Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne has sought information on a Restaurant\Bar chain located in several countries called the ‘Buddha Bar’ in a bid to see whether they were openly abusing Buddhism.
The Premier who is also the Buddhist and Religious Affairs Minister has instructed his Secretary to seek a report in this regard from Sri Lankan embassies.
The Prime Minister’s office reported that they had received information that these restaurants which serve liquor to customers in the presence of Buddha statues existed in the US, UK, France etc.
Details on their activities have been published on the Internet, they added.
Following the revelation, the Premier had instructed authorities to look into the matter and if found to be true, inform the Governments with the intervention of the External Affairs Ministry, to take steps to prevent such inappropriate use of Buddha statues.
The Prime Minister also expects to bring the issue to the attention of the World Buddhist Council.
Source: www.dailynews.lk
