Writing in the BBC, Alan Strathern, a fellow in History at Brasenose College, Oxford,has explored the relationshi between Buddhist monks and violence, in light of attacks on Muslims by Buddhists in Burma and Sri Lanka.

Strathern is also the author of ‘Kingship and Conversion in Sixteenth-Century Sri Lanka: Portuguese Imperialism in a Buddhist Land’.

Extracts from his piece have been reproduced below. See the full piece here.

“But however any religion starts out, sooner or later it enters into a Faustian pact with state power. Buddhist monks looked to kings, the ultimate wielders of violence, for the support, patronage and order that only they could provide. Kings looked to monks to provide the popular legitimacy that only such a high moral vision can confer.”

“The result can seem ironic. If you have a strong sense of the overriding moral superiority of your worldview, then the need to protect and advance it can seem the most important duty of all.”

“One of the most famous kings in Sri Lankan history is Dutugamanu, whose unification of the island in the 2nd Century BC is related in an important chronicle, the Mahavamsa.”

“It says that he placed a Buddhist relic in his spear and took 500 monks with him along to war against a non-Buddhist king. He destroyed his opponents. After the bloodshed, some enlightened ones consoled him: "The slain were like animals; you will make the Buddha's faith shine."”

The Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, received a Sri Lankan delegation led by the chair of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka at Marlborough House in London on Tuesday.

According to the Sri Lankan Ministy of Defence’s website, the delegation is in London to take part in “a Commonwealth roundtable on reconciliation”, from May 1-3.

Labor backbencher MP John Murphy has called for Australia to boycott the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo, as Foreign Minister Bob Carr remained steadfast in his support for Sri Lanka.

Speaking out against the Australian government’s decision to attend the upcoming CHOGM, Murphy stated,

Speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday, the US State Department's spokesperson, Patrick Ventrell, drew particular attention to the attacks on the Tamil newspaper Uthayan and its workers, and called on the Sri Lankan authorities to conduct "thorough investigations".

Ventrall said:

Adding to the Sri Lankan Army's burgeoning plethora of civilian businesses and administrative measures, the Security Forces Commander in Kilinochchi, Major General Udaya Perera, announced that the army has introduced a scholarship programme for children.

The programme, which will start from grade 5 to university entrance level, will be yearly, ranging from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 10,000.

The Defence Ministry's website states that the scholarships are 'paid from funds collected from army personnel on a voluntary basis'.

The US ambassador to Sri Lanka Michelle Sison has opened a USAID funded market and bus stop in the town of Pullumalai in Batticaloa.

The facilities were built using a $477,000 grant from the US Agency for International Development.

 Thousands of Sri Lankans gathered in Colombo at the ruling coalition UPFA's May Day rally.

Four masked individuals appeared at the home of TNPF leader Gajen Ponnambalan, making enquiries as to his wherabouts.

On being told that he was out, the four individuals, who were covered by helmets and raincoats, proceeded to take photographs of the motorbikes of TNPF members parked outside Ponnambalan's house.

The incident, a suspected attempt at intimidation, occured while Mr Ponnambalam attended a May Day Event in Vadamarachi hosted by the TNPF and the All Ceylon Tamil Congress.

The EU’s decision on whether to impose sanctions on Sri Lanka in regards to Illegal Unregulated Unreported (IUU) fishing will be made on June 26.

Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Ministry made submissions to Brussels last week, in an attempt to avoid sanctions.

“We have taken a number of measures. The EU is happy about it. We also have a vessel monitoring system in place,” Minister Rajitha Senaratne said.

In its latest report published today on Sri Lanka - 'Assault on Dissent', Amnesty International documents what it has described as the Sri Lankan government's intensifying "crackdown on critics through threats, harassment, imprisonment and violent attacks".

Calling for a boycott of the Commonwealth meeting in Sri Lanka later this year, AI's Deputy Asia Pacific Director, Polly Truscott, said:

“Violent repression of dissent and the consolidation of political power go hand in hand in Sri Lanka,”

“Over the past few years we have seen space for criticism decrease. There is a real climate of fear in Sri Lanka, with those brave enough to speak out against the government often having to suffer badly for it.”

“The CHOGM meeting must not be allowed to go ahead in Colombo unless the government has demonstrated beforehand that it has stopped systematic violations of human rights. All attacks on individuals must be promptly, impartially and effectively investigated and those responsible held to account.”

"It is abundantly clear that Colombo is unwilling and unable to investigate the credible allegations of crimes under international law, including war crimes, during the conflict. What is needed is an independent, impartial and internationally led investigation.”

Find report here, extracts of accompanying statement by AI published below:

"The document, Assault on Dissent reveals how the government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa is promoting an official attitude that equates criticism with “treason” in a bid to tighten its grip on power.