The leader of the Bodu Bala Sena Galagoda Gnanasara told reporters today that the Pope should apologise for atrocities committed against Sri Lankan Buddhists by Christians during colonial times.

“Previous Popes have publicly apologised to certain countries because they destroyed, they killed. We had a similar situation, where most of the Buddhist temples were destroyed by them and Buddhist monks were killed. We would like to see a public apology from him,” Gnanasara Thera told a meeting with foreign correspondents in Colombo.

The leader of the Patriotic National Movement Venerable Elle Gunawansa said on Monday that the Dalai Lama has been mislead on how Sri Lanka’s Muslims were treated by Buddhists.

“It appears the Dalai Lama has been misled to issue this statement by stating that the Muslims in Sri Lanka are been cruelly treated by the Buddhists. Every Buddhist in Sri Lanka has continued to live according to the precepts of the ‘Dhamma’ extending loving kindness and compassion,” Gunawansa said in a statement, according to the Daily Mirror.

“There is a conspiracy against Sri Lanka. International efforts have also tried their best to tarnish the image of Sri Lanka in the past many decades and are becoming more aggressive. These sinister motives are to discredit and tarnish the image of Sri Lanka and if possible to destroy it,” he said.

The defence ministry’s spokesperson has denied that the letter calling on NGOs to refrain from certain activities was an attempt to restrict their work.

Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said at media briefing in Colombo on Tuesday that the letter was only a reminder to act according to a mandate previously issued by NGO Secretariat and false information was being disseminated to misguide the public.

“Amnesty International continues to have deep concerns about the shroud of secrecy imposed by the Government all under the guise of border security.”

Up to a dozen asylum-seeking women held on Christmas Island have attempted suicide, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

The women, all mothers, after being told they would be sent to Nauru and Manus Island believed that their children would have a better chance of making it to Australia without them.

President of the Christmas Island Shire Council, Gordon Thompson, said:

"Their thinking is that if the babies have been born in Australia, they cannot be sent anywhere else, including Manus Island or Nauru,"

Human remains have been uncovered in Muhamaalai, in the Northeast of the island, for a third consecutive day on Friday, reported the Uthayan.

Palai police announced that it was arranging for excavations to be conducted in the region, where they have now found three skeletons and more human remains, thought to be those of LTTE fighters.

Work to clear the area of vegetation has already begun, with a land mine removal team also deployed.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has met with senior leaders of the Buddhist clergy on Friday, reported Colombo Page.

Rajapaksa is said to have discussed inter-religious reconciliation with representatives of the Bodu Bala Sena, Sinhala Ravaya, and monks of the Siyam, Ramanna and Amarapura Nikayas.

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence has sent letters to non-governmental organisation, demanding that they refrain from activities beyond their mandate, including press conferences, workshops, training for journalists, and the publication of press releases.

The letter, signed by director of the Secretariat for Non-Governmental Organisations DMS Dissanayake, said NGOs should “prevent from such unauthorized activities with immediate effect”.

See letter here, courtesy of Groundviews.