Sri Lanka’s minority religious groups are concerned after Buddhist hardliners reacted angrily to President Maithripala Sirisena’s new constitution, proposed on 9 January.
The new constitution would decentralise power in a bid to prevent ethnic tensions, but Buddhist hardliners blasted the proposal, saying it contains provisions that regulate the power of the Buddhist clergy. The Justice and Buddha Sasana Minister, Wijeyasayadasa Rajapashe, denied this claim, saying they are intended only to enable the government to discipline monks who break the law.
