A senior Sri Lankan foreign ministry official decried the notion of inviting the Dalai Lama to Sri Lanka, stating the visit would irk China – a strong Sri Lankan ally.
“It will stir up a hornet’s nest, as it goes against Sri Lanka’s time honored ‘One China’ policy. Lankans are acutely aware of the fact that China does not like any country inviting the Dalai Lama,” said the official in comments to the New Indian Express. The official chose to remain anonymous.
In comments made before Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena had embarked on a trip to China, the official went on to add “the timing of the monk’s announcement is most inappropriate... We wonder if someone is fishing in troubled waters.”
Meanwhile, Buddhist organisation Bodu Bala Sena, who accused the Dalai Lama of falling victim to “Islamist extremist propaganda” said it “wanted to invite [the Dalai Lama] last year but the Chinese told the Rajapaksa government that it should not allow it.”
Also see our earlier posts:
Dalai Lama urges Buddhists to end anti-Muslim violence in Sri Lanka and Myanmar (06 July 2014)
Also see:
'Buddhism & Violence' - academics discuss Sri Lanka and Burma (31 August 2013)
Buddhists never extremist – Mahinda (03 June 2013)
Buddhist monks and violence (02 May 2013)
SL is a Sinhala Buddhist country - Buddhist clergy (26 March 2013)
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