Sri Lanka turns away British tourist for Buddha tattoo
AFP 9:01AM BST 22 Apr 2014
Woman was arrested and threatened with deportation after Sri Lanka authorities took offence to her tattoo.
Sri Lanka has detained a female British tourist for having a Buddha tattoo on her right arm and ordered her deportation.
The unidentified woman was arrested at the country's main international airport on Monday and appeared before a magistrate who ordered her deportation, police said in a statement.
The statement said she had an image of the Buddha seated on a lotus flower tattooed on her right arm.
"She was taken before the Negombo magistrate who ordered her to be detained prior to deportation," it said, adding that she was arrested shortly after her arrival on a flight from neighbouring India.
It did not say what charges were brought against her, but Sri Lanka barred another British tourist from entering the island in March last year for showing "disrespect" to Buddhism by having a Buddha tattooed on his arm.
Sri Lanka, a majority Buddhist nation, is highly sensitive to perceived threats to the religion.
In August 2012, three French tourists were sentenced to six months in jail, which was suspended for five years, for kissing a Buddha statue in what the authorities considered was a sign of disrespect.
Sri Lanka prevented US rap star Akon from visiting in 2010 over one of his music videos which featured scantily clad women dancing in front of a Buddha statue.
It was not immediately clear where the detained British woman would be deported to.
It is good to know that Sri Lankans
have respect for the Buddhist people.
It is really obvious that they are putting down the Buddhist name.
If go Buddha tattoo means that Buddha is just some sort of normal person who just
do what normal people do.
It is great Sri Lankan people took action against the deed.
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Another way of looking at it is a lack of understanding and communication.
To them they probably see it as art and probably mean no disrespect. Much akin to say tattooing of the Christian Cross.
So to say that Sri Lanka taking action against the deed. Well it can be argued that serving a jail sentence probably does nothing useful and could incite anger.
Communicating to tourists what the action means in their culture could be seen as more useful.
Understanding and communication.