The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka yesterday called for the setting up of an inter-religious body to look into complaints of any unethical practices or conversions and to build trust and respect among the major religions of the country.
In a carefully worded statement issued amidst growing religious tension and turmoil, the Catholic Bishops warned that any prohibitive legislation to prevent allegedly unethical conversions might be counter-productive and cause further divisions among religions.
The Catholic Bishops in a wide-ranging statement said, "We express our grave concern over the recent increase in religious tension in our country. At this time we wish to reiterate our resolve in a united Sri Lanka in which people of all faiths and beliefs would live together in harmony with dignity and mutual respect.
"We are aware that the present climate is due to the concern that unethical conversions from one religion to another are taking place. We too express our unequivocal disapproval on the use of material enticements to gain converts. It is indeed important to find effective ways to deal with this issue if we are to create an atmosphere of religious amity devoid of suspicion.
"We need to come up with a method that is fair and dignified and one that will actually defuse tensions and promote religious harmony.
"We have given our most anxious and careful consideration to the suggestion that legislation be enacted to deal with the issue of unethical conversions. We are of the opinion that criminalizing the practise of unethical conversions will not bring such a situation to an end. In fact, legislation would only exacerbate the situation further. For instance, if a prosecution is initiated against supposed unethical conversion, the adversarial court proceedings will polarize our society and lead to a serious erosion in inter-religious relations. Even if at the end of the court proceedings, a person is found 'guilty' he would be considered a victim of oppressive Draconian legislation and become a martyr among his followers. The dent the whole process makes in the relations between communities may become worse than the original problem.
"We are all aware that there are a multitude of reasons for people to change religions. It would not be an exaggeration to state that the reasons in every single instance of conversion from one religion to another would be unique and personal to the individual concerned. Therefore it is impossible to list all the probable causes for conversion and consequently it would never be possible to have a consensus on criminalizing what might be termed "unacceptable" reasons for conversion or "acceptable" reasons for conversion.
"All religions offer some kind of solace to its adherents, the inspiration that a religion provides to an individual, is personal to that individual concerned, and others cannot stand in judgement as to the rationale of such motivation. It must eventually be left to the individual concerned to reconcile his or her motivations. We are also aware that prohibitive legislation can sometimes become an instrument of abuse, harassment and intimidation against minority religions in the country. That is the reason when the Tamil Nadu Legislature adopted an Ordinance to restrict conversions, the Buddhists in Tamil Nadu joined the Christians to protest and defy the law. More recently in Gujarat, thousands converted to Buddhism in a public act of defiance after similar legislation was enacted.
"We a nation that ought to have learnt lessons from short-sighted majoritarian laws on language, can ill-afford a religious divide on account of similar impulses. We are encouraged by the progressive measures adopted in abolishing the Criminal defamation legislation. Here the basic right to freedom of expression was upheld, while a "standard-ensuring mechanism in the form of a "Press Complaints Commission" was established. In line with such progressive measures relating to individual freedom in our country, we suggest that an inter- religious body modelled on similar lines be established to inquire into and investigate any allegations of supposed "unethical practices".