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Batticaloa churches claim authorities disrupt prayers

04 Jan 2022

  • Pastors allege discrimination in new report
BY Pamodi Waravita The “Report of the Fact Finding Visit to Batticaloa” led by a team of lawyers and human rights and women’s rights activists has found that several non-denominational Christian groups in the area face discrimination, including disruption of prayer meetings, allegedly by local government (LG) authorities. “There are several non-denominational Christian groups in Batticaloa in the Eastern Province, many of whom the team met. During these discussions, these groups shared the continued challenges faced by this Christian community in exercising their right to practise their faith freely and without fear. These challenges are due to both extra-legal state interference and state inaction to protect the rights of this community, as well as social discrimination by the Hindu community. The groups stated that the fundamental problem is that non-denominational churches are not viewed as Christian by both the society and the State. Pastors also mentioned past incidents of violence and stated that they now face intimidation and discrimination when engaging in their right to freely practise their faith. For instance, their prayer meetings are reportedly often disrupted by local government authorities,” claimed the report. The report claimed several other forms of discriminatory practices such as requiring churches to register despite the absence of a law that requires a place of religious worship, except a Buddhist temple, to be registered. Incidents of state security agencies visiting churches to gather information about congregants were also reported. “One of the issues highlighted by the pastors is the targeting of this Christian community by Hindu groups that propagate Hindutva-like ideologies and have affiliations to right wing Hindutva groups in India. The Christian groups expressed dismay that Tamil political parties not only seem concerned solely about the problems faced by the Tamil-Hindu community, but also that some Tamil politicians are supportive of the Hindutva groups. The link between Hindutva groups in Sri Lanka, which receive financial support from groups abroad, was pointed out. For example, if attacks against Christians take place in India, it was noted that a few days later, an attack against a Christian church in Sri Lanka would take place.” The report said that one pastor has claimed that a hitherto unknown person from abroad had contacted him mistakenly and offered him financial incentives to engage in violence against Christians. “The continued hostility and discrimination of non-denominational Christians by the Catholic church was also mentioned as a general issue of concern,” the report further claimed. Commenting on Muslim-Christian relations in the area, pastors have said that following the Easter Sunday attacks, some parties have allegedly tried to incite Christians against Muslims in the area. The report further explained the impact of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act No. 48 of 1979 (PTA) in the area, stating that over 125 Muslims in the Eastern Province have been detained under the PTA in connection with the Easter Sunday attacks. “Boys and young men who were either forced to attend or were misinformed about the destination and purpose of the events organised by Easter Sunday suicide bomber Zahran Hashim in Hambantota and Nuwara Eliya, and had attended for only one or two days were arrested. The mother of a young man claimed that he was eager to go on the trip with his uncle because he had said that his parents never take him on such trips and that he wanted to visit Nuwara Eliya. They had allowed him to accompany the uncle due to this, only warning him not to bathe in rivers. As a result of these arrests, many young persons have been unable to sit for examinations and to date languish in detention.” Thus, the report recommended that the PTA be immediately repealed and that economic support be given to families of persons detained under the PTA. The fact-finding mission, which took place in early December 2021, was conducted to understand the impact on the Christian and Muslim communities, two-and-a-half years after the Easter Sunday attacks. The team included Radhika Coomaraswamy, Nimalka Fernando, Sakuntala Kadiragamar, Chulana Kodikara, Rehab Mahamboob, Yamini Ravindran, Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, Kumudini Samuel, Ambika Satkunanathan, Shreen Saroor, and Muqaddasa Wahid.

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