Ever heard of Sri Lanka? This tiny island in the Indian ocean, blessed with so many beautiful locations, resources and incredible unity. Picture perfect place to live, right?
WRONG.
Let me break it down for you, because the media won’t admit to it;
You must be aware of the civil war that Sri Lanka suffered through for thirty long, tiring years. So much bloodshed, so many tears…you’d think they’d learn a lesson, right?
WRONG. Again.
Just five short years after the civil war finally ended, certain groups in the country, who parade around in Buddhist robes, known as the ‘Bodu Bala Senawa’, are provoking Sinhalese people to rise up against Muslims. Let me ask you this: WHAT. ARE. YOU. THINKING?
Wasn’t what you went through enough?
Why are you trying to stir up trouble again?
Do you think it’s brave of you to criticize another religion and instigate violence? To the leader of this group (Galagoda Gnanasara), let me point out to you that you are nothing but a coward. I don’t understand how you live with yourself knowing that you are behind so much interfaith hatred.
Sure, you might not have held the torch that burned down mosques and houses, but it is your words (which, by the way, are always inappropriate for a priest. Seriously, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?) that provoke dimwitted, uneducated pinheads to violate private property.
Okay so maybe you’d defend yourself by saying Muslims have some grand scheme to eradicate Buddhism and make your precious little country Islamic. (Paranoid, much?) Are Muslims perfect? No. We all have our flaws. But what gives you the right to claim a life? What gives you the right to disgrace another religion? What sort of an example are you setting for everyone else?
And I’ve just love to know where our beloved president is? Are you waiting for yet another war to break out so that you can swoop in and be a hero? Please. Be a man, step up, and throw those terrorists in jail.
It sickens me to see what BBS’s supporters have to say; it’s one thing to be entitled to your opinions, but it’s wrong to express it in a way that’s insulting to others. So grow up. There’s nothing cool in broadcasting the fact that you’re a racist, you’re making yourself look bad.
Who am I to be this furious? No, I’m not Muslim; but I care. And so should you. We’ve been through enough already. I’ve spent enough of my childhood being restricted from so many things out of fear that I’ll die of some bomb blast. But that’s nothing compared to what others have lost. Are you willing to be responsible for more deaths?
Boycott the Bodu Bala Senawa. They are a mockery to the religion they claim to preach and humanity as a whole. Sri Lanka is better off without them.
"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we'd all be vegetarians" - Paul McCartney
Have you ever stopped to think about how the lamb chops, the steak or the bacon on your plate eventually gets to you? I'm not just referring to what animal it come from, I'm talking about the torture it goes through to make sure your hunger is taken care of. Meat has been a popular diet since the time people were able to hunt. A majority of the world’s population still does consume meat on a regular basis. It’s true that meat has nutritional value, but what many choose to neglect is that is it not essential for human survival. People need vitamins, proteins and minerals but these can be obtained from other food sources. The idea that an animal must die to ensure that people stay healthy is utter rubbish. The reality is, eating too much meat can actually kill you. Meat consumption is one of the main causes of obesity as well as heart disease. We complain that society nowadays is so unhealthy when what we should be doing is making a change in the diet we're so fond of.
In case you're still not convinced about embracing vegetarianism, let me paint a not-so-pretty picture of what a slaughterhouse is like:
Animals are first fed on certain products that are designed to make them very fat (for the benefit of the seller). The ingredients of these products include intestines, horns, bones and blood of the previously killed animals (basically the parts that people will not be willing to buy because they can't be used) as well as the carcasses of sick animals, including house pets. All of this will be ground into powder and fed to slaughterhouse animals as "protein concentrates". By the way, these "concentrates" also have animal fecal matter mixed in. And yes, all of that ultimately ends up in our stomachs. Once the animals are fat enough, they are sent into the slaughterhouse, where they are usually stunned first, with electric shocks to render them unconscious (this is prohibited by some religions).
As horrible as this might seem, what's mentioned above is actually the most humane way this is carried out. Animals can sense impending death, and if you look closely you will be able to see them cry, knowing there's no escape. It has been found that an animal's blood actually becomes poisonous when it's certain of death, as a sort of defense mechanism, which is another reason why it's unhealthy to eat meat. In most uneducated societies, animals are tortured and beaten up by the workers (to satisfy their own twisted needs) and are sometimes even skinned or gutted alive,while the creatures shriek and writhe around, trying to break free. They're left to bleed for hours in pain, when a quick death would actually be merciful.
Their ending is so cruel...so gruesome, that's it's shameful to the human race to know that we all indirectly contribute to it. Finally, once the animal is dead, its skin and intestines are removed, the essential parts cut and in the end that meats ends up on your plate.
Now imagine yourself in that situation. Would YOU like to be stunned and then killed? Or even beaten to near death and have your skin ripped off while you're still breathing?
Yeah, I don't think so. So why must animals have to go through that?
We plead for an endangered species' right to exist, but what makes them any more special than a regular cow? Are we all not nature's creations? Who are we to decide whether an animal should live or not? Humans are real hypocrites. We speak of our pets as if we'd give up our lives for them, yet we'd gladly eat at KFC. If someone admits to not being a huge animal fan, we might criticize them, but we don't hesitate to eat a hamburger. Do you see how pathetic people really are?
I have had the misfortune of being to a slaughterhouse, and let me tell you, it's the saddest place on earth. To see those animals, terrified, and to know what they will soon be going through, and to also know that as one person, there's nothing much I can do...it's a terrible feeling. People who eat meat don't fully understand what goes on, in which case THEY should make their own kill to know what exactly their selfish demand is doing to helpless animals.
Statistics show that over forty seven billion animals (Yes you read that right. Forty seven BILLION) are killed every year for human consumption. And that’s excluding the fish. Isn’t it sad that it’s more than the world’s human population? In the United States alone, 287 chickens are killed per SECOND. All of this, to fulfill a diet that isn’t even necessary.
I gave up meat a few years ago, because the thought of an animal dying for my sake sickened me. To know that I am no longer a contributor to any of that, gives me a sense of relief.
To all of you, who tend to blame slaughterhouses for animal cruelty, remember that YOU are the one behind those deaths. Change begins with you.
Remember the days when Sinhalese used to suspect Tamils? The
days when your children would leave home and you’d be worried if they would
return peacefully? All those bomb scares, and horrific bus rides? Those check
points at every town that made you feel like you’re a suspect?
That’s all behind us now, after thirty years of bloodshed
and terror. Tamils and Sinhalese have finally joined hands and they’ve just
begun to work towards the development of the country. Ambulance sirens no
longer make us worry about what might have happened; crackers are no longer
mistaken for bomb blasts (admit it, we’ve all freaked out at some point!) Sri
Lanka was becoming a safe haven, an example to the rest of the world. But of
course, politics will always intervene to ruin that.
Any Sri Lankan with a basic knowledge of our own history
will know that the civil war began as a protest to what certain political sects
were doing to discriminate Tamils. In the Government’s attempt to ensure that
Sinhalese received a good education and thus received respectable positions in
society, after we gained independence, the politicians also managed to take it
too far by openly discriminating Tamils. Tamils were killed, estate Tamils were
not granted citizenship, and Sinhala alone was to be the national language with
no regard to Tamil. So you see why, in the end, thousands died unnecessarily to
end a war that needn’t have even started, had it not been for how short sighted
(and basically, stupid) our politicians were.
Even though the LTTE was considered to be the most brutal
terrorist group in the whole world, we managed to defeat them and become
united. That took three entire decades of suffering. Thirty years of soldiers
sacrificing themselves, wasted funds and sheer terror, which I’m sure we’d all
rather forget. Remember the day when the war was finally announced over? That
sense of relief, freedom and joy that flooded all of us? Just as Sri Lanka was
putting that dark history aside and moving on, politicians stirred up another
cause to “fight” for, which will only get worse if it doesn’t end here.
But this time, the politicians are Buddhist priests.
Buddhism, a philosophy that promotes nothing but equality,
respect and compassion, is being disgraced by men who parade around in saffron
robes, claiming to do the religion a favor, when all they’re actually doing is
invoking hate in the minds of those who are unintelligent enough to want to
believe the lies they spread.
If you’ve been following the news recently you would’ve seen
videos of the Bodu Bala Sena members accusing Muslims of all sorts of things.
There was also the incident of Buddhist priests burning down a popular clothing
store (which was owned by a Muslim person, in case that wasn’t obvious enough
to you). These priests were both verbally and physically abusive to the police
who were trying to get the situation under control. Where’s the respect for
other people?
There have also been cases of priests raiding mosques, as
well as an incident where a monk exposed himself as an insult to the place of
worship. What sort of an example are they trying to set on people? Buddhism
doesn’t promote violence, yet look at what these religious leaders are doing…
I don’t mean to sound discriminatory, but monks belong in
the temple, where they’re supposed to preach the religion to people, in order
to make them better citizens. Buddhism clearly denounces politics, yet you find
these ‘monks’ doing the exact opposite! And let’s not forget all the perks that
come along with being a politician, which are not supposed to be enjoyed by
priests given that they’re supposed to lead a simple life. But of course, these
disgraceful excuses for monks do nothing but mock their own religion, with
everything they do.
I have seen pictures of children carrying boards with
slogans such as “Say no to Halaal”. Hatred is being sown into the younger
generation…the generation we had hope in, to make a better future for Sri
Lanka. But if adults themselves can’t be exemplary, how can we expect children
to do better?
Mahatma Gandhi once said “I like your Christ; I do not like
your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ”; it is clear that
certain people are disgracing themselves by claiming to be Buddhists even
though they promote racism and violence. The entire world has its eye on us,
what with all their claims that our war caused human rights violations. Do we
really need to give the UNO another reason to accuse us of something that can
be avoided?
If you do recall, the entire population of Sri Lanka was
united in an effort to help each other right after the Tsunami struck us in
2004. There was no separatism, just the common goal of escaping that terrible
situation. No one worried about whether the donations came from Tamils or
Sinhalese, it was all focused on developing our country. So imagine this
scenario: if another Tsunami was to hit
Sri Lanka and a BBS member was about to die and the only way to survive was to
accept the helping hand of a Muslim, are you telling me that the politician
would rather die? I think not.
These particular Buddhist priests are nothing but a
hindrance to our country, but it’s not too late for us to turn it around.
Don’t, in any way, condone racism because that brings nothing but destruction.
We don’t need another war, just four years after we got out of one.
A leading textile store in pepiliyana, Fashion Bug was attacked on the 28th by a group of thugs involving Buddhist monks triggering another anti muslim campaign by the BBS.
The reason behind the incident, was apparently because of a rape incident involving a Muslim man in the area which the attackers failed to prove that such an incident happened linking to fashion bug.
The incident took place In broad daylight and evidences reveal that the mob attack was backed by the police. This clearly shows that it is in fact another attack carried out by a subsidiary of BBS.
However the BBS condemn the attack and wants the culprits to be arrested which is a joke knowing that they'll never be arrested as long as law is under them. And no further evidence is needed to prove that this was a BBS backed attacked specially when monks were also involved in the incident.
This incident just only triggered racism to a higher level causing more damage to the unity among all religions.
The country is heading towards its grave causing damage to the unity of people. The BBS wants every Muslim owned store to be closed down which they do not understand the consequences.
Muslims are known to be successful businessmen from historical sources and the BBS did not understand that in fact the Muslim merchants are the ones who are holding the economy in place although it is in a very fragile position already. The government earns a significant amount of tax from these merchants and uses them on public expenditure.
But the BBS, Promoting racism doesn't want Muslims to be successful and wants a Buddhists dominated business which is not what the country wants at this moment.
In conclusion if the actions of the BBS are not brought to an end anytime soon the damage would be too deep to heal and the country would be in turmoil when incidents such as the attack on the Fashion bug store continues.
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They say Sri Lankans forget things easily, but this is just ridiculous. The civil war Sri Lanka suffered through ended just four years ago; although we were all so grateful for it, people have apparently begun to forget what we had to endure. The racism, terror…all of that just because one bright spark Sinhalese political group decided to be racist against Tamils.
But, of course, we’re forgetful so we’re allowing it to happen again. If you’re Sri Lankan and you don’t know what I’m talking about, you must have crawled out from under a rock recently, because anti-Islam propaganda is everywhere! And who should instigate it, if not for – surprise! – Buddhist priests? Shocked? So was I.
As an atheist I’m impartial towards all religions, as long as they all promote freedom and equality. So let me firstly state that NOBODY can accuse me of favoritism towards Muslims. Do I have Muslim friends? Quite a few, yes. Do I value them above my other friends? Absolutely not. But people should have zero tolerance towards racism. I’m not saying all Muslims are perfect saints. There have been issues where they have done wrong, but in what religion have there never been mistakes?
What’s most upsetting, in my point of view, is that Buddhist priests are now engaged in politics. Not only are they in politics, but they twist what Lord Buddha has preached to benefit themselves. After all, a majority of the population are Buddhists; who would question clergymen, right? It’s clear that these priests (to refer to them as ‘priests’ is actually an insult to the religion) are using the faith people have in them, to their own advantage.
Lord Buddha has preached that people should have compassion and respect towards each other. Priests should set an example to followers, yet you find them invoking hate in the minds of people. Are these really the role models you want?
The Bodu Bala Sena doesn’t have much of a purpose, honestly. To me, they’re a huge joke. Some of the allegations they’ve made are beyond ridiculous:
Halaal should be banned:
They’ve claimed that the Jamiyyathul Ulama tries to force producers to get the Halaal certificate, to ensure that they earn more profits. Are you telling me that producers don’t have the backbone to refuse? This is a free country (or so we think) If you don’t want the certificate, don’t take it! Because what is that organization capable of doing? It’s not like they’re going to burn down a store room for not having that particular approval.
Muslims are trying to reduce the Buddhist population:
So, apparently, Muslim merchants hand out genetically developed toffees to Sinhalese people, which cause infertility in women. See how stupid that sounds? Does the dimwitted person who spread this rumor think that Muslims have nothing better to do than to invest in genetically developed TOFFEES, of all things?
Muslims shouldn’t have so many children:
Who are they to tell people how many
children to have? This isn’t China. So what if Muslims want more children? Did the BBS stop to think that maybe they’re more family oriented (I’ve noticed that Muslims tend to be closer to family than Sinhalese do) and that maybe they can afford to have children? Should they be penalized just because Buddhists don’t want to have more kids? The BBS also believes that Buddhists should have around 5 to 6 children to ensure that the Sinhalese population grows. Right, because the priests are totally going to fund that.
Muslim women shouldn’t wear the Abaya:
The Bodu Bala Senawa has claimed that a man’s curiosity is triggered more by a woman who is covered because he cannot see what she’s like. Oh ok. So let’s all walk around naked? What business is it to anyone if a woman wants to cover herself? In a world where nudity is accepted, where it’s considered to be pretty if you dress up like a prostitute, it’s actually better that there are still women who have values and want to dress decently. It’s hilarious that BUDDHIST PRIESTS, of all people (seeing as how they should promote decency) want women to stop wearing the Abaya, or even have a problem with what women wear at all!
Muslim shops employ Sinhalese girls on purpose:
Places like Nolimit are apparently recruiting poor Sinhalese girls as saleswomen, and they eventually marry the Muslim guys who work there and end up converting to Islam. So in other words, Muslim shops shouldn’t provide job opportunities to girls who didn’t have the privilege of receiving a good educations and becoming successful. But of course if they attempted to do that as a remedy, the BBS would gladly accuse Muslims as being racists. Again, a stupid claim of a conspiracy.
Not only does the BBS start all these rumors that spread like wildfire, they themselves are known to attack Muslim places of worship as well as shops. The stories they’ve made have reportedly caused a lot of trouble to Muslims country-wide. Worst of all, women in Abayas are being discriminated, as a Buddhist priest has apparently referred to them as “Gonibillas” Well done, BBS, that is just so mature of you. As a feminist I’m deeply disturbed by this and I strongly believe that this political group should be shut down and these priests should be banned from preaching. Haven’t we suffered enough during the past three decades? Do we really need another reminder of why racism is bad? And haven’t other countries taught us enough? The Holocaust killed six million Jews! Do we really need to be called the next Hitlers?
Muslims, as far as I know, have supported us to end the civil war. Is this how we repay them? Also it’s obvious that Sri Lanka relies on Middle Eastern countries to get necessary goods; and if Muslim merchants were to shut down their businesses and go abroad, it would actually affect our economy, because they’re known to be successful. Right now what we’re doing is biting the hand that feeds us.
So what if we’re a Buddhist country? It’s a known fact that a majority of the population belongs to Buddhism. But does that mean we have to bully a certain sect? Political groups like the BBS are nothing but thugs who try to stir up trouble, especially after the ordeal we had to face. Racism should not be promoted in any way and it’s very disheartening that they’re allowed to do what they please without any sort of intervention from the government. Is this really the sort of environment we should be growing up in? Is this what we teach the younger generation? To hate because of religious differences? Just as Sri Lanka was reuniting, and putting the past behind her, these pathetic excuses for clergy just had to come along and create new issues.
It’s only a matter of time until the BBS bring up some other insane story, but before you decide to follow them solely for the reason that clergy can be trusted, think again about whether you are willing to face another war, because Sri Lanka can most definitely do well without it.
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