Sri Lanka’s Embassy in the US filed a letter of objection to a Congressional Caucus on Religious and Ethnic Freedom in Sri Lanka which saw discussion on the link between Sinhala Buddhism and extremist violence.
Commenting on the event invitation, Sri Lanka’s Charge d’affaires to the US Priyanga Wickramasinghe said,
“To term the incidents of violence caused by the actions of a few as an ‘anti-Muslim pogrom’ is a gross misrepresentation of what transpired. Sri Lanka is not plagued by religious or ethnic violence. Religion was not a root cause for the conflict that ended in 2009.”
The letter added,
“The armed conflict that arose as a result of terrorism with the main terrorist group (the LTTE) proscribed by US authorities, ended in May 2009…. The reference to ‘continued conflict on the island’ in the invitation for the panel discussion therefore is incorrect.”
Full letter can be read here.
The Congressional Caucus invite read,
“Tamil, Muslim and Christians communities, which together comprise about one quarter of the population, feel threatened by discrimination and violence, largely perpetrated by the majority Singhalese Buddhist community within Sri Lanka. Without acknowledgement of Sri Lanka as a pluralist, secular country that contains diverse populations, the island will not be able to achieve the progress it otherwise would.”
Full invite here.