The Sri Lankan Ambassador to Italy has called on the Sri Lankan government to take steps to ‘ban’ a bar named after Buddha in the Italian city of Parma, reported Ceylon Today.
Sri Lankan residents in Italy recently protested against the ‘Buddha Bar’, calling on the ambassador to take action.
Ambassador Nawalage Bennett Cooray told Ceylon Today that he had written to Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Ministry, adding that the Sri Lankan community in Italy was disturbed over the restaurant’s name.
"We have the right to look into it as it amounts to ridiculing a religion. I have informed the Ministry and wanted them to take immediate steps to ban the Buddha Bar," said Cooray.
The ambassador said that the name goes against the UN's Human Rights Council 1981 Resolution 7/19 on the Declaration of Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, adding that the ministry will inform the Government of Italy about it soon.
"My duty is to inform the people concerned. It's the Ministry's duty to further look into it," he said.
Cooray further said that there are about 150,000 Sri Lankans in Italy and that this restaurant had hurt their religious sentiments.
"We know it's a worldwide chain of restaurants, however, if it has provoked religious sentiments, we have to look into it," he said.
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