8 April 2021 01:25 am
Siva Senai, a Hindu rights organization, called for provisions to be included in the new constitution, to protect Buddhism and Hinduism against what it called ‘unethical conversions’.
Its founder Maravanpulavu K. Sachithananthan said in a statement that a 12-hour penance / fast / prayer is being organised in 23 centres in 12 districts of Sri Lanka on April 10, 2021, coinciding with the 119th birth anniversary of Swami Vipulananda of the Ramakrishna Mission.
The demands of this hunger-strike are three-fold: provision of Hinduism with a priority status in the proposed new constitution of Sri Lanka, the inclusion of a Hindu / Buddhist protection clause (or anti-conversion clause ) in the proposed new constitution, and the inclusion of a Bovine protection clause preventing the slaughter of cows, build and calves (that are sacred to Hindus and Buddhists) in the proposed new constitution.
“Swami Vipulananda hails from Karaitheevu, a village in the Amparai District, Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. He is an embodiment of the culture and traditions of the prehistoric past of this island.
Swami Vipulanada is the direct consequence of the tangible social formations, identifiable economic activities and recognisable cultural institutions since pre-Iron-Age culture in Sri Lanka.
The worship of nature, the codified social norms and the associated cultural activities directed the evolutionary process towards shaping us into what we are today in Sri Lanka. Swami Vipulananda bears testimony to this uninterrupted thread of Hindu faith-based culture native to Sri Lanka.
Intrusion by teachings of those who wished to direct behavioural aspects of humans through dogma-based ideologies did not interrupt the continuous evolutionary chain of Sri Lankans as Hindus.
Hinduism, as we call our faith today in Sri Lanka, survives because this centuries-old indigenous faith is intertwined with beliefs and practices,” the statement said.