SRI LANKA: Islamic Convert’s Detention Sparks Debate on Tolerance
Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Apr 8, 2010 (IPS) – Issues of religious tolerance, the rule of law and freedom of expression in this mainly Buddhist country are being thrown into debate by the detention of a Sri Lankan Buddhist woman who converted to Islam and was writing a book on her conversion.
Sarah Malathi Perera, a 38-year old migrant worker who has lived in Bahrain for 20 years, was detained by police in Colombo under emergency regulations on Mar. 20, ostensibly over a book she had written and published on her conversion to Islam.
But police have since given different versions of the reasons for her detention, saying that the book was offensive to Buddhism or that she was being probed for links to Tamil militants and Musim extremist groups.
On Tuesday, police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody was even more vague. “She has been detained under emergency regulations but I don’t have details as to why she is in detention. Let me check and let you know,” he told IPS. He was the same official who earlier gave different reasons for Perera’s detention. More…
