Today people in India enjoy more freedom to practice the religion of their choice than the people of Sri Lanka. It is a historical fact that all the religions followed in Sri Lankan were imported into the country; further all but Christianity were introduced by Indians, for it was brought into the country by the colonial rulers. It is the Bitter Truth that the colonial rulers, in particular the Portuguese during the early days of colonial rule deprived the religious freedom enjoyed by the people with the destruction of many places of worship and introduction of Christianity.
All changed with independence in 1948 and the religious situation was the same as it is now in India. But it did not for long and all changed because of the power crazy Sri Lankan rulers; if not the people in Sri Lanka too would have enjoyed the same freedom as their Indian neighbours. As rulers deprived the minorities of their rights, there were several uprisings that finally led the country to a bloody and cruel civil war that dragged on for three long decades. In 2009 the civil war was brought to finish with help from India and many other friendly nations. Unfortunately a decade later the absence of war did not give peace to the people and the worst affected were the minorities.
Northern Breeze 