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CHENNAI, INDIA, December 12, 2003: Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka will introduce a law restricting conversions due to proselytizing by Christian groups, including groups rebuilding the war-torn island, a minister said on Saturday. The move comes amid an outpouring of sympathy in Sri Lanka this month after the death of a Buddhist monk known for his campaign against conversions to Christianity. T. Maheswaran, the minister for religious affairs of Sri Lanka’s minority Hindus, said the government would back a law punishing people who use “inducements” for conversions. “Over 7,000 Hindu families have been converted to Christianity in the northeast and the central provinces of Sri Lanka in the last 10 years,” Maheswaran told reporters on a visit to the southern Indian city Madras. “The pace of conversions has stepped up in recent months as international relief agencies involved in reconstruction work in the war-ravaged Tamil areas have been putting up churches as well, to lure the people impoverished by the strife into Christianity,” he said. In Sri Lanka, 15 people were injured Wednesday when monks clashed with police at the funeral of Gangodavila Soma, a monk and television preacher who campaigned against conversions. The trouble prompted Sri Lankan authorities to step up security for Christmas celebrations.



Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court in August held that while the constitution upheld a citizen’s right to worship the faith of his or her choice, it does not recognize a fundamental right to propagate a religion. The Sri Lanka constitution grants the foremost place to Buddhism which is practised by nearly 70 percent of the 18.66 million population. Hindus make up about 15 percent while Christians and Muslims are about 7.5 percent each. A number of states in Hindu-majority India have imposed restrictions on conversions including the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu. Maheswaran said the country’s influential Buddhist clergy also supported the proposed law on banning conversions. Religious conversions by Christian missionaries are an extremely sensitive issue in South Asia. Most Christian groups deny allegation that they lures or coerces people into their faith.



HPI adds: Hinduism Today magazine was involved with reconstruction efforts in Sri Lanka following the 1983 riots. Our representatives experienced first hand a Christian church that helped build homes for villagers if they promised to convert to Christianity — homes in this case that were partly paid for with Hindu funds!

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