• Those who carry out such propaganda pump huge sums of money into it

By Ajith Siriwardana

 
The authorities have failed to take adequate action on  complaints made by the prelates of the three Chapters regarding the  propaganda insulting the Buddhist philosophy and the Buddha’s  character, a Parliamentary Committee has revealed.  This was revealed during a meeting of the Parliamentary  Caucus for functioning towards safeguarding the national heritage,  chaired by MP Jayantha Samaraweera recently. 

 It was revealed that those who carry out propaganda  insulting the Buddhist philosophy and the Buddha’s character are engaged  in various businesses in this country as well as in other foreign  countries and spend a lot of money to carry out such work. 
 
The officials present pointed out that this could be one  facet of a conspiracy to bring down Sri Lanka as a country in  international geopolitics, so measures should be taken after considering  the matter.  

They were of the opinion that social violence and cultural  breakdown will occur as a result of these actions and this may lead to  the breakdown of the individual, family, institutions and ultimately the  entire society in this country and therefore, attention should be paid  to this matter immediately.  

He said the Caucus will draw the attention of the relevant  parties and make recommendations to prevent the distortion of Buddhist  doctrine, the collapse of the Sangha Community and the distortion of Sri  Lankan history.  
The participants provided comprehensive explanations  regarding the distortions of Buddhist philosophy, the propagation of  myths about the Buddha’s character, as well as the propaganda carried  out using various media in a way that insults the monks.  

The monks who were present pointed out that books which  distort the Buddhist philosophy are being compiled and are widely  distributed.  

The Chair also pointed out that wrong ideas about Buddhist  philosophy are spreading among the people due to the popularization of  books with distorted data. It was also discussed that these campaigns  are carried out in such a way as to create displeasure about the  concepts of monk ordination, priestly ordination as well as religious  rituals that have been protected for a long time. The monks pointed out  that because of this, the people will be convinced that the Buddha is a  fictional character and the people’s faith in the Buddhist order will be  broken.  
Scholars present pointed out that the amendment of the  legal provisions and the prevention of the distortion of the historical  sources affecting the unitary foundation of Sri Lanka should be given  close attention.  

The Chair pointed out that the Caucus is looking forward to  obtaining all the proposals and ideas presented and making necessary  recommendations to prevent distortions of the Buddhist philosophy,  propagation of myths about the character of the Buddha, as well as  propaganda that insults the monks.