Bodu Bala Sena
Bodu Bala Sena (BBS, Sinhala බොදු බල සේනා , "Buddhist armed force") is a nationalist organization of Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka .
history
BBS was founded in 2012 by the Buddhist monks Kirama Wimalajothi and Galagoda Aththe Gnanasaara as a split from the Buddhist party Jathika Hela Urumaya .
The party claims to represent the interests of the Buddhist population in Sri Lanka and wants to draw attention to the situation of Buddhist minorities in other countries in South Asia. Since its inception, it has attracted repeated violent acts against other religious communities in Sri Lanka. A main target of the attacks became the Muslim minority in Sri Lanka, who make up around 10%. Thus, the BBS called for the prohibition of slaughter according to Islamic rites ( HALAL -Meat), halal certification, generally, the burqa , and agitated against alleged Islamic extremism.
Ideologically, the BBS is closely associated with a Sinhalese nationalism. At an event in Colombo on February 17, 2013, BBS spokespersons announced that Sri Lanka was a Buddhist country and that other minorities should behave in such a way that they “do not endanger the majority people and their identity” ( ... not threaten the majority race and its identity ). The financing of the construction of mosques with money from the Arab oil states and the supposed conversion of Buddhists to Muslims financed by these countries must stop. Foreign journalists who reported critically were in part threatened.
In June 2014, violent clashes broke out between Muslims and Buddhists in Aluthgama and Beruwala , which resulted in the government imposing a curfew. In March 2018 there were serious clashes with one person in Kandy , as a result of which the government declared a state of emergency for ten days .
BBS's actions have also been criticized by Sri Lankan Buddhist officials who have stated that BBS does not represent the views of the Buddhist community in Sri Lanka.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dasun Edirisinghe: Bodu Bala Sena regrets acts committed by others in its name. January 28, 2013, accessed June 14, 2015 .
- ↑ Ban the burqa. (No longer available online.) Ceylon Today, February 17, 2013, archived from the original on February 21, 2013 ; accessed on June 14, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Sri Lanka hardline group calls for halal boycott. BBC News, February 17, 2013, accessed June 14, 2014 .
- ↑ Dharisha Bastian: "This is a Sinhala country, Sinhala Government": Bodu Bala Sena. (No longer available online.) Ft.com, February 18, 2013, archived from the original on September 24, 2015 ; accessed on June 14, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Sri Lanka imposes curfew after Buddhist-Muslim clashes. BBC News, June 15, 2014, accessed June 14, 2014 .
- ^ Neue Zürcher Zeitung: In Sri Lanka there is emergency law for ten days, March 6, 2018.
- ↑ BBS does not represent entire Sanghay. (No longer available online.) Ft.lk, March 12, 2013, archived from the original on September 24, 2015 ; accessed on June 14, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
