Srilanka - News And Discussion

[Husky]

www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/other/2012/08/23/351890/French-tourists.htm

Updated Thursday, August 23, 2012 0:29 am TWN, AFP Sponsors



French tourists sentenced over 'Buddha kiss'



COLOMBO -- Three French tourists were given suspended six-month prison sentences in Sri Lanka on Tuesday after their holiday pictures appeared to show one of them — a woman — kissing a Buddha statue on the lips.

All three — two women and a man — pleaded guilty to desecrating a Buddhist shrine in the central town of Kandy and were also fined 1,500 rupees (US$11) each, police told AFP.



As well as the woman's apparent kiss, the man tried to imitate the pose of the Buddha and their actions hurt the feelings of Buddhists in the country, police told a magistrate in Galle.



Officers were alerted to the incident after the visitors tried to get their holiday pictures printed.



“The studio employee saw the images and alerted the Galle police who arrested the tourists on Monday and the case was concluded today because they pleaded guilty,” said police spokesman Ajith Rohana.



The tourists were free to go as their jail sentences were suspended for five years and the magistrate did not make any order to expel them from the country, he added.



Sri Lanka is majority Buddhist and is sensitive to foreigners showing disrespect to Buddha images. Shrines and temples have banned tourists visiting unless they are conservatively dressed.



Sri Lanka banned U.S. rap star Akon in March 2010 arguing that he had produced a music video involving scantily clad women in front of a Buddha statue.



Eight years ago, Sri Lanka's Supreme Court ordered police and customs to seize Buddha Bar music and bikinis with Buddha images after monks complained they hurt local religious feelings.

(Well done by SL's courts. Clearly they have a spine.)

And that's yet *another* reason why one doesn't want aliens in native temples. IMO Buddhists would do better to issue a ban without any exceptions.





In any case, "converts", other dabblers and any other aliens (e.g. tourists), should be banned from Hindu temples in India/etc - "conservatively" dressed or not. They have no business there.

Also, since when were aliens invited? More importantly: who invited them? (I don't know of a single Hindoo who wants them there.)