As Sri Lanka’s economy crumbles — taking with it, access to food, fuel, and medicine — religious groups and leaders have a role to play in supporting the citizens, development professionals said.
At this time, there’s a lot of stress and anger, said Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne, general secretary of Sri Lanka’s largest local NGO, Sarvodaya, which could manifest itself in destructive behavior, such as robberies or violence. Religious leaders, however, can help to mitigate the psychosocial effects of the current crisis by providing guidance and collective meditations while also providing support in the form of food distribution, he said.
Part of our Focus on: Faith and Development
This series illuminates the role faith actors and their communities play in strengthening global development outcomes.
A failure to import food, fuel, and medicines began earlier this year when the country’s dwindling supply of foreign currency ran to some of its lowest levels. The shortages contributed to soaring food inflation, which climbed to 90% in July, making essentials unaffordable for many.
Around 70% of households have been forced to reduce their food, and 6.7 million are in need of humanitarian assistance. In June, the United Nations launched a Humanitarian Needs and Priorities Plan that aims to provide $47.2 million in humanitarian aid to 1.7 million people by September.
“The country, which was once the granary of the East, is now in a sad state of bankruptcy and humiliating beggary,” Middeniye Dhammika Thera, a Buddhist monk and former assistant lecturer at the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka, said in an email.
While the government blamed COVID-19 and the subsequent crash of the tourist trade — which contributed $4.66 billion to Sri Lanka’s economy in 2019 — others, including some Buddhist monks, have pointed to economic mismanagement as the reason for the current crisis.
Countrywide protests have taken place since March, and in July, after fleeing the country, amid protests and public pressure, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa agreed to resign. He was replaced with six-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, another controversial figure. Days into his new role, Wickremesinghe had security forces remove protestors from their makeshift camp at the Galle Face protest site in Colombo. “Go Home Ranil” remains spray painted on several Colombo buildings.
With the situation likely “to get worse,” Ariyaratne said religious leaders and groups need to play “a positive role.”
The Pro read:
How big is Sri Lanka's mess — and is there a way out?
A look answering basic questions about Sri Lanka's default-how it got into this mess, what it means for development, and pathways out.
Over 70% of Sri Lanka’s population identifies as Buddhist, according to 2012 data. But it is also made up of many minority religious groups, Faisal Nazir, social media manager at Muslim Hands, highlighted in an email. These groups include Muslims, Christians, and Hindus “who all peacefully coexist within tight-knit communities.”
That hasn’t always been the case for the Sinhalese Buddhist majority and the minority Hindu Tamil population though. The two groups were engaged in a violent civil war spanning 1983 to 2009. Today, there are still reports of repression and violence against marginalized Tamil communities.
By facilitating a network of religious leaders and encouraging open dialogue between them, Ariyaratne said, Sarvodaya — an organization inspired by Buddhism — is working to prevent any form of ethnic tension or ethnic or religious violence from arising out of the current political instability.
Religious groups can help provide hope during this difficult time, Nazir wrote, “reminding others to also care for those around them and to most importantly, stick together.”
Supporting the food crisis
Religious leaders have also been encouraging temples and churches to donate to the government, helping to run public kitchen initiatives, and urging those in power to penalize the hoarding of rice.
“Community kitchens are coming up and I know temples are a place of refuge as well as other religious spaces in this country,” said Chanchala Gunewardena, founder of Colombo-based agri-business Kimbula Kitchen.
Young Buddhist monks, in particular, are engaging in issues of food security and economic development, said Manju Nishshanka, founder of Sri Lankan think tank Singularity.
For example, in Colombo, Buddhist monks are working with Singularity, Sarvodaya, and other faith leaders to disseminate family food packs in urban areas as part of a community kitchen project to address the food crisis. “They know exactly who would be the most suitable people to receive these meals in the communities,” he said.
Nazir said Muslim Hands has been providing a “humanitarian response well rooted in long-term development, which is vital when the country is facing both economic and political turmoil.” It is rolling out projects across the country on education, access to clean water, and livelihood support.
“We don't want to just help them for a day or a week, but ensure they have both the skills and tools to transform not only their lives, but also the ones of those around them,” he said.
World Vision has also launched a response focusing on food security, livelihood recovery, and psychosocial support for “500,000 of the most vulnerable individuals in the communities” it works with.
“A lot of people are seeing, in this economic crisis, that religion was used to distract them from corrupt behavior, politics, and unfair practices.”
— Chanchala Gunewardena, founder, Kimbula KitchenThe Diocese of Colombo is also providing ration packs to 250 families within tea plantation communities while offering nutritional and educational support to 1,000 children. Farmers of tea and other products have experienced a significant decline in income since the government introduced a sudden yet short-lived fertilizer ban last year that diminished crop yields by around 50%.
A political stance
Aside from offering support amid the food crisis, some religious leaders are being vocal about the current political situation, Ariyaratne said, while others have recommended certain changes to the constitution and the governance. “Hindu leaders have been less vocal, but certainly Buddhist, Christian, Islam religious leaders have come forward,” he said.
In March, senior prelates wrote a letter to former President Rajapaksa, calling for a dedicated plan and development projects to help those impacted by the crisis. “Restructure public debt, reduce the cost of living, provide relief to low-income earners, formulate a sustainable plan to prevent waste, corruption, and misuse of resources,” they wrote. In July, bishops from the Church of Ceylon called for the prime minister and president’s resignation, criticizing the lack of a plan of action for recovery. Others have taken part in the anti-government demonstrations.
Some Buddhist monks, however, have sided with the government, said Somboon Chungprampree, Thai activist and executive secretary of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists.
Militant Buddhism and monks contributing to religious nationalism in Sri Lanka, as well as Myanmar, are a big concern, said Katherine Marshall, senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University and executive director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue. She explained that, historically, Buddhist monks have fueled “some of the most bitter conflicts in the region.”
Monks were accused of inciting some of the violence against the Tamil and Muslim minorities during the civil war.
Today, Gunewardena, who practices Buddhism but has a family of mixed religious beliefs, believes politics and religion “should stay in different homes.”
“I cherish the teachings and learnings that I have got from [Buddhism], but I don’t find that there’s a need for those teachings or learnings to go beyond my personal development or to have to inform anybody else’s place or view on the world,” she said. “In Sri Lanka … it has been used to inform how other people should live or how other people are viewed or treated and that’s not the Buddhism to which I have great respect and fondness for.”
There has also been more of a conversation, Gunewardena said, about the right to criticize monks becoming political. “A lot of people are seeing, in this economic crisis, that religion was used to distract them from corrupt behavior, politics, and unfair practices,” she said.
Amid this crisis, so far, Ariyaratne said extremist religious leaders haven’t been given a voice in the media or played a destructive role. But that could change as new political leadership settles in. “They can still elevate fears and mobilize people along a very destructive [path],” he said.
But many families, Nazir said, are not focused on the political climate. “They just want basic human rights such as the ability to go to the toilet, drink clean water, have a safe home and attain an education for their children.”
Devex, with support from our partner GHR Foundation, is exploring the intersection between faith and development. Visit the Focus on: Faith and Development page for more. Disclaimer: The views in this article do not necessarily represent the views of GHR Foundation.