Waiting for a response from you to my post of December 18, 2009 @ 11:59 pm

My post dated December 8, 2009 @ 4:08 pm was addressed to whom I thought to be Mahesan Niranjan.

It dealt with the subject of what was erroneously claimed to be the “Anti Conversion Bill”.

That name is a misnomer used by trouble makers as there is NO anti conversion bill.

What is on the cards is an “Anti FORCIBLE Conversion Bill” and no religion is named in it.

It applies equally to FORCIBLE conversions from Catholics/Islam/Buddhism /etc to another. Leaving out the word “FORCIBLE” is mischievous. It does not apply to conversions per se but ONLY to “Forcible” conversions.

It is not Honest to extract a phrase used in the above discussion and use it out of context in the fashion that you have done.

You say that you are a Sinhalese and I believe that you are a different Niranjan as the person to whom I addressed my post was a Tamil, some of whose posts I have admired and commended on this site.

It also means that you have no answer to the arguments made about the “Anti FORCIBLE conversion bill”

However let me answer your query

I too am a Sinhalese and studied with Tamils and other minorities in the same class in the Science stream. The Sinhalese formed the majority naturally.

When we were class mates (and even now) ETHNICITY never crossed my mind and I believe my Tamil friends reciprocated that feeling. We shared our lunch with each other, went to see films together and generaly hung out together. Many are professionals in our respective fields.

You state
There are some Sinhalese who I know who would prefer the tamils to go back to India and according to such people Tamils belong there and not here. They may not tell that to the face of the Tamils, but that is what I hear during conversations. Now tell me is that not a case of discrimination and second class treatment?
Unquote

Are you trying to tell the GV readership that Tamils with similar views are EXTINCT?

You further state
I will give you another example. There are Sinhalese parents who do not wish their children to marry Tamil people. Why is that so ? Is it not because they consider Tamils to be different.
Unquote

Do you mean that ALL Tamil parents do not object to Tamils marrying Sinhalese and only Sinhalese parents object? Are you not being very naive to make this type of statement?

I do not know where you live but Brahmin Tamils did not even offer drinking water to lower cast Tamils in their house. They did not even want them crossing their boundary fence. Have you not heard of the UNTOUCHABLES? Would a Brahmin Tamil allow their child to marry another TAMIL from a untouchable cast let alone a Sinhalese?

Remember the infamous Suntheralingam who prevented the Lower Cast Tamils from entering a Hindu Kovil to worship? He was prosecuted and fined by the Supreme court in order to provide religious freedom to the low cast Tamils.

EVERY Country has their share of extremists. Name one that does not have any.

Making sweeping GENERALIZATIONS taking a few cases to demonize a population of over 15 million is hardly fair comment

Please keep your DIVISIVE openions to yourself without inflaming Ethnic feelings.

The SL CONSTITUTION is the SUPREME LAW of Sri Lanka.
Prove that it treats ANY MINORITY as SECOND CLASS Citizens.

Get the aggrieved parties to File Fundamental Rights cases in the Supreme Court. Eminent Tamil Lawyers can appear free and show the UNHRC that Sri Lanka indeed treats her Minorities as second class.

Why is this avenue not exploited?
Is there a dearth of brilient Tamil Lawyers that can fight a Fundamental Rights Case in the Supreme Court?

Take the Fight to the Supreme Court and prove to the WORLD that Sri Lanka is indeed Racist?

Are there no takers of that challenge?

“Where is the 2nd class treatment?”-

There are some Sinhalese who I know who would prefer the tamils to go back to India and according to such people Tamils belong there and not here. They may not tell that to the face of the Tamils, but that is what I hear during conversations.
Now tell me is that not a case of discrimination and second class treatment? I know there are constitutional guarantees but some Sinhalese need to change their attitudes towards Tamils. Changing attitudes has to come through education and parents in the case of children. Children of racist parents tend to pick up racist ideas along the way in some cases. That is very unhealthy for any country.

I will give you another example. There are Sinhalese parents who do not wish their children to marry Tamil people. Why is that so ? Is it not because they consider Tamils to be different. It is better for a Sinhalese who marries a Tamil to live abroad preferably in the West because they will be accepted in those countries. They will not get that same acceptance here.

I am a Sinhalese, but I have respect for the minorities.

Well said. I am a non-Buddhist as well. If the Government was not receiving (begging) aid money from the West, it would be tearing down all the Churches, mosques, kovils, etc. This is the funny thing about SL. The nationalists try to call it a “Buddhist” nation, but it is dependent on the “Christian” West to build a road, buy weapons, etc. etc. The only thing that this “Buddhist” nation has ever been self-sufficient in is rice, and that was a few thousand years ago, lol. Now it must import cheap rice from Burma to keep up with demand.

Actually my favorite joke (real joke by the way): the number of Buddhists who line up for one mile outside the “Christian” embassies Mon-Fri, starting at 4 am. Sinhala-Buddhism is a joke.

There is no “Anti Conversion Bill”.
That name is a misnomer used by trouble makers.

What is on the cards is an “Anti FORCIBLE Conversion Bill” and no religion is named in it. It applies equally to conversions from Catholics/Islam/Buddhism /etc to another. Leaving out the word “FORCIBLE” is mischievous.

It does not apply to conversions per se but to “Forcible” conversions.

I hope you are aware of some of the methods used by these conversion Zealots. They are definitely inflammatory and has caused violent reactions from villagers.

I know of many people who have converted to Christianity from Buddhism and a few in the other direction, mostly due to marriage. This type of conversion has been going on for donkeys years. Has it caused any violent reaction? Not to my knowledge it hasn’t.

This bill even if passed cannot override the Fundamental Rights granted by the Constitution and that Guarantees total freedom of religion.

You may recall that Greece has protectionist laws to protect the Greek Church from unethical methods being used against its Parish by Fundamentalist Christians. True some convictions were upturned by the EU but the fact is it has been written into the Greek Constitution. There may be other countries that I am not aware of.

I live in SL and I do not know of any Buddhist looking down on any other religion. Both Buddhists and Hindus visit Kataragama Hindu Kovil, although the objectives are different. The Hindus worship God Kandaswamy while Buddhists offer Merit to him. They mingle shoulder to shoulder in the SAME KOVIL.
Where is the “DISRESPECT”?
Where is the 2nd class treatment?

There are Churches which have been built in close proximity to old existing Buddhist Temples would this have been allowed by the majority community if they look down on Christians?

People like Parakkrama are rabble rousing. They should have the courage and the strength to stand up for their rights if they are being trampled on (which is not the case by a long shot). They cannot take it to court because it simply is not true.

” treated like a 2nd class citizen?”- It is likely that the above statement is a sense of perception on the part of Mr. Parakrama. This fear may stem from the attempts to bring in anti-conversion legislation. Anti-conversion legislation has driven a wedge between the Christian and Buddhist communities. In addition, nationalist propaganda has heightened the fears of the Christians.

Your statement “The real problem we face is that the constitution givse rights to minority religions but in practise Non Buddhists are looked on as 2nd class citizens.” refers

On the one hand you say that the Constitution confers the rights to what you call the “Minority Religions” and on the other hand you say that Buddhists look down on you as 2nd class citizens. I really don’t understand what you mean by this as I have not seen such behavior amongst the majority

From your name I assume that you are not a Tamil so the FACT that the “Vel Cart” (Chariot Procession) where the Hindu Deities are taken in procession through the main Colombo roads may be of no concern to you (there are some videos on U tube).

Probably you are a mainstream Christian in which case the many processions where the statue of the Virgin Mary is taken in all its grandeur on the streets will not be denied by you.

That these procession takes place without facing ANY protest from the 2/3 of the SL population which are overwhelmingly Buddhist can also not be denied by you.

Hence pray, please elucidate how you are being treated like a 2nd class citizen?

If your statement is not “FRIVOLOUS” and your Fundamental Rights are being trampled upon, the best way to have it corrected is to seek redress from the Supreme Court. In fact you OWE it to Civil Society to do so.

I sure hope that you have the Courage to do so.

Religious freedom is a basic Human Right isn’t it? That is why its enshrined in the Constitution.

If you want to discuss the Constitution take all the relevant parts in an article, excluding anything is not your privilege

Whether you replace the word Buddhism and interpose either Roman Catholicism or Jehovah’s Witness or Hinduism or Islam the interpretation is the same. That’s why those who write laws try to use unambiguous language

Do you have any other interpretation? Would be interesting to know