Sri Lanka’s President and PM have been unambiguous in their assertions that there will be no change in the special place accorded to Buddhism in the Constitution

To say Colombo was well-lit last week would be an understatement. The city glittered, with long rows of lanterns and serial bulbs put up for Vesak Day, a celebration marking the birth, enlightenment and the passing of the Buddha. Weeks after Sri Lankans celebrate the Sinhala and Tamil New Year mid-April, they gear up for Vesak, the most important day of the Buddhist calendar. Shining through translucent paper or cloth, elegant lanterns begin making an appearance days ahead, lining Colombo’s streets in warm yellow. The illuminations draw huge crowds from in and around Colombo.

Last week, Sri Lanka hosted the UN Vesak Day for the first time, with delegates from nearly 100 countries having participated. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the event in Colombo, and said Buddhism imparted an “ever-present radiance” to India’s relationship with Sri Lanka. To deepen links of a shared Buddhist heritage, he announced the launch of an Air India flight service between Colombo and Varanasi. Analysts were quick to point to the emphasis on religion and culture in New Delhi’s diplomatic outreach.

Around the same time, President Maithripala Sirisena reiterated that his government remained committed to protecting the foremost place accorded to Buddhism in Sri Lanka’s Constitution. Both the President and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have repeatedly assured their majority-Buddhist constituency of this, from the time their government decided to reform its Constitution — an election promise that they made before coming to power in 2015. This only reaffirmed the special place given to Buddhism in Sri Lanka’s 1972 and 1978 Constitutions.

Protecting Buddhism

Buddhists account for 70% of the population and the Buddhist clergy wield considerable influence on the political class. Hindus make up 12.6%, constituting the largest minority segment. Muslims and Christians form 9.7% and 7.6% of the population. “As a state, the President, I and all of us protect Buddhism, not through words, but through action,” Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said last year. Liberals in the government argued that since Buddhism was not a state religion, the Constitution would still be secular. Critics countered it, saying if equality was a provision, giving primacy to one religion over others was exclusionary and threatened the secular character of the Constitution.

According to a survey conducted by the Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternatives among more than 2,000 people across 25 districts, around 77% of Sinhalese strongly felt that Buddhism should be given a special place in the Constitution. About 74% of Tamils, 89.2% of hill-country Tamils and 71.4% from the Muslim community disagreed. A Public Representations Committee on Constitutional Reform, tasked with conducting public consultations, was unable to arrive at a consensus in its recommendations. As a compromise, it recommended different formulations for the consideration of the constituent assembly.

The President and Prime Minister have been unambiguous in their assertions that there will be no change in the special place accorded to Buddhism. Even dissenters would agree that any departure from the position would mean high political cost to this government at a time when ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa, popular among Sinhala-Buddhists, is regaining political ground. Meanwhile, sections are worried about the slow pace of the Constitution drafting exercise and citizens await a public debate on key aspects like power-sharing and fundamental rights.