A single act of religious intolerance or discrimination does not constitute a general malaise. However, the following incident cannot be the only isolated event of its kind, but could lead to religious intolerance as against Christians in India currently gaining momentum and becoming widespread. It should be nipped in the bud, here in Sri Lanka.

As a resident living in the Heeresaghala area near Kandy, we have a Christian church, Buddhist temple and Kovil not more than 20 metres apart. What other nation can boast of such peaceful religious diversity? 

Very recently the Tamil community organised a Hindu celebration at their small kovil, attended by a large number of devotees with families. Unfortunately, this happy occasion was marred by the adjacent Buddhist temple turning on its loudspeakers to full blast with one particular loudspeaker seemingly directed towards the kovil. Whether it was a well-worn tape or CD, I do not know, but the resulting noise seemed deliberate – to intervene in the religious rituals of another. And that is surely violation of the law as seen in the recent ‘noise pollution’ case as adjudged by a court of law. There were many ways of observing one’s religious faith without violating another’s right to his/her faith.

Unfortunately, the noise pollution laws being considered by the government are likely to aggravate the situation. There can be no way that the Buddha would lend his name to the noise that claims to be in the interest of the Buddha Dhamma rather than the calm of meditation, silence and peace.