Volume 6, Issue 1, April 2018
Articles

Religion and State: Revisions Needed in Sri Lankan Constitutional Implications

Nishandey Ratnam
Attorney-at-Law, Case Management Specialist, USAID Funded Project, CORE Justice
Bio

Published 2018-04-30

How to Cite

Ratnam, N. . (2018). Religion and State: Revisions Needed in Sri Lankan Constitutional Implications. Kathmandu School of Law Review, 6(1), 134–141. Retrieved from https://kslreview.org/index.php/kslr/article/view/955

Abstract

The paper compares infl uence of religion in the Constitutional culture of Sri Lanka and India. The secular nature of both constitutions, the historic relationship between the State and religion, and religious rights is analyzed in detail. Sri Lankan Constitution has provisions of giving special recognition to the Buddhist religion while, the Indian Constitution declares itself as a secular state. However, both nations have similar societies with a lesser degree of secular political culture. An entrenched provision of the Sri Lankan Constitution stands against the good principles of constitutionalism, instrumental in transforming the constitutional culture. The benefi ts of the maintenance of public order and the wellbeing of all parts of the society for the nation by, allowing real freedom of religion and maintaining no partiality, secular government is yet to be recognized in the Constitutional making history of Sri Lanka and in India as well.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

  1. 'Census of Population and Housing, Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka', Statistics Government, p.20 available at http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/CPH2011/Pages/Activities/Reports/CPH_2012_5Per_Rpt.pdf, accessed on 30 June 2018.
  2. Ibid, p.21.
  3. 'It is a hybrid, a cross between the French and British styles of government with a little bit of the United States thrown in.' A. Jeyaratnam Wilson, 'The Gaulist System in Asia', Macmillan, London,1980. p. 13.
  4. India Demographics Profile 2014 based on 2001 census, Index Mundi available at http://www.indexmundi.com/india/demographics_profile.html, accessed on 7th July 2018.
  5. Ainslie T. Embree, 'A South Asian Dilemma: The Role of Religion in the Public Sphere', The Brown Journal of World Affairs, 1997, p.138.
  6. Ibid.
  7. Bruce Matthews, 'The Problem of Communalism in Contemporary Burma and Sri Lanka', vol. 34, International Journal, 1979, p. 453.
  8. Embree (n 5).
  9. Richard Lester, Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia, University of Michigan Press, 1973, pp. 66-77.
  10. 'Kings approach the influential monks for their advice on social matters and when there was disagreement in the Sanga, King is considered to be the overseer.' Urmila Phadnis, Religion and Politics in Sri Lanka, Manohar Books, 1976, p. 24.
  11. Yarina Liston, 'The Transformation of Buddhism during British Colonialism', vol. 15, Journal of Law and Religion, 1999, p. 189.
  12. Charles R.A. Hoole, 'A Reassessment of Sinhalese Utopia: Explorative Essay on the Sri Lankan Political Crisis', Journal of Church and State, 1991, p. 108.
  13. W. Howard Wriggins, Ceylon: Dilemmas of a New Nation, Princeton University Press, 1960, p.171.
  14. Amalendu Misra, 'Hindu Nationalism and Muslim Minority Rights in India', International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 2000, p. 12.
  15. Offit Liviatan, 'Judicial Activism and Religion-Bases Tensions in India and Israel', vol. 26, Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law, 2009, p. 588.
  16. Constitution of Sri Lanka, 1978, art 9.
  17. Constitution of Sri Lanka, 1978, art 83.1
  18. 'Thomas Jefferson used this term when interpreting the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.'
  19. The First Amendment of the United States constitution provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...”'
  20. Anton Cooray, 'The Protection and Promotion of Religious Rights: A Commonwealth Survey', vol. 12, Sri Lanka Journal of International Law, 2000, p.165.
  21. Constitution of Sri Lanka, 1978, art 14(1) (e).
  22. Constitution of India, 1950, art 25(1).
  23. Tessa Bartholomeusz, First among Equals: Buddhism and the Sri Lankan State, Buddhism and Politics in Twentieth Century Asia, Lan Harris(ed), Pinter, London; New York, 1999, p.173.
  24. Embree (n 5), p. 147.
  25. Janeen Fernando & Sharma Wettimuny, 'Religious Violence in Sri Lanka: A New Perspective on an Old Problem', vol. 5, no. 1, Verite Insights, June 2017.
  26. Yogendra K. Malik and Dhirendra K. Vajpeyi , 'The Rise of Hindu Militancy, India's Secular Democracy at Risk', vol . 29, no. 3, Asian Survey, 1989, p.321.
  27. 'Soon after the Tsunami in 2004 some Christian missionaries arrived in Sri Lanka offering assistance to the victims of the tragedy. Within a short period, these missionaries were labelled as having unethical conversions and this scenario led to some important political discussions.'2 28. Christian SahanayeDoratuwa Prayer Centre (Incorporation), S.C. Determination No. 2/2001; New Wine Harvest Ministries Incorporation, S.C. Special Determination No. 2/2003; Provincial of the Teaching Sisters of the Holy Cross of the Third Order of Saint Francis in Menzingen of Sri Lanka (Incorporation), S.C. Special Determination No. 19/2003.
  28. Rev. Stainislaus v State of Madhya Pradesh and Others, AIR, 1977, SC, p. 908.
  29. 'Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion.'
  30. James Andrew Huff, 'Religious Freedom in India and analysis of the constitutionality of anti-conversion laws', Rutgers Journal of Law & Religion, 2009, p.35.
  31. An ideology seeking to establish the hegemony of Hindus and the Hindu way of life.'
  32. Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, Special Determination No. 19/2003, Refworld available at http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4be3e7042.pdf, accessed on 25 June 2018.
  33. 'Provincial of the Teaching Sisters of the Holy Cross of the Third Order of Saint Francis in Menzingen of Sri Lanka (Incorporation)', 25 July 2003, Refworld available at http://www.refworld.org/cases,SLK_SC,4be3e7042.html, accessed on 15 July 2018.
  34. Views of the Human Rights Committee under art 5, para 4, of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 85th Sess., concerning Communication No. 1249/2004, CCPR/C/85/D/1249/2004, 31 Oct 2005.
  35. A. R. M. Imtiyaz (Ali Riaz ed), 'Politicization of Buddhism and Electoral Politics in Sri Lanka', Religionand Politics in South Asia, Routledge, 2010, available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1567618, accessed on 25th June 2018.
  36. Prabhoo v Kunte, AIR, 1996, SC, p.1113; Kaspe v Singh, AIR, 1996, SC, p. 817; Joshi v Patil, AIR, 1996, SC, p. 796.
  37. 'This proposal was declared unconstitutional by the Sri Lankan Supreme Court in The Case Concerning the Draft 19th Amendment to the Constitution in January 2005.'
  38. Neil DeVotta & Jason Stone, 'Jathika Heia Urumaya and Ethno-Religious Politics in Sri Lanka', vol. 81, no. 1, Pacifi c Affairs, spring, 2008, p.51.
  39. S.R. Bommai v Union of India, AIR, 1994, SC, p. 1918.
  40. 'A Close Look: Where Is the Indian by the Way?' Statesman Weekly, 20 September 1986.42 Badrinath Rao, 'The Variant Meanings of Secularism in India: Notes Toward Conceptual.