SRI LANKAN DAILY REPORTS GOVERNMENT TO DROP

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001739

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/02/2015
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV KPAO CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKAN DAILY REPORTS GOVERNMENT TO DROP
ANTI-CONVERSION BILL AT US BEHEST

REF: COLOMBO 1332

Classified By: AMB. JEFFREY J. LUNSTEAD. REASON: 1.5 (B,D).


1. (U) The headlines of the October 3 edition of the English
language Daily Mirror, quoting an unnamed "top US State
Department official," reported the Government of Sri Lanka
(GSL) had agreed to hold off on anti-conversion legislation
because of US pressure. According to the article, written by
a Sri Lankan journalist currently in the US on a visit
sponsored by the Foreign Press Center, the source "said
intensive discussions were held with the Sri Lankan
Government to express US concerns before receiving a positive
reply."


2. (C) Comment: Sri Lankans are understandably sensitive to
suggestions that their leaders succumb to western
pressure--especially on a controversial matter of domestic
policy like religious conversion. (Indeed, those pushing
anti-conversion legislation claim it is needed to protect
home-grown Buddhism from the overweening influence of
well-financed "foreign" imports like Christianity.) Such
sensitivities are heightened now that Sri Lanka is in the
midst of a hotly contested presidential election, which, many
observers have speculated, could be decided by a very narrow
margin. The conservative Buddhist Jathika Hela Urumayu (JHU)
has been attempting to make religious conversion a campaign
issue. So far, however, neither incumbent Prime Minister and
Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate Mahinda Rajapakse, whom the
JHU is backing, nor opposition United National Party
candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken up the topic. This
report, if accurate, will be counter-productive to our
ongoing--but behind-the-scenes--efforts to discourage support
for such legislation with government and opposition leaders.
Government leaders, up to and including President
Kumaratunga, have been responsive to our concerns and
extraordinarily candid about their own intent to bury the
bill. They may not be as forthcoming in the future if they
think their conversations will be splashed across the front
pages.
LUNSTEAD