Myanmar govt, Suu Kyi slam attack on Buddhist shrine

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NEW DELHI, India -- The Myanmar government and Opposition leader Aung San Suu kyi expressed unhappiness about the terror attacks in Bodh Gaya which damaged the Mahabodhi shrine and injured a young Myanmarese monk on Sunday. The Bihar government has been criticized for ignoring intelligence warnings that the shrine may be under terror threat.

The Bodh Gaya blasts will be a diplomatic embarrassment for India among countries who India courts as the repository of Buddhism's holy sites from Japan, China, Bhutan, Thailand to Myanmar and Sri Lanka. For all these countries, India's position in the world of Buddhism is unique. This incident could cast a shadow on that, which would mean India would have to work doubly hard to secure religious sites that have an international presence.

It also means India would have to play a stronger role in security in its neighbourhood, specially in the growing conflicts between Muslims and Buddhists.

In separate meetings with foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai, who is visiting Yangon, Myanmarese leaders condemned the blasts and requested increased security. Mathai, said MEA officials, has promised that India would keep Bodh Gaya as a place for "pilgrimage and peace". Mathai met Myanmarese foreign minister U Wunna Maung Lwin in Naw Pyi Taw, and Suu Kyi in Yangon. Suu Kyi expressed shock and hoped for greater security.

Mathai also gave an update on the status of the Myanmarese monk, Vilsagga, who was injured. He said the monk would be taken care of by Indian authorities. India and Myanmar have agreed to step up security cooperation. Mathai also met with the commander-in-chief of the armed forces Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

Vilsagga (30), a Myanmarese monk, was praying near the Bodhi tree and suffered serious injuries in the blast.

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Sri Lanka mosque closes after attack by Buddhist mob

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Colombo, Sri Lanka -- A mosque in the Sri Lankan capital has been closed after an attack by a Buddhist mob over the weekend sparked clashes in which five people were hurt.

<< Special Task Force commandos stand guard outside a vandalised mosque in Colombo on 11 August 2013 Hard-line Buddhist groups have mounted a campaign against Muslim and Christian targets

Muslims in Colombo's Grandpass area will now use an older place of worship which has been saved from demolition in a deal struck with the government.

But the authorities have also been condemned for failing to make arrests.

In recent months hard-line Buddhist groups have mounted a campaign against Muslim and Christian targets.

Last month, a group of Buddhist monks protested near the mosque, demanding it be relocated.

But during evening prayers on Saturday night Buddhist-led crowds threw stones at the mosque. Police imposed a curfew when Buddhists and Muslims clashed after the attack on Sunday.

The curfew has now been lifted but hundreds of police and special forces are still present on the streets of Grandpass, BBC Sinhala's Azzam Ameen reports.
'Troubling' attacks

The Sri Lanka Muslim Council confirmed that the mosque which was attacked would be abandoned for an older place of worship which the government had previously earmarked for demolition.

"We have a compromise deal worked out last night," Council President NM Ameen told the Agence France-Presse news agency. "From today, we are out of the new mosque," he said.

After a meeting with religious leaders the government withdrew plans to develop a canal behind the old mosque, allowing Muslims use of that site once more.

"Through a just solution, we have now peacefully solved the issue," minister Champika Ranawaka told reporters.

But the violence has sparked criticism, with Sri Lanka's main opposition UNP party condemning authorities for failing to make arrests.

"Not a single arrest [has been] made so far, when it comes to attacks against religious places over the past year. This why we are seeing more and more attacks," MP Harin Fernando told the BBC.

A US embassy statement said that the incident was "particularly troubling in light of a large number of recent attacks against the Muslim community".

The past year has seen mounting religious tension in the country as hard-line Buddhist groups have attacked mosques and Muslim-owned businesses, as well as churches and clergy.

In February, one group also called for the abolition of the Muslim halal system of certifying foods and other goods.

Buddhist hard-liners accuse Muslims and Christians of promoting extremism and trying to convert Buddhists to their own faiths. Both Muslims and Christians have denied such accusations.

The Buddhist Sinhalese community makes up three-quarters of Sri Lanka's population of 20 million.

During Sri Lanka's bitter civil war, the Muslims - a small Tamil-speaking minority, about 9% of the population - kept a low profile, but many now fear that ethnic majority hard-liners are trying to target them.

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Sri Lankan Buddhist Monk under attack in Tamil Nadu

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Chennai, India -- A Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka - Ven. Gnanaloka Thero (46) had been with a group of 18 students comprising Indian, Myanmar and other nationals who was in Thanjavur for academic research, bore the brunt of the latest wave of anti-Lanka protests that has gripped the State lately.

<< The Buddhist monk Gnana Tero being confronted in Thanjavur on Saturday

Police rescued Ven. Gnanaloka Thero safely and the other students had been escorted to immediate safety at the Police Station and arrangements had been made for all the students including the Sri Lankan monk to leave Thanjavur immediately and depart to the Trichy airport under police protection. From Tiruchy, he boarded a flight to Chennai before leaving for New Delhi.

Police who rescued the monk in time and safely transported him to Tiruchy Airport on Saturday, around 2 pm with heavy security, but, MDMK men pelted stones at the vehicle ferrying the monk and when the vehicle neared G-Corner. From Tiruchy, he boarded a flight to Chennai before leaving for New Delhi.

Ven Gnanaloka Thero who is pursuing a Postgraduate Diploma in Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology of India has been studying in India in New Delhi for the past 18 months and has visited several Indian states on study tour.

The Buddhist monk, Gnana Tero (46), reached Thanjavur Big Temple on Saturday, and was learning about the archeological pattern of the iconic temple.

Members of some Tamil outfits reached there and, all of a sudden, Tamil Desiya Pothu Udamai Katchi district organiser P Rajendran and Naam Tamilar Katchi state organiser A Nalladurai assaulted the monk.

A police team led by Superintendent T S Anbu rushed to the scene and arrested Rajendran, Nalladurai and 9 others.

The Sri Lanka Deputy High Commissioner’s Office in Chennai and the Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi made immediate arrangements for the safe return of Ven. Gnanaloka Thero to New Delhi last evening and Ven.Thero will continue with the course of study in New Delhi .

The incident has received immediate attention at the highest levels of the Government of India and the state government of Tamil Nadu.

Police have registered a case in Ariyamangalam and have arrested 5 persons belonging to the MDMK (Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and the NTK (Naam Tamilar Katchi) in connection with the incident.

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Buddhist body slams attack on monasteries

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KATHMANDU, Nepal -- The Buddhism Protection Concerned Coordination on Monday has expressed serious concern over the September 30 arson attack on Buddhist temples and monasteries around the Cox's Bazaar area in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh and over the destruction of hundreds of Buddha's idols there in the course of such attacks.

<< A temple burnt by Muslims is seen in Cox's Bazar September 30, 2012

In a statement, the religious body condemned the attacks by hooligans saying that to carry out such acts leading to the destruction of Buddhist temples and monasteries as well as Hindu temples and shrines was against the human civilisation.

President of Buddhism Protection Concerned Coordination, Lakpa Sherpa, stated that since such kinds of anarchic activities disturb religious tolerance, the Bangladesh government should identify the community perpetrating the attacks and prevent such activities.

He also demanded stern action against the perpetrators.

Fourteen important Buddhist temples and three Hindu temples were destroyed and 30 families were attacked by an unruly mob in the incident.

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Political activists behind Buddhist attack: Bangla government probe

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Dhaka, Bangladesh -- A high-level government committee has accused activists of ruling Awami League alongside main opposition BNP and fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) for the attack on Buddhist temples and localities in south-eastern Bangladesh last month, reports said today.

Authorities have declined to "officially" immediately reveal, the probe body findings as it submitted the report to the home ministry only yesterday but several newspapers quoting sources familiar with the investigation said the government committee identified 205 people behind the September 29-30 attacks in Ramu and adjoining areas.

"Most of them (205 suspects) are local leaders and activists of Jamaat, BNP and Awami League" in Ramu sub-district and adjoining areas in Cox's Bazar, the mass circulation Prothom Alo newspaper reported.

The report said the attack on the intervening night of September 29 and 30 was preceded by a secret meeting at the residence of a JI leader Tofail Ahmed, a piece of information that substantiated the finding of a separate investigation by Supreme Court lawyers.

The report also accused the local administration and police of failure to prevent the attacks, while it came as parallel police investigations are underway with law enforcement agencies so far arresting over 200 suspects.

Incensed apparently by a Facebook posting allegedly by a follower of the Buddhist faith, the miscreants had instigated local Muslims to torch 11 Buddhist temples, damage two others and ransack some 30 houses in Buddhist neighbourhoods.

The Samakal newspaper also carried a report on the findings but said the committee could not unmask behind-the-scene patrons of the attack though it suspected infighting in local Awami League leadership largely allowed culprits to stage the attack.

Meanwhile, the lawyers investigations observed that the attack was carried out to destabilise the country and tarnish its image before the world and neighbouring countries including Buddhist-majority Myanmar, Sri Lanka and China.

Bangladesh's High Court today demanded a government explanation for "inaction" in preventing the attacks.

The order came in response to two writ petitions by a Buddhist lawyer and another Muslim alleging that the local police administration did not take any steps to prevent the attacks, a situation that later prompted authorities to "withdraw and close" the local police station.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ordered immediate steps for exemplary punishment of the perpetrators.

The government has also allocated cash amounts for the affected and promised to rebuild the temples and houses with government money.

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