Let Not The State In A Plural State Enforce The Religious Code Of A Majority Community
R.M.B. Senanayake
In plural state where there are religious minorities it is not conducive for peace to have a theocratic State where the religious precepts of the majority religion are sought to be implemented by the State. So today in Tunisia and Egypt there is a struggle by those who stand for the State to enforce the Sharia law on all citizens whether Muslim or Non-Muslim. These two parties are now locked in a violent struggle. It is the same in Afghanistan and Pakistan where the Taliban want Sharia law to be enforced by the State. The modern democratic state is a liberal state where the citizen is free to practice his own religion. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN recognizes these rights.
It was the USA that for the first time recognized the need for a secular State and insisted on a separation between the Church and the State. Previously in Europe after the Reformation there was persecution and violent conflict between the majority and minority in all the Christian countries of Europe. It was after the long drawn out 30 years war which ended with the Treaty of Westphalia that the right of religious tolerance was accepted and the obligation was cast on the ruler to ensure such tolerance. Since 1948 the UN Declaration has been accepted by most of the countries of the world. But these rights have not been written into their Constitutions in the same explicit way. Our own Constitution leaves room for misinterpretation and misunderstanding.
We have in the 1972 Constitution Chapter 2. A clause which refers to Buddhism
CHAPTER II – BUDDHISM
Sri Lanka walk will be my toughest, says Botha  COLOMBO |
(Reuters) - Ian Botham's latest charity walk is to take him 160km from the north to the south of Sri Lanka and will be his toughest to date, the England great said on Thursday.
The eight-day walk, arranged to raise funds for those affected by the 30-year war in Sri Lanka, begins at Killinochchi on November 1 and is due to end at Seenigama.
"It's going to be like nothing I have ever attempted before and it's going to be my most demanding," the 57-year-old Botham told a news conference on Thursday.
"Walking in that heat and humidity will be a great challenge. It will be a testing factor.
"I have really strong connections with Sri Lanka and I know if I can raise a lot of money it is going to do so much good for young people here. I am determined to make a success of it."
Dubbed 'Beefy's Big Sri Lanka Walk', it will raise funds for projects supported by the Laureus Sports Foundation for Goodness.
Each day Botham will be joined by cricketers such as Shane Warne, Michael Vaughan, Sourav Ganguly, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.
Botham has been walking for charity since 1985 when he first pledged to raise millions of pounds to help people suffering from blood cancers.
He visited Sri Lanka in 2005 soon after the Asian tsunami and played a key role in the establishment of the Foundation for Goodness project.
Botham was back in the country in 2009 to oversee the launch of a sports centre in the southern town of Seenigama which was hit by the tsunami.
In 2011 he made another visit for the opening of a similar sports complex in the north of Sri Lanka.
Botham is one of the greatest cricketing all-rounders of all time. He won 102 test caps, hitting 14 centuries and taking 383 wickets. (Editing by Tony Jimenez)
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