Release International

Police have ordered Christians to stop worshipping at a church in Sri Lanka, after a mob threatened churchgoers on two consecutive Sundays. This reflects growing pressure against the Christian minority in Sri Lanka. The government is again considering anti-conversion legislation aimed at preventing the spread of the gospel.

Police in Horana, Kalutara District, have ordered Christians to stop meeting for worship and prayer at the Foursquare Gospel Church. The move follows a campaign of intimidation and harassment by extremists to throw out Christians from a mainly Buddhist area.

Pressure began to build in July when the pastor and landlord of the Foursquare Church were asked to put a stop to Christian services. Police ordered the pastor to produce written evidence of his legal right to hold worship meetings, which he did. Freedom of worship is a constitutional right in Sri Lanka.

But by the end of July, villagers had raised a petition against the church and gangs were threatening worshippers on their way to the services and chasing them away.

Then, on August 7, a mob of 50 led by a Buddhist monk confronted Christians at the church and demanded an end to the services. They told the 12 worshippers present to get out and stay out.

The pastor called the police, who accepted their constitutional right to worship, but nevertheless closed down the church to prevent a further breach of the peace.

Christians are facing growing pressure from Buddhist extremists in Sri Lanka. The government has again put on the agenda anti-conversion legislation – which was delayed in the aftermath of the tsunami. The Bill has been proposed by Sri Lanka’s Minister of Buddhist Affairs.

It is seen as a reaction against the growth of evangelical Christianity over the past decade, which nationalists regard as an extension of colonialism. At the same time, the influence of extreme nationalist Buddhists has been growing in Parliament. They have accused Christians conducting humanitarian aid of offering bribes to lure Buddhists to convert to Christianity.

The Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka is concerned that if the anti-conversion law is passed church workers would face imprisonment and spend much of their time defending themselves in the courts. In some areas churches have already been driven underground.

‘We call on the government of Sri Lanka to throw this Bill out,’ says Eddie Lyle of Release International, which supports the persecuted church worldwide. ‘Sri Lankan Christians have a right to worship and religious freedoms are guaranteed under the constitution.

‘So we urge the government to uphold the constitution and to respect the right of its own citizens to determine their own faith and to worship without threat or intimidation.’

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