Lawyer ordered to apologise or be barred from work after highlighting Sri Lanka’s intolerance

Lawyer ordered to apologise or be barred from work after highlighting Sri Lanka’s intolerance
The Sri Lankan government is facing criticism from human rights groups after ordering a lawyer to apologise and offer a retraction for comments he made in a TV interview, when he highlighted growing religious intolerance in the country. During the interview on 14 June, Lakshan Dias referenced a recent report . . . Read More

Minorities fear backlash over Sri Lanka’s proposed new constitution

Minorities fear backlash over Sri Lanka’s proposed new constitution
Sri Lanka’s minority religious groups are concerned after Buddhist hardliners reacted angrily to the President’s proposed new constitution. President Maithripala Sirisena’s new constitution, proposed on 9 Jan., would decentralise power in a bid to prevent ethnic tensions in the country, but Buddhist hardliners say it contains provisions that regulate the . . . Read More

Give all religions a voice, Pope urges Sri Lanka

Religious freedom must be central to Sri Lanka’s future, Pope Francis urges on his arrival in the capital, Colombo. In his arrival speech at Colombo’s airport, he said that followers of various religious traditions “have an essential role to play” in the process of the country’s reconciliation and rebuilding, adding: “For that process . . . Read More