Sri Lanka President's House converted to an Evangelists' head office

Posted January 12, 2004
Daily News
January 12, 2004
http://www.dailynews.lk/2004/01/12/letters.html#3u
DR. NEVILLE FERNANDO, Nawala.

Recently the President has ordered the Police to crack down on
people who attack Christian Fundamentalists who by virtue of their
wealth force poor Buddhists, Hindus and even Muslims to become
Christians.

No one in his proper senses would want a flare up of religious
violence now or ever.

There is one side of the picture that, the President and the
Presidential spokesmen have conveniently forgotten or refused to
take into consideration.

It is obvious that there would be no violence if there are no
provocateurs and this the President has ignored and put the blame on
the Buddhists for the violence like the stupid statement of JR in
1983.

Buddhists, the majority of whom are Sinhalese are generally a
peaceful community (even though at times there are murders!) They
have been watching without any opposition the unethical conversion
of Buddhists in such places at Mihintale and Anuradhapura which are
the cradle of Sri Lankan civilization, over a period of time.

However this conversion has taken a turn for the worse with visitors
on tourist visas setting up places of proselytization in every nook
and corner of the country especially where Buddhists and Hindus are
in the majority.

Several appeals were made by Buddhist priests, Hindu Affairs
Minister and other responsible people to stop this dirty campaign of
buying over poor Buddhists and Hindus without any response by the
government or the President.

Unfortunately President's House has been converted to an
Evangelists' head office with a known evangelist as a spokesman so
that the persecuted Buddhists have been made the persecutors. The
President and the Prime Minister must not turn a blind eye to the
correct position.

It is their responsibility to look after Buddhism guaranteed in the
constitution.

Probably due to the influence of Bush and Blair who have set on a
course of evangelizing the whole world the President and Government
have warned those who have set fire to structures without holding
the evangelists who provoke the people responsible.

It was the stupidity of the J.R. Jayewardene which caused the flare
up in 1983. Likewise the present President and the Government seem
to ignore the evangelist provocateurs.

It would be advisable for them to sit up and take steps to ban
unethical conversions which even the silent majority view will
alarm.

To my mind the on-going wars in the Middle East are a continuation
of the wars between the Knights of the Round Table and the Saracens.

The given reason to bomb Iraq was to remove Saddam Hussein and his
unfound weapons of mass destruction. The actual reason is to
evangelize the Middle East and spread Christianity in the Middle
East. Even now evangelists under the protection of B & B are in
Iraq.

The wave of Christian influence which commenced with the arrival of
the Portuguese, Dutch and British ceased with the arrival of Col.
Steele Olcott an American in the latter part of the 19th century.

After the famous Panadura Vadaya or debate of Panadura, Buddhism
began to flourish. Buddhists were able to reclaim their rightful
place. Now again Buddhism is under attack and some one at Presidents
House seems to be at the head of this.

It is time that a Commission of Inquiry be set up to find out the
extent of unethical conversions; but in the meantime President and
the Government must take immediate steps to repatriate the
evangelists who have come on tourist visas before there is bloodshed
again in the country.

If that happens, people will hold the President and the Prime
Minister responsible. Unethical conversions must be banned before
that happens.