Author arrested in Sri Lanka

30 Mar 2010

Expatriate Sri Lankan author, Sarah Malini Perera, has been arrested in whilst on holiday Sri Lanka for writing two books— From Darkness to Light and Questions and Answers—about her conversion from Buddhism to Islam. Perara, who has lived in Bahrain since 1985, was detained last week after apparently causing offence to the largely Buddhist Sinhalese population of the country. Authorities have declined to comment on the situation.

Talk about this story

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • LinkedIn
  • Blogger
  • StumbleUpon
  • Email
  • RSS

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

«  •  »

  1. Rev. Dhammaloka Thera, Sydney

    March 31, 2010 at 04:04

    The reasons underlying Sarah’s arrest, are closely related to the ignorance of the Buddhists in relation to Buddhism. In its finest and pristine form, Buddhism is not, and was not, a religion. Its a philosophy, which has no compulsion or prohibition. A person of any other faith, could also adhere to this philosophy, while devoutly following the teachings of his religion. Conversely, a person who lives by the teachings of the Buddha, could also believe in any other religion, including Islam.

    Moderation or the middle path, which is the central pillar of this philosophy, is also a virtue in Islam. The Sri Lankan President’s objective of making Sri Lanka a nation free of alcohol and tobacco, is consistent with both Buddhism and Islam. The list of commonalities is long to be mentioned, due to constraints of space. Therefore, there is no inconsistency between the religion of Islam and the philosophy of Buddhism. As a result, the arrest of Sarah is an affront to both Islam and Buddhism. It certainly does not benefit Buddhism. She should be released immediately and I call upon all right thinking Buddhists all over the world, to urge the Government of Sri Lanka to release her immediately.

    However, politicians and corrupt members of the Buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka, have defiled Buddhism by relegating it to the status of a religion, in order to achieve their petty ends. Particularly, Sri Lankan politicians will be unable to perpetuate prejudice and promote polcies of divide and rule, if Buddhism is not considered a religion in Sri Lanka. Its time to see Buddhism in its true light, as a philosophy and not a religion.

  2. Mahinda

    March 31, 2010 at 04:19

    To Rev. Monk- just shutup,we have to protect da predominant culture in Sri Lanka. It’s beyond the Buddhism and the compassion of sinhala people should not be a victim of these messengers of middleast. So this person has to be punished for her known and unknown sinister motives.

  3. Rev. Dhammaloka Thera, Sydney

    March 31, 2010 at 04:40

    My Dear Mahinda,

    Buddhism does not teach us to be rude or to insult others. Lord Budhha has taught us that kindness is the best reply to rudeness. Therefore, I will not be rude to you or insult you.

    Could you please explain, what is the predominant culture of Sri Lanka, in view of the First Lady of Sri Lanka, Mrs. Rajapakse, being a Christian, not a Buddhist. I am sure you agree that Christianity is also a dominant culture of Sri Lanka, due to Mrs. Rajapakse being a Christian.

  4. Mahinda

    March 31, 2010 at 05:49

    The predominant culture of Sri Lanka is based on Buddhism. Buddhism has been given the protection of the Sri Lanka’s constitution based on the fact that Sinhala buddhists represnt the majority of the population. Sinhala Christians may or may not try to establish themselves as a dominant community. When certain individuals try to compose their opinions on comparative religious literature, the substance of their material is naturally controversial. Even with your point of view,this particular controversial piece of writing is deemed to be offensive on the basis that Buddhism cannot be compared with a religion. It does not really matter who is the current prisident of Sri Lanka or what his wife believes, what matters is the consisent application of good judgement to protect the interest of major religion.

  5. Mahinda

    March 31, 2010 at 05:58

    I apologise if I wrote anything to offend you . Specially that term ‘shutup’. I regret that very much.:-)

5 Responses to “Author arrested in Sri Lanka”