For Sri Lanka’s prime minister, Buddhism will be dominant in constitution, but minorities ask not to be ignored

Discussions are underway in Sri Lanka over changes to the 1978 constitution. Ranil Wikremasinghe tried to reassure some 70 Buddhist monks who made serious threats. For Anglican clergyman, “The ideal would be to separate state and religion." For Muslim leader in Colombo, “it is political drama”.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wikremasinghe said that Buddhism will remain the predominant religion in the new Constitution.

He spoke last week to silence the protests of some 70 radical Buddhist monks who had threatened serious consequences in case the new fundamental charter, which should replace the 1978 constitution, did not include special guarantees for their religion. Sadly, the issue is likely to divide even more a country already torn apart by 30 years of civil war.

With this in mind, AsiaNews spoke to a number of Christian and Muslim leaders. All reiterate the inalienable right to profess one’s own faith for "We are human beings, too."

Minorities want the government not to ignore them. For Rev Samuel J Ponniah, Anglican vicar at St John the Baptist's Church in Chundikulii, on the Jaffna Peninsula, "everyone has the right to express their opinion. The monks have done it in a democratic context. "

The “government elected in 2015 promised to change the Constitution,” he explained. “What would happen if it broke that promise? People in the past have already been cheated enough. The ideal would be to separate state and religion."

For Methodists and others, “Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. It is true that the Buddhists account for 70 per cent of the population (of 21 million), but it is equally true that there are many Muslims (9 per cent) as well as Christians and Hindus. The country must be secular. Only then will there be equality and unity."

According to Christian Migara Doss, a Christian lawyer, the prime minister’s words will only perpetuate "the dictatorship of the majority. We must understand our history and the national context. Promoting a single ethnic or religious group has always damaged the unity of the country."

For Hilmi Ahammod, a member of the Colombo Islamic Council, Wikremasinghe's statement "is political drama. That Buddhism is the dominant religion is already a fact. But religious minorities must have the freedom to profess their faith as they see fit. All religions have the same importance, and they must have the same respect, value, and freedom."

The prime minister gave the radical monks a small gift, said Fizal Raafiq, a Muslim businessman. “Now they are silent but will go back to screaming in the future.”

“We too are human beings and want to live in peace without fear of violence from Buddhists,” said some Muslims in the capital.

• sri lanka
• constitution
• religious freedom
• buddhism
• islam
• christianity
• radical monks
• ranil wikremasinghe