Buddhism is the only pacifist religion says Sri Lankan minister

<p>One of Sri Lanka's ministers today claimed that Buddhism was the only pacifist religion that did not promote killings unlike Islamic Jihad.&nbsp;</p> <p>Champika Ranawaka of the JHU said Buddhism did not try to propagate the religion, contrasting it with Jiha, which he said aimed to "exterminate all except those who follow Allah".&nbsp;</p> <p>"The Sunni Muslims created Al-Qaeda in 2004 after the US-led forces ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The godfather of Al-Qaeda is Abu Musab Al–Zarqawi. His ideology was Tawheed Jamaat which believes Allah is the one and only God. Therefore, all others who don’t believe in Allah must be exterminated. This is the difference between jihad and Buddhism. We sometimes refer to non-Buddhists as atheists or non-believers. But a Buddhist never expects to assassinate or harm a non-believer. The main teachings of Buddhism are compassion, love and kindness," he was quoted by the <a href="http://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Buddhism-is-the-only-pacifistic…">Daily Mirror </a>as saying.&nbsp;</p> <p>“One of the most ruthless terrorists of our time is Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi – the incumbent leader of Tawheed Jamaat. He rose to fame subsequent to the assassination of Abu Musab by the US. In 2014, Al Baghdadi declared a Muslim caliphate after conquering a huge swathe of land to the size of Great Britain in Iraq and Syria. That was the birth of ISIS or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria that spread to Asia and Africa. Misguided Muslim youth from Sri Lanka and other countries in Asia who left for ISIS were brainwashed and trained in warfare. They returned to their motherlands to promote, propagate and spread terrorism. That was how the Ester Sunday attacks happened in Sri Lanka.”</p>