Sri Lanka Buddhist group calls for halal boycott

[LurkerBaba]

A new hardline Sinhalese Buddhist group in Sri Lanka has called for the abolition of the Muslim halal system of certifying foods and other goods.

The Bodu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Strength Force, also said foreign propagators of religions should leave the country within a month.

Thousands of supporters of the group attended a rally in a suburb of the capital, Colombo.

The calls come at a time of mounting religious tension in the country.

There have been several attacks on both mosques and Muslim-owned businesses as well as on Christian churches and the clergy, the BBC's Charles Haviland reports from Colombo.

The leaders called for a boycott of halal meat and demanded shops clear their stocks by April, the AFP news agency reports.

Youth activists at the rally wore T-shirts denouncing the Muslim halal method of slaughtering animals to eat.

The group's secretary-general, Venerable Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara, told the crowds that "only monks can save this race", referring to Sinhalese.

He claimed that Christian and Muslim extremists were threatening Buddhists, and said hundreds of monks were ready to fight. "Our country is a Sinhalese one and we are its unofficial police," he said.

The group has denied being anti-minority, and has dissociated itself from the recent attacks on Muslim and Christian targets.

But one member of the group, Dilanthe Withanage, accused "some" unnamed countries of "funding Christian fundamentalists as well as Muslim fundamentalists" in Sri Lanka.

Both Muslims and Christians deny promoting extremism in Sri Lanka, our correspondent reports.

President Mahinda Rajapakse has called on monks not to incite religious hatred and violence, but one opposition politician told the BBC that "the situation is very bad".

"Any moment, the ethnic riot will start between Sinhalese and Muslims," said Mujeebur Rahuman of the opposition United National Party.

"They are now working freely. Nobody is talking about this organisation and the government is not trying to stop their activities."

The Buddhist Sinhalese make up three-quarters of Sri Lanka's 20 million population.

Muslims constitute about 10% and have generally had good relations with the Sinhalese majority.

BBC News - Sri Lanka hardline group calls for halal boycott

 

[civfanatic]

The Bodu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Strength Force, also said foreign propagators of religions should leave the country within a month.

Buddhist Strength Force

They can be the spearheads of the B.S. Revolution.

 

[Bhadra]

Another Janata Vimukti Paramona !!

 

[saradiel1]

how did u control ur shiv sena guys?

 

[JBH22]

Muslims constitute about 10% and have generally had good relations with the Sinhalese majority.

article ends on a self contradicting note. so are the relations good or not if yes no point of this BS article if no then I don't believe 10% would still be here

 

[Tronic]

Nothing wrong with political demands but attacking mosques and churches is stupid.

 

[Vishwarupa]

how did u control ur shiv sena guys?

SS is useless they did nothing to save majority Hindus...Control or decontrol them is of no use.

May be you should use the same method which was used to eliminate LTTE.

 

[Ray]

Now, now, that is not being nice.

What will happen to the Pakistani tourists?

 

[Ray]

how did u control ur shiv sena guys?

Rajapaksye controlled and humanised?

 

[Rahul92]

Wait even Buddhists kill animals in a humane way but no not saying anything in the animal ear

 

[Ray]

Wait even Buddhists kill animals in a humane way but no not saying anything in the animal ear

In Bhutan, they throw them down the cliff.

Hence, technically they have not killed!

 

[Daredevil]

Halal food label withdrawn in Sri Lanka after protests

Colombo: Islamic clerics announced the withdrawal of a halal labelling system for food in Sri Lanka on Monday "in the interests of peace" after protests from Buddhist hardliners on the Indian Ocean island.

The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), Sri Lanka's main body of Islamic clergy, said the halal certificate issued by them would be used only for products that are exported to Islamic countries.

"We are giving up what is important to us. We are making a sacrifice in the interest of peace and harmony," ACJU president Mufti Rizwe said, adding that they were keen to avoid any escalation of religious tensions.

Food manufacturers in Sri Lanka have long made all their products using halal methods and labelled them with the ACJU halal certificate.

They argued it is impractical and uneconomical to have two manufacturing processes for the same product.

The halal method of killing an animal requires its throat to be slit and the blood to be drained.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said that manufacturers agreed to drop the halal logo from all food with immediate effect.

Nationalist Buddhist monks and their supporters had launched a campaign last month to boycott halal-slaughtered meat, as well as other products that carry a halal certificate.

The monks argue that Buddhists should not be forced to consume food that is prepared according to Islamic rites, saying it demonstrates the undue influence of Muslims in Sri Lanka.

President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is a Buddhist, had urged monks not to incite religious hatred.

Sri Lanka is 70 percent Buddhist, while Muslims comprise less than 10 percent of the population of 20 million.

The island suffered a bloody ethnic war between 1972 and 2009, pitting mostly Hindu ethnic Tamils against the Sinhalese Buddhist majority in violence that claimed at least 100,000 lives.

-AFP

 

[Tolaha]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but theoretically, Buddhists should not be consuming meat unless there is no alternatives. World would have been a better place if those who claim themselves as proud members of a religion, stick to that religion!

 

[gokussj9]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but theoretically, Buddhists should not be consuming meat unless there is no alternatives.

Well even Hindu's are not supposed to indulge in excessive meat eating without following proper vedic rituals but they do(especially in North India). I remember seeing some documentary regarding Tibetan Buddhists staying in mountains eating sheep but they do pray to Buddha for the well being of the soul of the animal.

 

[Tolaha]

Well even Hindu's are not supposed to indulge in excessive meat eating without following proper vedic rituals but they do(especially in North India). I remember seeing some documentary regarding Tibetan Buddhists staying in mountains eating sheep but they do pray to Buddha for the well being of the soul of the animal.

Tibetan Buddhists do have a very valid reason to consume meat. They just don't have any alternative but to consume meat during the long, cold winter season in the Himalayas.

 

[HeinzGud]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but theoretically, Buddhists should not be consuming meat unless there is no alternatives. World would have been a better place if those who claim themselves as proud members of a religion, stick to that religion!

It's not mandatory to eat meat in Buddhism. You can either eat it or should refrain from it. But it is said that we have to bear the consequence of our actions.

 

[Tolaha]

It's not mandatory to eat meat in Buddhism. You can either eat it or should refrain from it. But it is said that we have to bear the consequence of our actions.

Ofcourse its not mandatory to eat meat in Buddhism!!! I think you mean its not mandatory to not eat meat! 'Refrain' as you said, is the right word. So that brings us to the point, why are Buddhist monks passing orders on how meat should be labelled? Shouldn't 'meat' be something like a 'off-topic' for them?



'

 

[Yusuf]

Let me understand this. It's ok to have meat serve but it should not be marked as halal is it?

Buddhists in Lanka consume meat? Oh yes sure they do. When they kill Tamils, animals should not be too difficult. Sometimes I fail to understand religions and their beliefs. I mean all religions, well let me say their modern interpretations

 

[afako]

Nothing is mandatory in Dharma.

 

[HeinzGud]

Ofcourse its not mandatory to eat meat in Buddhism!!! I think you mean its not mandatory to not eat meat! 'Refrain' as you said, is the right word. So that brings us to the point, why are Buddhist monks passing orders on how meat should be labelled? Shouldn't 'meat' be something like a 'off-topic' for them?

Well those monks are rallying against specially for killing cows for beef. You know we put cow or bull in sacred position like Hindus. But we don't consider cow or bull as holy. From earlier times cow or bull has been the main procession of our rural life.

But what happen in nowadays is that Muslims who consider beef is a delicacy have put a huge demand on it. Therefore some people including Buddhists try to carve a profit out from this lucrative business. Therefore even a person in a rural village now have a problem of raising cows and bulls because animals are suddenly got abducted and transported to cities.

Those monks are trying to stop this trade. I think there is a debate weather we should allow Muslims to import beef rather than killing those animals in Sri Lanka.