{"id":83668,"date":"2013-04-23T04:32:01","date_gmt":"2013-04-22T23:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=83668"},"modified":"2013-04-30T18:45:13","modified_gmt":"2013-04-30T13:15:13","slug":"wikileaks-party-of-extremist-buddhist-monks-stirs-up-tension-during-holiday-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-party-of-extremist-buddhist-monks-stirs-up-tension-during-holiday-season\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: Party Of Extremist Buddhist Monks Stirs Up Tension During Holiday Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

“The Buddhist extremist JHU party looks set to stir up religious tension during this holiday season. Its members have made several ultimatums to the government and say they will begin a ‘fast-unto-death’ if these demands are not met by December 12. The party is also actively planning commemorations for the one-year death anniversary of Soma Thero, an outspoken monk who was a lightning rod for Buddhist extremism. The Supreme Court will hear a challenge on December 7 to the JHU’s proposed constitutional amendment elevating Buddhism to the status of state religion. In the meantime, there have been attacks on three Christian churches since November 1, with a mixed response from the police. The Christian Affairs Ministry does not seem capable of staying informed about the various pieces of religious-related legislation or the attacks on churches. While the JHU is likely grandstanding for political attention, the upcoming anniversary of Soma Thero’s death is giving cause for some concern among Christians, but considerably less so than a year ago.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Soma Thero<\/p><\/div>\n

The Colombo Telegraph<\/a><\/span> found the related leaked cable from the\u00a0WikiLeaks<\/a><\/span>\u00a0database. The cable discusses the activities of the Jathika Hela Urumaya. The cable is classified as \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d and\u00a0written on December 04, 2004. The cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo\u00a0Jeffrey J. Lunstead<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

The ambassador wrote; “A Presidential investigation into the December 12, 2003 death in St. Petersburg Russia of Venerable Gangodawila Soma Thero (a marginal figure in the Buddhist clergy known for his extremist beliefs who advocated against everything, including Christianity, Hinduism, liquor, that he believed interfered with being a “pure” Buddhist); — A ban on liquor sales in all supermarkets; and — A date for its anti-conversion bill to be voted on in Parliament.”<\/p>\n

Placing a comment the ambassador wrote; “The GSL, as represented by the Buddhist and Christian Affairs ministries, seems to be adopting a head-in-the-sand approach to the JHU’s proposed amendment, apparently hoping, by refusing to acknowledge it, that it will disappear. While the JHU is likely grandstanding for political attention with all its actions, the upcoming anniversary of Soma Thero’s death is giving cause for some concern among Christians, but considerably less so than a year ago. The JHU, which had not been created at the time of Soma Thero’s death, seems to be trying to capitalize on Soma Thero’s death to rally support. The atmosphere in Colombo and around Sri Lanka at Christmas time 2003 was one of much greater fear and anxiety than today; attacks on churches in December 2003 were reaching a climax and there were reports of several incidents weekly. The situation has improved in a year, although not necessarily due to any improvement in relations among the different faiths. To some extent, the JHU and its followers have been able to channel their energy into the anti-conversion bill and the proposed constitutional amendment. With the general lack of support for these legislative efforts, the JHU has decided to create this public campaign to force the GSL to address its issues. It is unlikely the party will be successful.”<\/p>\n

Read the cable below for further details;<\/p>\n

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001952 \r\n\r\nSIPDIS \r\n\r\nDEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA\/INS, DRL, DRL\/IRF\r\nNSC FOR DORMANDY \r\n\r\nE.O. 12958: DECL: 12\/06\/2014\r\nTAGS: PGOV PREL KIRF CE\r\nSUBJECT: SRI LANKA:  PARTY OF EXTREMIST BUDDHIST MONKS\r\nSTIRS UP TENSION DURING HOLIDAY SEASON \r\n\r\nREF: COLOMBO 1895 AND PREVIOUS \r\n\r\nClassified By: James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of Mission.  1.4 (b,d) \r\n\r\n\u00b61.  (C) Summary:  The Buddhist extremist JHU party looks set\r\nto stir up religious tension during this holiday season.  Its\r\nmembers have made several ultimatums to the government and\r\nsay they will begin a \"fast-unto-death\" if these demands are\r\nnot met by December 12.  The party is also actively planning\r\ncommemorations for the one-year death anniversary of Soma\r\nThero, an outspoken monk who was a lightning rod for Buddhist\r\nextremism.  The Supreme Court will hear a challenge on\r\nDecember 7 to the JHU's proposed constitutional amendment\r\nelevating Buddhism to the status of state religion.  In the\r\nmeantime, there have been attacks on three Christian churches\r\nsince November 1, with a mixed response from the police.  The\r\nChristian Affairs Ministry does not seem capable of staying\r\ninformed about the various pieces of religious-related\r\nlegislation or the attacks on churches.  While the JHU is\r\nlikely grandstanding for political attention, the upcoming\r\nanniversary of Soma Thero's death is giving cause for some\r\nconcern among Christians, but considerably less so than a\r\nyear ago.  End Summary. \r\n\r\nChristmas in Colombo\r\n-------------------- \r\n\r\n\u00b62.  (SBU) Despite statistics showing only eight percent of\r\nSri Lankans are Christian, the Christmas season is in full\r\nswing in Colombo.  Building facades are decorated with\r\nlights, shop windows are adorned with garlands, and some of\r\nthe larger retail outlets would rival the atmosphere of a\r\nU.S. department store in December.  The Buddhist extremist\r\nJathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) party, with nine monks in\r\nParliament, has different sentiments about this holiday\r\nseason and is raising a ruckus on several fronts. \r\n\r\nThe JHU and its political relevance\r\n----------------------------------- \r\n\r\n\u00b63.  (C) In addition to the JHU's recent proposal to give\r\nBuddhism the status of state religion through constitutional\r\namendment (see below), the party's MPs have been vocally\r\npressing other ultimatums.  Several of the JHU monks have\r\npublicly announced that they will start a \"fast-unto-death\"\r\nif the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) does meet their demands\r\nby December 12.  They want:\r\n-- A Presidential investigation into the December 12, 2003\r\ndeath in St. Petersburg Russia of Venerable Gangodawila Soma\r\nThero (a marginal figure in the Buddhist clergy known for his\r\nextremist beliefs who advocated against everything, including\r\nChristianity, Hinduism, liquor, that he believed interfered\r\nwith being a \"pure\" Buddhist);\r\n-- A ban on liquor sales in all supermarkets; and\r\n-- A date for its anti-conversion bill to be voted on in\r\nParliament. \r\n\r\n\u00b64.  (C) Most contentious, perhaps, is the issue of Soma\r\nThero's death.  Since his death and cremation ceremony on\r\nDecember 24, 2003, extremist Buddhists have alleged that a\r\nChristian conspiracy was responsible for his death although\r\nthere is no evidence of this.  GSL medical officials\r\nconducted an autopsy and ruled his death was due to natural\r\ncauses -- he was in poor health and traveled against doctors'\r\nadvice.  With the one-year anniversary of his death\r\napproaching, JHU members and other Buddhists are planning\r\ncommemoration ceremonies and rallies.  As with his death last\r\nyear, Christians are concerned that this anniversary could\r\nagain foment anti-Christian sentiment.  (Many interlocutors\r\nfeel that the heavy police presence and government\r\ndenouncement of potential violence prevented the attacks\r\nfeared last Christmas Eve.) \r\n\r\nSupreme Court and the proposed constitutional amendment\r\n--------------------------------------------- ---------- \r\n\r\n\u00b65.  (C) Compared with the public clamor over the JHU's\r\nprevious religious anti-conversion bill, there has been\r\nlittle public discussion of the party's recently proposed\r\nconstitutional amendment to make Buddhism a state religion\r\n(see reftel).  There also seems to be little awareness of the\r\nSupreme Court hearing on the proposed amendment, scheduled\r\nfor December 7.  Contacts in the Christian Affairs Ministry,\r\nas well as the Catholic Church and some other Christian\r\ngroups, told poloff on December 6 that they did not know\r\nabout the upcoming case before the Supreme Court.\r\nAlternatively, interlocutors representing Hindus,\r\nevangelicals, and long-established Anglican congregations\r\nrecently told poloff they would instead choose to support the\r\npetition filed by the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a\r\nlocal think tank challenging the proposed amendment in the\r\ncourt.  Since the proposed amendment is more than a\r\n\"Christian issue,\" none of the Christian groups wanted to be\r\nseen opposing the amendment individually.  (Note:  There has\r\nbeen little public debate on the proposed amendment, largely\r\nbecause there has been little media reporting on it.  Of\r\nthose aware of the issue however, we have not met any\r\ninterlocutors -- of any faith -- who think this amendment is\r\na good idea.  Institutionally, the JHU supports the\r\namendment, although it is struggling with internal dissension\r\non the issue.  End Note.) \r\n\r\n\u00b66.  (C) There has been no official stance by the GSL on the\r\nJHU's proposed amendment.  In a December 6 conversation with\r\npoloff, D.W. Abeywickrama, Secretary to the Buddhist Affairs\r\nMinistry, said that since the amendment is a private member's\r\neffort, his ministry had not been asked for its view.  He\r\nadmitted he had seen the draft amendment but had not studied\r\nit in detail and, therefore, could not say what the GSL's\r\nofficial view would be.  He indicated that the ministry would\r\nwait for direction from the Supreme Court's ruling before\r\ntaking a stand.  Officials at the Christian Affairs Ministry\r\nwill not comment on the amendment since they state it \"has\r\nnot been officially referred\" to them.  Following the Supreme\r\nCourt hearing, the JHU amendment will likely follow a track\r\nsimilar to the group's anti-conversion legislation:  review\r\nand revision in the Attorney General's Department before\r\nbeing returned to Parliament for a reading a possible vote.\r\nAt present, there is no timeframe for a vote, but it is\r\nunlikely to occur in the short term. \r\n\r\nAttacks continuing on churches\r\n------------------------------ \r\n\r\n\u00b67.  (C) While the efforts to legislate cultural and religious\r\ndifferences between the various faiths in Sri Lanka play out,\r\nthere remains a separate, but related tension exhibited in\r\nthe continuing attacks on Christian churches.  Since November\r\n1, three Christian churches have been attacked.  In the most\r\negregious incident, intruders attacked a pastor and his\r\nfamily at the Margaya Fellowship Church in Matugama, located\r\napproximately 45 miles south of Colombo.  While this is not\r\nthe first incident of harassment against this church, on this\r\noccasion, the attackers hacked off the pastor's wife's hair\r\nwith a sword before setting fire to parts of their residence.\r\n Police have not made any arrests to date.  More recently,\r\nthe Assembly of God church in Yakkala (some 30 miles east of\r\nColombo) was attacked on November 14.  The pastor informed\r\nthe police that he recognized the alleged Buddhist\r\nperpetrators from previous attacks on the church, but the\r\npolice have claimed they do not have any evidence to arrest\r\nanyone.  On December 2, the Believers' Church in Kuliyapitiya\r\n(60 miles northeast of Colombo) was attacked; the pastor was\r\nthreatened and the church was vandalized.  Police initially\r\ndetained three people for questioning, but released them\r\nafter the pastor agreed not to press charges in exchange for\r\nassurances of no further harassment. \r\n\r\nLittle advocacy from the Christian Affairs Ministry\r\n--------------------------------------------- ------ \r\n\r\n\u00b68.  (C) Recent discussions with officials at the Ministry of\r\nChristian Affairs suggest that attacks on independent\r\nevangelical congregations fall below the Ministry's radar\r\nscreen.  Ministry Secretary Manel Kuruppu told poloff\r\nrecently that outside of the Catholic Church and the National\r\nChristian Council (NCC), which represents long-established\r\nAnglican churches, her ministry had little contact with\r\nevangelical or other Christian groups.  Her argument was that\r\nthose groups are not represented by umbrella organizations\r\nand the ministry thus cannot be expected to speak with each\r\nchurch and organization individually.  She said she had not\r\ncommunicated with NCEASL and was not aware of the National\r\nChristian Fellowship, which also represents a segment of\r\nevangelical churches.  (Note:  More disturbing, she did not\r\nseem inclined to initiate contact with them either.)\r\nYogarajah confirmed Ms. Kuruppu's comments, stating that\r\nNCEASL had a representative on an intra-ministerial committee\r\nunder the prior United National Party (UNP) government, but\r\nhad only spoken with ministry officials \"a few times\" since\r\nthe April 2004 change in government. \r\n\r\n\u00b69.  (C) Regarding the various pieces of religious-related\r\nlegislation, Ms. Kuruppu was not familiar with the current\r\nstatus of the JHU's anti-conversion bill nor had any input to\r\na similar bill that the GSL was drafting.  She assumed that\r\nthe Attorney General's Department would refer any related\r\nmatter to the minister before sending it to Parliament and,\r\ntherefore, would not comment on anything until it had been\r\nofficially referred to the minister.  (Note:  In trying to\r\ndetangle the legal process for these bills, we have not heard\r\nthat it is a requirement for the Christian Affairs Ministry\r\nto be consulted.)  When asked about the process of developing\r\na response to any legislation, Kuruppu said that Minister\r\nwould not comment until he had conferred with the Catholic\r\nChurch and the NCC. \r\n\r\n\u00b610.  (C) Separately, when asked about the November 1 attack\r\non the Matugama Church, ministry officials said they had no\r\nknowledge of the incident, despite reporting in several local\r\nEnglish-language papers.  Kuruppu told poloff that the\r\nministry would ask the police directly to report on any\r\nattack on a church.  During a follow-up December 6\r\nconversation, another ministry official told poloff she was\r\nnot aware of the latest attacks (see para 7) and asked for a\r\nfax with the relevant information. \r\n\r\nComment\r\n------- \r\n\r\n\u00b611.  (C) The GSL, as represented by the Buddhist and\r\nChristian Affairs ministries, seems to be adopting a\r\nhead-in-the-sand approach to the JHU's proposed amendment,\r\napparently hoping, by refusing to acknowledge it, that it\r\nwill disappear.  While the JHU is likely grandstanding for\r\npolitical attention with all its actions, the upcoming\r\nanniversary of Soma Thero's death is giving cause for some\r\nconcern among Christians, but considerably less so than a\r\nyear ago.  The JHU, which had not been created at the time of\r\nSoma Thero's death, seems to be trying to capitalize on Soma\r\nThero's death to rally support.  The atmosphere in Colombo\r\nand around Sri Lanka at Christmas time 2003 was one of much\r\ngreater fear and anxiety than today;  attacks on churches in\r\nDecember 2003 were reaching a climax and there were reports\r\nof several incidents weekly.  The situation has improved in a\r\nyear, although not necessarily due to any improvement in\r\nrelations among the different faiths.  To some extent, the\r\nJHU and its followers have been able to channel their energy\r\ninto the anti-conversion bill and the proposed constitutional\r\namendment.  With the general lack of support for these\r\nlegislative efforts, the JHU has decided to create this\r\npublic campaign to force the GSL to address its issues.  It\r\nis unlikely the party will be successful.  End Comment. \r\n\r\nLUNSTEAD<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":83669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2187,1,2375,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-most-popular","category-news","category-stories","category-wikileaks"],"yoast_head":"\nWikiLeaks: Party Of Extremist Buddhist Monks Stirs Up Tension During Holiday Season - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-party-of-extremist-buddhist-monks-stirs-up-tension-during-holiday-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WikiLeaks: Party Of Extremist Buddhist Monks Stirs Up Tension During Holiday Season - 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