite this, local media reported earlier in April that members of Bodhu Bala Sena were distributing anti-Muslim pamphlets in Matara district.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in a recent address to the nation that his government would not tolerate racism or religious extremism in the country and called on the Buddhist majority to uphold minority rights. "This is a democratic country and non-Buddhists have the same rights and the same freedom," he said.
Buddhist Sinhalese make up three quarters of Sri Lanka's total population of 20 million, while Muslims make up only about 10 percent and Christians about 7.5 percent.
Source: Ucanews
