Colombo, a special police unit to investigate 'insults to religion'

It will focus on crimes spread through social media. The institution in the aftermath of the arrest of a controversial, self-proclaimed monk who allegedly mocked Buddhism. Marimuttu Sathivel, an Anglican priest and human rights activist, commented to AsiaNews: 'The real problem is extremist politicians who artfully create religiously motivated clashes.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – Sri Lanka has set up a special police unit to investigate insults towards religions in the country, following the arrest of a controversial pastor of a sect and a self-styled monk who had mocked Buddha and the Buddhism.

“A separate unit has been established within the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) to address complaints specifically related to insults to religion,” said Nihal Talduwa, spokesperson for the Sri Lanka Police Department.

He added: "The special unit will also focus on crimes committed against religion through social media." The country's police have made a telephone number, fax address and email available for citizens to report. In Sri Lanka, Buddhists make up 70.2% of the country's 22 million inhabitants, while Christians represent 6.1%.

The decision of the Colombo police comes in the aftermath of the arrest of a controversial and self-proclaimed monk known as "Vishwa Buddha" (Universal Buddha) on December 12 on charges of insulting Buddhism in a video uploaded to social media.

The man's real name is Manju Sri, a 34-year-old who also states in his posts on social media that "the robe of a monk is nothing more than a simple garment", which is why he appeared as a sign of "disfigurement" in a T-shirt.

Before Self-styled monk, Pastor Jerome Fernando was arrested on December 1 for saying during a sermon that "Buddha was actually looking to Jesus for advice and inspiration."

Fernando is the head of the Gloriosa Church sect which has a huge meeting place, the "Dome of Miracles", which can accommodate more than 5,000 people. The man considers himself a prophet of God and enjoys a large following among celebrities, especially cricketers.

These two arrests have generated a series of discussions in Sri Lanka on the limits of freedom of speech and the responsibility of individuals, particularly religious figures, to publish opinions on social media.

Commenting on the special police unit, the Rev. Marimuttu Sathivel, human rights activist and Anglican priest, told AsiaNews: "This special police division will not put an end to religious conflicts and insults because these are created by politicians. Unfortunately we have a constitution that protects these politicians who can create artfully religious clashes. It is useless to start new sections without providing answers to the real conflicts in progress".

An example of this is the Buddhist monk Ampitiye Sumana Thero who "in the eastern province is carrying out a campaign of incitement to racial hatred and to violence against Tamils," said Father Sathivel. Videos of the monk's outbursts went viral in Sri Lanka.

"On December 15, Thero set out to blockade and insult MPs in the district of Jaffna Kajendran and Ponnambalam who were going to the Mailattamadu area, after informing the provincial police. But how did the monk discover that trip, which only the police knew about? Simple the police informed him. So how can we expect positive things from them? This unity is just a facade for the international community,” Sathivel concluded.

In the photo: Sumana Thero blocking the caravan of parliamentarians

• Sri Lanka
• religious hatred