Jaffna Hate Crime Leadership By Northern Chief C.V. Wigneswaran
Prof. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole
Dedicated to the Memory and Heritage of the Democrat, Peace-maker, Tamil Leader, and Martyr to the Tamil Cause, Appapillai Amirthalingam on the occasion of his 90th Birthday Celebrations at the Jaffna Public Library Auditorium at 4:00 pm on Sunday 3 Sept. 2017.
Presiding: The Rt. Rev. Dr. S. Jebabanesan;
Chief Guest: Hon. R. Sampanthan, Leader of the Opposition.
Special Guest: Attorney Kanaha Manoharan of Canada
wo news items from India this week have parallels to Sri Lanka. First, the persecution watchdog Open Doors reported that Indian Christians experienced almost as many attacks in the first half of 2017 as in all of 2016. Second, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, a self-styled guru was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the “custodial rape” of 2 underage followers by a judge who called him a wild beast. Investigations are pending on 40-50 complaints by other women. Riots by his followers resulted in 38 further deaths.
Are we Sri Lankans any better?
Attacks on Sri Lankan Churches
Attacks on Christians in Sri Lanka are well-documented. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith’s surprising denial of such attacks (documented by attorney Lakshan Dias), added tongue-in-cheek (or perhaps foot-in-mouth) “I do not know whether fundamentalist Christian groups may have attempted to establish churches.” An assertion from a Christian leader that fundamentalist groups have no rights!
The Cardinal, recall, worked for the re-election of President Rajapakse and had his niece Ruwani Cooray appointed second secretary to our French Embassy without passing the required examinations. He also upset Tamil Catholics for urging the US government to go easy on soldiers who engaged in war crimes. Says a US Embassy Cable from WikiLeaks that the Archbishop told the US Ambassador, “pushing the government of Sri Lanka too hard on the war crimes accountability issue now could destabilize Sri Lankan democracy and could suffer revolution from the right or a coup by the military.”
The Cardinal and his opinions therefore deserve immediate dismissal. However, following his denial, then Minister of Justice and Buddhasasana Wijedasa Rajapaksa demanded a public apology from Lakshan Dias, threatening disbarment. Dias fled the country and is reported to be abroad.
