COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — More than 1,000 Buddhist monks staged a protest in Sri Lanka Sept. 20, asking that anti-conversion legislation be put back on the parliamentary agenda before presidential elections scheduled for Nov. 17. Two anti-conversion bills — one proposed by the Buddhist Jathika Hela Urumaya(JHU, or National Heritage Party) — were presented to Parliament earlier this year but were put on hold. The JHU bill called for prison sentences of up to five years and/or a stiff fine for anyone found guilty of converting others “by force or by allurement or by any fraudulent means.” It also encouraged members of the public to report cases of suspected forced conversion.
As of January 2005, more than 170 attacks on Christian individuals or institutions have taken place since a Buddhist campaign against religious conversions began in earnest in 2003.
Share with others: