Related articles and links |  1 of 3

Sri Lanka's Christians are expressing relief over the country's supreme court ruling this week. The justices ruled that certain significant clauses in the controversial anti-conversion bill are unconstitutional.

The court said the "Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Bill" needs a two-thirds majority in the Parliament and a national referendum to become law in its present form. Or it could become law with a simple majority if amended.

The court decision came as a blow to the all-Buddhist monks' political party Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), which has been campaigning to ban conversions to Christianity. The JHU introduced this bill in Parliament on July 21. JHU had contested April parliamentary elections, promising to bring an anti-conversion law, and won nine seats. The bill proposed about fines of U.S. $11,000 fine and imprisonment for up to seven years for violators.

Observers note that the bill has hit rock bottom and is unlikely to get a two-thirds majority in Parliament voting. They say it has the potential to divide Sri Lankan society, which is already scarred by ethnic divisions, along religious lines. And going through the additional referendum will make passing the bill almost impossible. If the JHU goes for amendments, the changes would almost render the bill toothless, observers say.

Twenty-two petitions by prominent Christians and Church organizations, including the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL), were filed in the court challenging the bill's constitutional validity. The court, while making many recommendations, determined that two clauses were inconsistent with the constitution.

Roshini Wickremesinhe, legal officer with the NCEASL, said, "Christians are happy that the court has struck down certain controversial clauses in the bill as unconstitutional. The voting on the bill, if at all, will certainly take months now. We accept the supreme court determination."

However, some JHU leaders have reacted strongly to the court's decision and blamed U.S. Embassy officials in Colombo for blocking the bill.

In Sri Lanka, a predominantly Buddhist country, conversions to Christianity are a sensitive issue. Buddhist nationalists claim that certain new churches, funded by American evangelical groups, are indulging in unethical conversions of poor Buddhists and Hindus in rural areas with the lure of money.

G.B. Kotakabeniya, assistant secretary, international affairs, of the JHU, said "We brought the bill to discourage the organized proselytizing and the fanatical practice of unethical conversions by Christians in the garb of NGOs [nongovernmental organizations]. There is a new phenomenon of conversions from Buddhists to Christianity by fraudulent means. Our party will study the ruling, but my personal view is that we should go for the simple majority."

Christians have condemned unethical conversions but defend the right to religious freedom. All Christian denominations have strongly opposed the bill and fear it would be used to curb religious freedom and target Christians.

Christians constitute about 8 percent of this prominently Buddhist country's 19.7 million people; 70 percent are Buddhists, 12 percent Hindus, and 7 percent Muslims.

With evangelical Christians growing by more than 11 percent a year, according to Operation World, Christians have come under increased persecution—over 50 violent attacks were reported in the last six months. Some 146 Christian places of worship were forced to close down between December 2003 and March 2004.

next page... |  1 of 3

August (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48