Leader of right-wing Bodu Bala Sena says Tibetan spiritual leader being influenced by 'Muslim extremists'

Sri Lanka hardline monk denounces Dalai Lama

A Sri Lankan Buddhist monk leading an anti-Muslim campaign has accused the Dalai Lama of being influenced by "Muslim extremists" and said the Tibetan spiritual leader could not be accepted as a world Buddhist leader. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, the secretary general of the Sri Lankan Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), spoke out on Tuesday after the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader called on monks in Myanmar and Sri Lanka to end violence towards Muslims in their countries.

Sri Lanka Muslim leader warns of radicalisation after riots

Refugees of Aluthgama (Vikalpa)

AFP / Sri Lanka's most senior Muslim politician Friday warned that his government's failure to restrain Buddhist monks accused of sparking religious hate attacks will foment Islamic extremism and threaten security. Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem said he had been under intense pressure from supporters to quit President Mahinda Rajapakse's coalition after it failed to prevent last month's deadly religious violence.

Muslim Ministers Condemn Claims Of Terrorism And Extremism In SL

Issuing a joint statement a short while ago five Muslim ministers of the government have refuted claims of terrorist and extremist groups within the Muslim community of Sri Lanka. Five ministers of the ruling party namely Rauff Hakeem, A H M Fowzie, Rishad Bathiudeen, Basheer Segu Dawood and A L M Athaullah have signed the letter on behalf of the Muslim community. In the statement they added that such unfounded attributions would only add more salt to the wound. In the joint statement they claimed that vested interests are behind such propaganda, bent on scene in Sri Lanka, the emergence of terrorism.

Muslim Council wants India to explain its position on ' Muslim Terror' groups in Sri Lanka

The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka has written to the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo asking him to explain the position of the Indian Government on reports of the existence of Muslim terror groups in Sri Lanka. In the latter which was released to the media today, the President of the Muslim Council N.M. Ameen says Indian and local media reports indicating that India is concerned over the presence of such groups in Sri Lanka will contribute to the hate campaign against Muslims in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka: Whitewashing saffron fascism

BBS Rule over Police

Dayan Jayatilleka
What is the role of the regime and state in a multiethnic, multilingual, multi-religious, multicultural i.e. pluralist setting and in a fraught, conflicted, actually or potentially violent situation? How should and how do the regime and state function?
Are the UPFA regime and the State a neutral umpire –as it should be– between the constituent communities of Sri Lanka where all citizens are constitutionally equal, or are they a biased (“hora”) umpire?

Sri Lanka: Do not touch us; BBS throw down the gauntlet!

Gnanasara

"UNP, Foreign Diplomatic missions and Muslim extremists behind Aluthgama incident"

The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) yesterday admonished the government, the Opposition and the police, to not touch them, as it would be a move tantamount to digging their own grave. The United National Party (UNP), certain powerful foreign diplomatic missions and Muslim extremist organizations were behind the clear international conspiracy that orchestrated the recent communal clashes and religious riots in Aluthgama and Beruwala, the BBS intoned.

US creating a Taliban in Sri Lanka: Minister Champika; asks Minster Hakeem to leave the Govt. .

Similar to how the United States nurtured Taliban, which later targeted strategic locations in New York, US Ambassador Michele J. Sison is nurturing the Sri Lankan Jihadist groups thus jeopardizing the security of not only Sri Lanka and the US but of the entire world, Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said.

Europe: A predictable earthquake, but mainstream will dominate

French far-right leader  Marine
Le Pen (Chesnot/Getty Image)

Simon Baptist, Chief Economist and Asia Regional Director 

Voters in the European Union sent a strong message last week, with populist and eurosceptic parties topping the polls in a number of countries, most notably the Front National in France and the UK Independence Party in the UK. It is important to keep this in perspective, though. While the elections will bring domestic political instability to France and the UK, in many countries mainstream parties dominated, for example in Germany and - encouragingly - in Italy.

Who planted the bombs in Chennai train ? The Colombo Connection

A victim of the blast (Kollytalk.com)

Col R. Hariharan

Two low-intensity improvised explosive devices (IED) exploded in two adjacent sleeper coaches of the Bangalore – Guwahati tri-weekly super fast express just as the train streamed into the Chennai Central station around 7.15 AM on May 1.

One young woman was killed and 14 others were wounded in the explosions. The city waking up to May Day holiday was stunned. And national media fed on increasingly stale diet of election news went hammer and tongs to dissect it.

But the question, who planted the bombs in the train, still remains unanswered.

How world media reported: UK tourist recounts 'hellish' time in Sri Lanka over Buddha tattoo

AFP
A British tourist displays a tattoo of the Buddha on her upper arm, after she was arrested at Sri Lanka's main international airport.
A 37-year-old British nurse has recounted her "hellish" experience in Sri Lanka after she was arrested and sent to a deportation centre for sporting a Buddha tattoo deemed offensive by authorities.
Naomi Coleman was arrested at the country's main international airport on Monday shortly after her arrival on a flight from neighbouring India and appeared before a magistrate who ordered her deportation, police said in a statement.

Expose and Isolate the Bodu Bala Sena Extremism Locally & Internationally

BBS head Gnanasara

Press release – 16th April, 2014

INSD, an international network of Sri Lankans living in Europe condemns the provocative and anti democratic activities by Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) that  violates  rights of the minority religious groups in general and  specially  rights  of Muslim community in Sri Lanka. Disturbing a media briefing conveyed by a inter religious group, the leader of the BBS, saffron clad Gnanasara not only behave in a unethical, uncivilized manner which only suited to a violent  mob leader, but also brought disrepute and insult the Buddhism as well.  The words he used and the way he behaved  suits an underworld mafia leader and not for a  Buddhist monk.

Sri Lanka: Monks break up US-sponsored seminar for journalists

Monk violence on the rise ( file photo)

A journalist training programme — funded by an international non-governmental organisation based in the United States – was abandoned on Friday after Buddhist monks disrupted it in the wake of the US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka in Geneva. The two-day in-house programme for 30 journalists was being held in Polonnaruwa on the theme of ‘search for peace’ when it was disrupted by the monks four hours after it began. The journalists taking part were from all ethnic communities in the Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts.

Is Lanka fast becoming "safe area" for Pakistani terrorist outfit LeT?

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) fighters ( file photo)

NEW DELHI/ Sri Lanka is fast becoming a "safe area" for the dreaded Pakistani terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), an Indian weekly newspaper claimed today.
In a Colombo-datelined report, The Sunday Guardian quoted experts tracking the growth of international terror organisations that LeT is being patronised by Shahbaz Sharif, the brother of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Wigneswaran is a fascist and should be arrested - Minister Ranawaka

 

Wigneswaran at Nallur Kovil

Champika says Wigneswaran should be arrested for violating laws 
Secretary of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), Minister Champika Ranawaka, said if the Chief Minister elect of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran, acts in violation of judicial orders and attempts to call for international intervention in national affairs, he should be arrested by the law enforcement authorities.

Navi Pillay's oral update, a gross betrayal of Tamils: Prof Ramasamy

[TamilNet, ]
The United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Navanetham Pillay, in her latest oral update to the UN Human Rights Council is more concerned with whitewashing the Sri Lankan government than looking at the tragic situation of Tamils, writes Malaysia’s Penang State Deputy Chief Minister Professor P. Ramasamy, in an article sent to TamilNet on Thursday.

Sri Lankan pastor beaten unconscious by mob; 3 attacks on churches within a week

By: Release International
A mob destroyed a Christian group's musical instruments and beat their pastor unconscious during a raid on a prayer meeting – one of several recent attacks on Sri Lankan churches.
Three Buddhist monks led about 30 people in the assault on Jeevana Diya Church in Meegoda, Colombo district, on September 8, demanding that they stop meeting in ‘this Buddhist village'. The pastor and his mother, attacked as she tried to defend her son, had to be hospitalised.

Salient Points Raised by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa About Rise of Muslim Extremism are Valid and Cannot be Faulted.

Ranga Jayasuriya
This writer is by no means an apologist of the militarization of the country; however, for once, he could not help but agree with some salient points that the powerful Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the chief protagonist of the militarization, had raised during his address at the Defence Seminar held last week.

Pillay told people who spoke to her threatened

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has told the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay that several people who spoke to her during her visit to the North have been threatened.
TNA Chief Ministerial candidate for the Northern elections C.V. Wigneswaran said that the TNA communicated this to her when they had a meeting at the Cinnamon Lakeside hotel today.

Sinhala nationlist Ravana Balaya uses children in protest

 Stroy and the photos by  Dinouk Colombage

On Monday (26) the Buddhist monks of the National Organisation for Ravana Power (Ravana Balaya) marched to the UN office in Colombo demanding that UN Human Rights Chief, Navaneetham Pillay, leave the country.

Furious Buddhists Are Making Life Hell for Sri Lanka's Muslims

Anti-Muslim graffiti sprayed on a mosque earlier this year.

Joseph Cox

Muslims are under attack in Sri Lanka. Recent reports indicate that gangs of Buddhists have been roaming the streets, administering bloody mob beatings, and attacking places where Muslims work and worship. Raw pork has been thrown into mosques, the Halal logo has been banned, and the prominent Muslim government critic Azad Sally has been arrested.