Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, revised in 1972 and 1978 with amendments through to 2015, provides for religious freedom and enshrines no preferential treatment based on religion. According to Article 10: “Every person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.” Article 12.2 states: “No citizen shall be discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of birth or any one of such grounds”, while Article 14 (1,e) states, every citizen is entitled to “freedom, either by himself or in association with others, and either in public or in private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.” Article 15 “lays out the restrictions to the exercise and operation of the fundamental rights provided in article 14 (1) in the interests of racial and religious harmony or in relation to parliamentary privilege, contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence, or national economy”.
Sri Lanka is one of approximately 80 countries wherein the Penal Code still includes a blasphemy law. Article 291A states: “Whoever, with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of any person, utters any word or makes any sound in the hearing of that person, or makes any gesture in the sight of that person, or places any object in the sight of that person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.”
Article 291B states: “Whoever, with the deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of persons, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.”
Other laws affecting freedom of expression and religious freedom include the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), in which “a person, by words either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise causes or intends to cause the commission of acts of violence or religious, racial or communal disharmony or feeling of ill-will or hostility between different communities or racial or religious groups shall be guilty of an offense”. According to the NGO, End Blasphemy Laws, the act “has been criticized for being used to target minorities, critics of the government, journalists and political opponents.”
Of note to all of the above, however, are amendments that took effect in 1972 granting Buddhism a privileged constitutional status. While stating assurances to the rights granted by Articles 10 and 14(1), according to Article 9, “The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana” (Buddhist teachings, practices, and doctrine).
Incidents and developments
Notwithstanding legal framework in Article 14 defending religious freedom, the constitutionalised declaration of supremacy of Buddhism over other faiths, within a deeply religious culture, has become a source of increasing tension and division. Sri Lanka has witnessed a rising ethno-religious nationalism, and the failure of successive governments to address a genuine and growing disaffection among religious and ethnic minorities now threatens to plunge the country into a prolonged period of religious repression and conflict.
Compounding this, the country has suffered its worst political and economic crisis since 1948. On 31 August 2021, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency after private banks ran out of foreign exchange leading to food shortages. Again, on 1 April 2022, a state of emergency was declared after protestors demanded the President’s resignation due to long power outages and a shortage of essential goods. On 2 April, a 36-hour curfew was imposed, and the government blocked social media platforms. The next day, 3 April, the social media shutdown was lifted, but most of the cabinet resigned isolating both President Gotabaya and Prime Minister Mahinda. On 4 April, the curfew was lifted, but protests and civil unrest persisted, most notably on 9 April when a group of non-partisan protestors occupied the Galle Face Green, setting up a camp named “GotaGoGama” (Gota Go Village), which would continue to function until mid-August. On 5 April, President Gotabaya lost his majority in parliament, and thereby lifted the state of emergency. On 12 April, the government decided to default on its $51 billion foreign debt, relying on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for debt relief and restructuring, of which a 48 month arrangement was reached on 1st September 2022. On 9 May, after a mob of government loyalists attacked anti-government protestors leaving nine killed and hundreds injured, Prime Minister Mahinda finally resigned, and Ranil Wickremesinghe became prime minister. In June, the UN declared Sri Lanka at risk of facing a full-blown humanitarian crisis and non-essential fuel sales were suspended. On 9 July, approximately 100,000 demonstrators stormed President Gotabaya’s house and set fire to the prime minister’s residence. As a result, President Gotabaya resigned on 13 July and fled to the Maldives. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe became acting president who began his reign by cracking down on protestors and deploying hundreds of security forces at the protestors’ camp, which was forcefully shut down on 10 August. As of mid-September 2022, Sri Lanka continued to be in a deep economic crisis with inflation rates that have soared to 70.2 percent and a rise in food prices by 84.6 percent compared to a year ago.
Despite boasting legal protections for religious freedom, Sri Lanka displays a growing social intolerance and religiously motivated violence. This is even though Sri Lanka closed the door on a decades-long ethnic conflict that assumed the form of a destructive 30-year civil war, only a little more than 10 years ago.
Buddhist nationalist organisations are becoming more numerous, extremist, and powerful. These groups tend to regard all non-Buddhist communities and institutions as alien and unwelcome on the island of Sri Lanka, which they believe the Buddha himself consecrated for the defence and propagation of Buddhism. Organisations promoting Buddhist supremacy include Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force, BBS) Ravana Balava (Ravana Power), Sinhala Ravana (Sinhala Echo), and the Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa (Sinhala National Force). The BBS is the most prominent of these organisations and is led by a Buddhist monk, the Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero whose rhetoric has prompted numerous attacks on houses of worship and businesses belonging to religious minorities. Often using social media such as Facebook to disseminate hateful messaging, the BBS has targeted Muslims in particular. As they expand their reach, they threaten to destroy Sri Lankans’ shared national identity, and provoking a reactive extremism among Muslim and Hindu minority communities.
The BBS is the most prominent of these organisations and is led by a Buddhist monk, the Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero whose rhetoric has prompted numerous attacks on houses of worship and businesses belonging to religious minorities. Often using social media such as Facebook to disseminate hateful messaging, the BBS has targeted Muslims in particular.
As hard-line Buddhists continue to press for dominance, there is a disturbing growth of militant Tamil Hinduism. Siva Senai is a radical Hindu Tamil group that operates in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The emergence of an extremist form of Tamil Hinduism is particularly alarming because it could portend the revival of the kind of violent Tamil militancy that fuelled the separatism of the Tamil Tigers, but in a religious and sectarian form. Radical groups like Siva Senai could become the minority counterparts of majoritarian groups, such as BBS, with each feeding off the other in a downward spiral of sectarian rivalry. The potential for Siva Senai to grow in militancy and capability is especially high because it enjoys the support of surging Hindu-nationalist groups, such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), in nearby India. Militant Hindu Tamil groups are particularly active in Batticaloa, where they have organised numerous attacks against Christians.
A growing discrimination against minorities by the state as well as non-state actors, especially against Muslims, coupled with widespread animus toward Muslims generally since the end of the civil war, have also contributed to Muslim radicalisation. This danger was evidenced by the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks carried out by individuals allegedly affiliated with the Islamic State group.
Increasing attacks are an extreme example of a history of religious violence in the country. Recent years have seen riots against Christian and Muslim minorities, targeting both individuals and their homes and businesses. The incidents indicated below are representative.
In January 2021, Christians were among those challenging a Ministry of Health circular issued in March 2020 requiring mandatory cremation for the bodies of those who died, or were suspected of dying, from COVID-19. Sister Noël Christeen Fernando of the Daughters of Charity of Jesus and Mary, one of the signatories of a petition calling for the rules to be abolished, said: “[O]ur leaders are robbing us of all our rights, from birth to death.” Two retired Church of Ceylon bishops, Duleep de Chickera and Kumara Illangasinghe, also signed. Muslims organised numerous protests, as cremation is forbidden in Islam, and there was considerable solidarity with them. While the Catholic Church permits cremation, particularly in times of epidemic, it commends the burial of the body, as do several other Christian groups. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith encouraged Catholics to abide by government policy.
On 18 March, police from the Criminal Investigation Department visited the home of the mother of a pastor from Calvary Church in Padukka. She was questioned about her daughter’s religious activities and officers asked for contact information for her daughter and her son-in-law.
In September, a local official denied a Christian burial for a woman from Grama Missionary Church in Karukkamunai’s public cemetery, stating that it was a Hindu burial site, so no Christian rites could be performed there. The funeral went ahead as planned but with a Hindu ceremony.
On 7 October, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) published a report entitled “A Nation Divided: The State of Freedom of Religion or Belief in Sri Lanka.” The report addressed various topics such as how social media has played an increasing role in the rise of communal violence and the effects of the Rajapaksas’ influence.
On 8 October, the Church of Ceylon, part of the Anglican Communion, said it was “increasingly concerned by the deterioration of human rights in Sri Lanka” and submitted a report to the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council, warning that state policies were prioritising the Sinhalese Buddhist majority. It identified forced cremations, which were introduced as a health measure in response to the pandemic, as offending both Christians and Muslims. The report to the UN also highlighted the lack of accountability from the government concerning its investigation of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
An 18 October report by Amnesty International entitled “Sri Lanka: from burning houses to burning bodies: Anti-Muslim violence, discrimination and harassment in Sri Lanka”, observed the increase in violence towards Muslims since 2013, and urged the government to “[…] break this alarming trend and uphold their duty to protect Muslims from further attacks, hold perpetrators accountable and end the use of government policies to target, harass and discriminate against the Muslim community.”
In November 2021, various Sri Lankan bishops urged the government to dismiss its “one country, one law” concept (a plan to rule all Sri Lankan communities under one law), introduced on 26 October, which included the creation of a task force headed by Buddhist monk Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero. The latter was implicated in the 2013 anti-Muslim riots and is a known anti-Muslim activist. Joined by Muslim organisations, these opposition groups demanded the drafting of a new constitution.
On 25 February 2022, a report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Sri Lanka revealed an alarming decline in human rights. The report highlighted “discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities and security forces’ targeting of civil society groups”. In addition to documenting the “large-scale war crimes by government forces and the LTTE in the final months of Sri Lanka’s 1983 to 2009 civil war”, the report drew attention to the ongoing military checkpoints in the Tamil majority Northern Province, generating “complaints of discriminatory treatment or harassment.” The UN report also recorded “45 land disputes involving government officials and members of minority communities between January and November 2021” where “minority communities fear that a government program to identify and construct Buddhist sites is ‘being used to change the demographic landscape of the [eastern] region.’”
In March and April 2022, the Catholic Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, led a delegation to Europe in which he met, among others, with UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet in Geneva asking for political pressure to be exerted on the authorities in charge of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombing investigation, in particular why they did not prevent the attack in spite of the numerous warnings they admit having received. Cardinal Ranjith also visited Pope Francis and repeated that the government “knew beforehand from information they had gathered and also from warnings given by the Indian intelligence services, but they did nothing. In fact, the Government seems to have done its best to prevent the arrest of the attackers. There are indications that the authorities wanted the attacks to be carried out”.
According to an April-June 2022 quarterly report by the National Christian Evangelical Alliance, there was a decrease in the number of anti-Christian and Muslim incidents due to the economic crisis.
On 10 July, with the socio-economic situation in decline, President Rajapaksa tendering his resignation from exile in Singapore on 15 July 2022, and the nation mired in a spiral of misery, Pope Francis called on the faithful to listen to the pain of the people of Sri Lanka.
On 12 August, Catholic priest, Father Amila Jeewantha Peiris, surrendered himself to court after police sought to arrest him as a leader of anti-government protests that ousted Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Hundreds of protesters “including a bishop, priests, nuns, lawyers and activists gathered in a silent protest in front of the court in the capital Colombo on the day of the hearing”.
The investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings continued as of September 2022. Despite assistance from Scotland Yard, the FBI (United States), Interpol and NIS (India), victims expressed dissatisfaction with the progress to date, and joined by Church officials, activists and even the UNHCR High Commissioner, demanded a wider probe into the incidents.
On 19 September, Ven. Galaha Sirisantha Thera stated that Buddhist monks decided to “turn off lights at temples across the country” on the feast day of Vap Poya on 9 October to protest steep electricity tariff hikes. The monk declared their decision “aims to protest the unreasonable 500 percent increase in electricity tariff imposed by the Ministry of Energy and the government's decision to cut subsidies to religious places” adding the “monks have a strong suspicion that this is a conspiracy to keep temples in the dark.”
On 3 November, Cardinal Ranjith criticized a new draft constitution proposed by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, stating it was “an attempt to silence the government's critics”. The Cardinal said, “I also received a copy of the draft constitution, according to which anyone airing grievances against the government or a government agency shall be imprisoned for at least 20 years”.
On 3 November 2022, the Anglican Church’s Diocesan Council of Colombo appealed for a dissolution of parliament in early 2023. In a statement, the Sri Lankan Anglican leaders said: “the actions of the government and members of parliament in the past three months have demonstrated their unwillingness or inability to heed the call for a change in the political culture of the country” and called on President Ranil Wickremesinghe to dissolve parliament “as soon as the constitution permits, so that the people can choose a new parliament that reflects their aspirations.”
Prospects for freedom of religion
While a lack of democracy in Sri Lanka brings its own complexities, instances of interfaith violence represent the most dramatic threat to religious freedom in Sri Lanka. Such attacks, however, do not occur in a vacuum, but rather are carried out in the context of profound and growing interreligious tensions in Sri Lankan society.
Specifically, recent events have highlighted the dangers of a growing sectarian Buddhist nationalism that goes beyond Sinhalese ethno-linguistic chauvinism (which at least had the virtue of including non-Buddhists who were also ethnically Sinhalese) in that it casts all non-Buddhists of whatever ethnicity – Muslims, Hindus, and Christians – as existential threats to Buddhism.
In addition to the ongoing attacks by extremists against religious minorities, the ethno-religious nationalism has provoked a disturbing reaction - a growth in militant Hindu and Muslim groups. The concern is that these groups could become the minority counterparts of majoritarian groups, such as BBS, with each feeding off the other in a downward spiral of sectarian rivalry. The emergence of extremist Tamil Hinduism, of note the militant Tamil Hindu group, Siva Senai, is particularly alarming because it could portend the revival of the kind of violent Tamil militancy that fuelled the separatism of the Tamil Tigers, but in a religious and sectarian form. The potential for Siva Senai to grow in militancy and capability is especially high because it enjoys the support of surging Hindu-nationalist groups, such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), in nearby India. (Militant Hindu Tamil groups are particularly active in Batticaloa, where they have organised numerous attacks against Christians).
Given current trends, there is a strong likelihood that the conditions for religious freedom will further deteriorate in Sri Lanka in the upcoming years. In an increasingly politically and culturally toxic environment, practical steps building on the country’s traditions and institutions of tolerance and interreligious understanding are essential. One such initiative, the Inter-Religious Council established by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to increase society's understanding of, and respect for, other religious traditions and institutions, serves as a platform for discussions and mediations, as well as general peace-building activities, planning, and advising. Although an important step, to ensure that this body adequately represents all religious communities, it would be of consideration to include leaders of Sri Lanka’s Evangelical community, who have thus far been excluded.
Due to the social and economic decomposition, the growing extremist attacks against religious minorities as well as the rise in ethno-religious nationalism, the prospects for freedom of religion in Sri Lanka remain negative.
Sri Lanka