COLOMBO: Hundreds of Buddhist monks rallied in the capital of Sri Lanka on Friday to protest alleged government disrespect of their religion and disregard for a long-standing tradition that they be consulted in matters of state.
The protest passed without any reported violence.
The constitution of the island nation of around 22 million people states that Buddhism is the state religion, though freedom of religion is protected by law. The charter also states that the government has an obligation to protect and foster Buddhism.
More than 70 percent of the population is Buddhist and their clergy are influential in social, cultural and political affairs. There are also minority Hindus, Muslims and Christians living in Sri Lanka.
The monks at the protest in Colombo read out an appeal note they said would be sent to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
The note said the responsibility of the government in the island nation is to base its values on the principles of Buddhism, which emerged in the 5th century B.C. in ancient India, and recognize the right of the clergy to counsel in the affairs of the state.
It also urged for excluding non-Buddhists from top office in Sri Lanka, incorporating Buddhist values in schools and the education system and protecting all archaeological sites connected to the religion.
The appeal is likely part of the efforts by the monks to pressure the government.
Buddhist monks rally in Sri Lanka to pressure the government for a wider role in affairs of state
https://arab.news/65kfm
Buddhist monks rally in Sri Lanka to pressure the government for a wider role in affairs of state
- The protest passed without any reported violence
- The charter also states that the government has an obligation to protect and foster Buddhism
Trump insists he struck Iran on his own terms
- “We are now a nation divided between those who want to fight wars for Israel and those who just want peace and to be able to afford their bills and health insurance,” Marjorie Taylor Greene posted on X.
- Rubio himself doubled down on Tuesday after meeting with US House and Senate members, while insisting that “No, I told you this had to happen anyway”
WASHINGTON, United States: President Donald Trump and his team scrambled Tuesday to reclaim the narrative on why he decided to attack Iran, after his top diplomat suggested the US struck only after learning of an imminent Israeli strike.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio alarmed Democrats — who say only Congress can declare war — as well as many of Trump’s MAGA supporters on Monday when he said: “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action.”
“We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” Rubio told reporters.
Administration officials quickly backpedalled, insisting Trump authorized the strikes because Tehran was not seriously negotiating an accord on limiting its nuclear ambitions, and the United States needed to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities.
“No, Marco Rubio Didn’t Claim That Israel Dragged Trump into War with Iran,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted Tuesday on X.
At an Oval Office meeting later with Germany’s chancellor, Trump went further, saying that “Based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they (Iran) were going to attack first. And I didn’t want that to happen.”
“So, if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”
- Had to happen? -
Rubio himself doubled down on Tuesday after meeting with US House and Senate members, while insisting that “No, I told you this had to happen anyway.”
“The president made a decision. The decision he made was that Iran was not going to be allowed to hide... behind this ability to conduct an attack.”
Critics seized on the muddied messaging to accuse Trump of precipitating the country into a war without a clear rationale, without informing Congress — and without a clear idea of how it might end.
They noted that just two weeks ago, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed Trump again in Washington to take a hard line, in their seventh meeting since Trump’s return to power last year.
Some Republican allies rallied behind the president, with Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, insisting that “No one pushes or drags Donald Trump anywhere.”
“He acts in the vital national security interest of the United States,” Cotton told the “Fox & Friends” morning show.
But as crucial US midterm elections approach that could see Republicans lose their congressional majority, Trump risks shedding supporters who had welcomed his pledge to end foreign military interventions.
“We are now a nation divided between those who want to fight wars for Israel and those who just want peace and to be able to afford their bills and health insurance,” Marjorie Taylor Greene, a top former Trump ally and a major figure in the populist and isolationist hard right, posted on X.
