{"id":49632,"date":"2016-11-17T11:55:35","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T15:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=49632"},"modified":"2016-11-17T13:01:47","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T17:01:47","slug":"racist-rant-against-tamil-govt-official-by-ampitiya-sumanaratne-thera-in-batticaloa-damage-reconciliation-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=49632","title":{"rendered":"Racist Rant Against Tamil Govt Official by Ampitiya Sumanaratne Thera in Batticaloa ."},"content":{"rendered":"


\n By<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Buddhist monk\u2019s death threat to a Tamil village officer in Batticaloa \u2014 in Sri Lanka\u2019s Eastern Province \u2014 has gone viral on social media, worrying many who are hoping for speedy reconciliation in the war-torn country. <\/p>\n

Such incidents could adversely affect ongoing efforts towards reconciliation, civil society organisations have noted with concern.<\/p>\n

The video shows the monk using foul language at the provincial government staff. The angry monk, identified as Ambitiya Sumanaratna Thera by local media, is also seen shouting at the village officers in Sinhala, \u201cyou all [are] Tigers, you all [are] Tigers\u201d, referring to the LTTE.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Located along Sri Lanka\u2019s east coast, the Tamil-majority district of Batticaloa is also home to a sizeable population of Muslims, and a tiny population \u2014 about 1.3 per cent \u2014 of Sinhalese, as per records of Sri Lanka\u2019s Department of Census and Statistics.<\/p>\n

The monk\u2019s remarks, according to local Tamil newspaper Veerakesari, were made in the context of a controversy surrounding illegal occupation of land, reportedly by the Sinhalese people. The Tamil officers, seen standing quietly in the video, were there for follow-up action, reports said.<\/p>\n

A senior government official in Colombo said such incidents would not be tolerated, as they \u201cdamage reconciliation efforts\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe police will soon refer the matter to the Magistrate Court in Batticaloa, and we are keen that an impartial investigation be undertaken for due legal action,\u201d Ranga Kalansooriya, director-general, Government Information Department. told The Hindu.<\/p>\n

Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka have in the past made news for resorting to hate speech. Two years ago, leader of hard-line Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force), Galagoda-Atte Gnanasara Thera, made a controversial speech with derogatory references to Muslims in the coastal town of Aluthgama, a town to the south of Colombo. His remarks sparked violent communal clashes, claiming three lives and injuring nearly 80 people.<\/p>\n

However, the country has also had Buddhist monks at the helm of the campaign for reforms that preceded the country\u2019s historic January 2015 elections. \u201cThis very small minority of violence-prone and foul-mouthed monks are not only profaning a religion of peace, but also disgracing the memory of such champions of civility and reconciliation as the late Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera, an architect and inspirer of the reforms now taking place,\u201d observed the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a Colombo-based advocacy organisation.<\/p>\n

Referring to recent incidents of hate speech, including the monk\u2019s outburst in Batticaloa, the organisation observed that the disturbing events come at a time when the country is still less than halfway through the political and constitutional reforms that were popularly mandated. \u201cThey imperil the establishment of the necessary foundations of reconciliation, justice, and good governance \u2014 which are the bedrock of our future peace, prosperity, and happiness \u2014 and threaten to take us back to a dark and rancorous era from which we were at last emerging,\u201d the CPA said in a statement.
\n
\nCourtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan A Buddhist monk\u2019s death threat to a Tamil village officer in Batticaloa \u2014 in Sri Lanka\u2019s Eastern Province \u2014 has gone viral on social media, worrying many who are hoping for speedy reconciliation in the war-torn country. Such incidents could adversely affect ongoing efforts towards reconciliation, civil society organisations have noted with …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Racist Rant Against Tamil Govt Official by Ampitiya Sumanaratne Thera in Batticaloa .’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49632"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49636,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49632\/revisions\/49636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}