HYDERABAD, India, March 18, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Buddhist nationalists in Sri Lanka are disrupting Christian worship based on mistaken notions that churches need prior permission for services, sources said.
There is no law requiring registration of worship places in Sri Lanka, but in 2017 the country’s Supreme Court upheld a 2008 circular demanding all newly constructed places of worship obtain prior approval. That circular, issued by the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religion Affairs, exempts “traditional religions” but does not define them, leaving local authorities to discriminate against non-Buddhist faiths and block their right to worship, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief Ahmed Shaheed wrote in a Feb. 28 report.
“Evangelical Christian churches in particular continue to report pressure and harassment by local authorities to close down places of worship because they were not registered,” Shaheed reported. “Their prayer meetings and worship activities are also routinely denied permission to take place. Moreover, intimidation and attacks against clergy and church members, desecration of evangelical churches and interference with religious activities are also perpetrated by local villagers and Buddhist monks.”
Sri Lanka’s religion ministry subsequently ruled that the circular on registration and construction of religious…
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