Mobs attacked five churches in the
southern district of Galle, Sri Lanka, on August 2. Initial information from
the Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (EASL) suggests the organized attack on
the churches is part of the government’s plan to introduce anti-conversion
legislation.
A Methodist church in Rathgama suffered an initial attack on July 27. Christians
who saw the crowd of 50 Buddhist monks and a number of young people moving
toward the church that morning alerted the police, who arrived on the scene in
time to prevent the monks from entering the building. The monks shouted abuse
at the Christians and threw stones at the church in retaliation.
The monks then issued an ultimatum to the Christians to tear down their church
by Saturday, August 2. If this was not done, they would return with a force of
400 monks and burn down the church themselves. One of the monks also threatened
that of a total of 18 churches in the district would be destroyed.
Police warned the monks not to resort to violence and to present themselves for
an inquiry at the police station on August 2. Officers stood guard at the church
over the following two days, but protection was withdrawn due to a lack of
manpower.
Ten of the Buddhist monks arrived at the police station for the appointed
inquiry and were warned not to resort to violence. However after leaving the
police station, they headed directly to the Rathgama Methodist church and
launched an attack, throwing stones and destroying pews and benches in the
church. Monks beat two church workers, Mr. Mahesh and Mr. Richard Silva. The
men required hospital treatment for their injuries.
A Buddhist monk armed with a shovel chased another church member, Mr.
Ariyadasa, threatening to beat him to death. Ariyadasa managed to escape, but
the monks later attacked his home and destroyed furniture and other
possessions.
A police report was filed on the incidents, but at press time no arrests had
been made.
Local Buddhist villagers expressed anger at the attacks and have shown solid
support for the church. Since the attack, villagers have posted a nightly guard
to watch over the property.
Several other churches in the Galle district suffered attacks on August 2,
including the Assemblies of God in Thanamalwila and Lumugamvehera.
A mob led by 10 Buddhist monks attacked and beat Pastor Ranjith of
Lumugamvehera on the afternoon of August 2. His sister tried to protect him and
also suffered a beating. The monks threatened to attack again and kill the
pastor if the Christians failed to close down the church.
In Ganemulla, Christians’ homes were attacked. Another mob led by Buddhist
monks attacked the Calvary church in Hikkaduwa.
According to the EASL, the spate of attacks marks the beginning of an attempt
to incite Buddhists against the Christian community. This would create an
environment of religious disharmony which, in turn, would provide an excuse to
introduce new anti-conversion laws in the country.
Buddhist and Hindu groups in Sri Lanka have called for the introduction of
these laws for several years in an attempt to stop the growth of evangelical
churches. Until recently, governments have chosen not to enact such laws.
However in November 2002, Mr. Maheshwaran, the Hindu Cultural Affairs Minister,
made a visit to Tamil Nadu, one of five states in India with anti-conversion
laws. On his return to Sri Lanka, Maheshwaran made a public statement vowing to
introduce a bill in parliament to curb religious conversions.
In subsequent months, Maheshwaran repeated his intentions to introduce the bill
to parliament. A draft bill closely modeled on the Tamil Nadu anti-conversion
law has now been prepared, according to the EASL, leading to increased attacks
on Christian churches in recent months.