Buddhism is the only pacifistic faith: Champika

Buddhism is the only religion that does not promote or encourage killings to propagate the religion and the main objective of jihad is to exterminate all except those who follow Allah, Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said. 

He emphasised the need to set up a special monitoring system to fully realise and assess the goal, strategies and work plan of Muslim fundamentalist terrorists who wreaked havoc in the country. Addressing the Maha Sangha Samuluwa held over the weekend at the BMICH, he underscored the rise in religious extremism in the Middle East and said ISIS was born in Iraq. 

“The Sunni Muslims created Al-Qaeda in 2004 after the US-led forces ousted Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein. The godfather of Al-Qaeda is Abu Musab Al–Zarqawi. His ideology was Tawheed Jamaat, which believes Allah is the one and only God. 

Therefore, all others who don’t believe in Allah must be exterminated. This is the difference between jihad and Buddhism. We sometimes refer to non-Buddhists as atheists or non-believers. But a Buddhist never expects to assassinate or harm a non-believer. 

The main teachings of Buddhism are compassion, love and kindness. “One of the most ruthless terrorists of our time is Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi – the incumbent leader of Tawheed Jamaat. He rose to fame subsequent to the assassination of Abu Musab by the US. In 2014, Al Baghdadi declared a Muslim caliphate after conquering a huge swathe of land to the size of Great Britain in Iraq and Syria. 

That was the birth of ISIS or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria that spread to Asia and Africa. Misguided Muslim youth from Sri Lanka and other countries in Asia who left for ISIS were brainwashed and trained in warfare. They returned to their motherlands to promote, propagate and spread terrorism. That was how the Ester Sunday attacks happened in Sri Lanka,” he said. (Sandun A Jayasekera)