US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1952

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001952 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, DRL, DRL/IRF 
NSC FOR DORMANDY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KIRF, CE, Political Parties, Religious Freedom 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA:  PARTY OF EXTREMIST BUDDHIST MONKS 
STIRS UP TENSION DURING HOLIDAY SEASON 
 
REF: COLOMBO 1895 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of Mission.  1.4 (b,d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  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.  End Summary. 
 
Christmas in Colombo 
-------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) Despite statistics showing only eight percent of 
Sri Lankans are Christian, the Christmas season is in full 
swing in Colombo.  Building facades are decorated with 
lights, shop windows are adorned with garlands, and some of 
the larger retail outlets would rival the atmosphere of a 
U.S. department store in December.  The Buddhist extremist 
Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) party, with nine monks in 
Parliament, has different sentiments about this holiday 
season and is raising a ruckus on several fronts. 
 
The JHU and its political relevance 
----------------------------------- 
 
3.  (C) In addition to the JHU's recent proposal to give 
Buddhism the status of state religion through constitutional 
amendment (see below), the party's MPs have been vocally 
pressing other ultimatums.  Several of the JHU monks have 
publicly announced that they will start a "fast-unto-death" 
if the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) does meet their demands 
by December 12.  They want: 
-- 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. 
 
4.  (C) Most contentious, perhaps, is the issue of Soma 
Thero's death.  Since his death and cremation ceremony on 
December 24, 2003, extremist Buddhists have alleged that a 
Christian conspiracy was responsible for his death although 
there is no evidence of this.  GSL medical officials 
conducted an autopsy and ruled his death was due to natural 
causes -- he was in poor health and traveled against doctors' 
advice.  With the one-year anniversary of his death 
approaching, JHU members and other Buddhists are planning 
commemoration ceremonies and rallies.  As with his death last 
year, Christians are concerned that this anniversary could 
again foment anti-Christian sentiment.  (Many interlocutors 
feel that the heavy police presence and government 
denouncement of potential violence prevented the attacks 
feared last Christmas Eve.) 
 
Supreme Court and the proposed constitutional amendment 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
5.  (C) Compared with the public clamor over the JHU's 
previous religious anti-conversion bill, there has been 
little public discussion of the party's recently proposed 
constitutional amendment to make Buddhism a state religion 
(see reftel).  There also seems to be little awareness of the 
Supreme Court hearing on the proposed amendment, scheduled 
for December 7.  Contacts in the Christian Affairs Ministry, 
as well as the Catholic Church and some other Christian 
groups, told poloff on December 6 that they did not know 
about the upcoming case before the Supreme Court. 
Alternatively, interlocutors representing Hindus, 
evangelicals, and long-established Anglican congregations 
recently told poloff they would instead choose to support the 
petition filed by the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a 
local think tank challenging the proposed amendment in the 
court.  Since the proposed amendment is more than a 
"Christian issue," none of the Christian groups wanted to be 
seen opposing the amendment individually.  (Note:  There has 
been little public debate on the proposed amendment, largely 
because there has been little media reporting on it.  Of 
those aware of the issue however, we have not met any 
interlocutors -- of any faith -- who think this amendment is 
a good idea.  Institutionally, the JHU supports the 
amendment, although it is struggling with internal dissension 
on the issue.  End Note.) 
 
6.  (C) There has been no official stance by the GSL on the 
JHU's proposed amendment.  In a December 6 conversation with 
poloff, D.W. Abeywickrama, Secretary to the Buddhist Affairs 
Ministry, said that since the amendment is a private member's 
effort, his ministry had not been asked for its view.  He 
admitted he had seen the draft amendment but had not studied 
it in detail and, therefore, could not say what the GSL's 
official view would be.  He indicated that the ministry would 
wait for direction from the Supreme Court's ruling before 
taking a stand.  Officials at the Christian Affairs Ministry 
will not comment on the amendment since they state it "has 
not been officially referred" to them.  Following the Supreme 
Court hearing, the JHU amendment will likely follow a track 
similar to the group's anti-conversion legislation:  review 
and revision in the Attorney General's Department before 
being returned to Parliament for a reading a possible vote. 
At present, there is no timeframe for a vote, but it is 
unlikely to occur in the short term. 
 
Attacks continuing on churches 
------------------------------ 
 
7.  (C) While the efforts to legislate cultural and religious 
differences between the various faiths in Sri Lanka play out, 
there remains a separate, but related tension exhibited in 
the continuing attacks on Christian churches.  Since November 
1, three Christian churches have been attacked.  In the most 
egregious incident, intruders attacked a pastor and his 
family at the Margaya Fellowship Church in Matugama, located 
approximately 45 miles south of Colombo.  While this is not 
the first incident of harassment against this church, on this 
occasion, the attackers hacked off the pastor's wife's hair 
with a sword before setting fire to parts of their residence. 
 Police have not made any arrests to date.  More recently, 
the Assembly of God church in Yakkala (some 30 miles east of 
Colombo) was attacked on November 14.  The pastor informed 
the police that he recognized the alleged Buddhist 
perpetrators from previous attacks on the church, but the 
police have claimed they do not have any evidence to arrest 
anyone.  On December 2, the Believers' Church in Kuliyapitiya 
(60 miles northeast of Colombo) was attacked; the pastor was 
threatened and the church was vandalized.  Police initially 
detained three people for questioning, but released them 
after the pastor agreed not to press charges in exchange for 
assurances of no further harassment. 
 
Little advocacy from the Christian Affairs Ministry 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
8.  (C) Recent discussions with officials at the Ministry of 
Christian Affairs suggest that attacks on independent 
evangelical congregations fall below the Ministry's radar 
screen.  Ministry Secretary Manel Kuruppu told poloff 
recently that outside of the Catholic Church and the National 
Christian Council (NCC), which represents long-established 
Anglican churches, her ministry had little contact with 
evangelical or other Christian groups.  Her argument was that 
those groups are not represented by umbrella organizations 
and the ministry thus cannot be expected to speak with each 
church and organization individually.  She said she had not 
communicated with NCEASL and was not aware of the National 
Christian Fellowship, which also represents a segment of 
evangelical churches.  (Note:  More disturbing, she did not 
seem inclined to initiate contact with them either.) 
Yogarajah confirmed Ms. Kuruppu's comments, stating that 
NCEASL had a representative on an intra-ministerial committee 
under the prior United National Party (UNP) government, but 
had only spoken with ministry officials "a few times" since 
the April 2004 change in government. 
 
9.  (C) Regarding the various pieces of religious-related 
legislation, Ms. Kuruppu was not familiar with the current 
status of the JHU's anti-conversion bill nor had any input to 
a similar bill that the GSL was drafting.  She assumed that 
the Attorney General's Department would refer any related 
matter to the minister before sending it to Parliament and, 
therefore, would not comment on anything until it had been 
officially referred to the minister.  (Note:  In trying to 
detangle the legal process for these bills, we have not heard 
that it is a requirement for the Christian Affairs Ministry 
to be consulted.)  When asked about the process of developing 
a response to any legislation, Kuruppu said that Minister 
would not comment until he had conferred with the Catholic 
Church and the NCC. 
 
10.  (C) Separately, when asked about the November 1 attack 
on the Matugama Church, ministry officials said they had no 
knowledge of the incident, despite reporting in several local 
English-language papers.  Kuruppu told poloff that the 
ministry would ask the police directly to report on any 
attack on a church.  During a follow-up December 6 
conversation, another ministry official told poloff she was 
not aware of the latest attacks (see para 7) and asked for a 
fax with the relevant information. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
11.  (C) 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.  End Comment. 
 
LUNSTEAD