Akon banned from Sri Lanka for “Buddha abuse” video
Buddhist fundamentalists have succeeded in banning American R&B star Akon from entering Sri Lanka after attacking a TV station sponsoring the singer's upcoming concert. What started out as a Facebook campaign against the juxtaposition of bikini-clad women and a Buddha statue, entered mainstream politics on Wednesday when the Colombo authorities announced that Akon had been denied a visa to the country.
The private Maharaja TV station (MTV), located in Colombo, had planned to sponsor Super Fest 2010, which Akon was set to headline on 24 April. But on Monday afternoon, two bus loads of protestors turned up outside the channel's office in Union Place and began throwing stones at the building, injuring four people. The demonstrators carried home-made posters reading "Don't bring Akon to Sri Lanka" and "Chase away Sirasa FM [MTV's radio station] who are trying to disrupt the Sangha Saasana" (Buddhist message).
The outrage had been brewing since January, when a Facebooker launched the group "We Hate AKON (Abuse Music Video Against Lord Buddha)". Today it has almost 15,000 fans.
On Wednesday the government announced that Akon had been denied a visa to visit the country because his music was "insensitive to Sri Lanka's cultural heritage". Akon immediately made a statement apologising to Buddhists, saying he didn't realise the statue was in the video. On Thursday the Sri Lankan tourism minister, Achala Jagoda, said that the country had lost a "priceless" promotional opportunity in denying the star entry.
While Sri Lanka is a secular country, some 70% of its 20 million citizens are Buddhist.
The offensive video
The music video to “Sexy Chick”, released by French producer David Guetta and featuring Akon, was filmed in a mansion in Ibiza. The Buddha statue can be seen at 02’09.
“Someone must have been watching the video very carefully”
Dinidu de Alwis is a photographer and writer from the west coast of Sri Lanka. He went to the protest spot in Colombo to photograph the aftermath (images below) for a local media initiative, Perambara.org.
Who are the protestors?
There is a movement which spurred following the death of [Buddhist monk], Ven. Gangodawila Soma Thera, who died in 2003. The movement is highly disorganized [however], and the attacks which have happened at different places have not been linked to each other. [They attacked one mosque in Dehiwala, a suburb of Colombo city, and in 2004 they were blamed for throwing a hand grenade at a concert led by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, killing two people]."
The damage and posters left after the protest. Photos by Dinidu de Alwis, posted on Perambara.org's Flickr stream.
Comments
Akon
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Fri, 02/04/2010 - 01:47.Wish we could ban Akon from THIS country (USA).
Jesus loves Buddha.
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Thu, 01/04/2010 - 04:45.Jesus loves Buddha.
Buddha loves Jesus :D
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Thu, 01/04/2010 - 04:41.Buddha loves Jesus :D
um.....Budha's dead, dudes.
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Wed, 31/03/2010 - 16:23.um.....Budha's dead, dudes. Why worship a "god" who's dead and burning in hell?
Yes, this video is vulgar and indecent. Go ahead and ban that guy from your country, but man, stop worshipping a statue that can't hear or talk. That's just plain stupid, y'all.
Wow, bigotry, I'm so shocked.
Submitted by Arcassia (not verified) on Thu, 01/04/2010 - 14:08.Your ignorance and religious bigotry, while not exactly shocking, is none the less disgusting. You are obviously a christian, which is the sect most ignorant of the beliefs of others. It is quite obvious from your statement that you did not even bother to do the most basic research (such as a google search) to understand how buddhism works. I'd expect no less from an intolerant christian. You should get a clue and look up what Jesus preached at least, heres a clue: he wasn't into hate, "dude".
wow, bigotry, I'm so shocked.
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Fri, 02/04/2010 - 17:58.how can you say some thing like this! Not every one is tarded with the same brush. In saying "your obviously christian" in YOUR statment this shows you are a bigger bigot than he is, jesus also preached forgivness, what a wonderful world we would live in if everyone stuck to the gospels etc preached by there various religions, no fighting no war's just total harmony, it is a shame this will never happen due to so many small minded people like you & the person you were replying to.
"dead" Gods
Submitted by Old Pagan (not verified) on Wed, 31/03/2010 - 19:51.Classic Christian ignorance, no better than these rioters. Buddha is not a god who is worshipped, in the strict sense of the word. And everyone who is not in line with the Abrahamic deity is not in hell. How can we have peace when the words of dolts like this are considered equal to the opinions of thoughtful, educated people?
christian arried to budist
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Sat, 10/04/2010 - 06:35.christian arried to budist chld goes to c of e scho and sometims o seik temple and muslim moscs ( going t say sorry my key board seems to be stickking) so chill people iv ound mis religions follow basic prisiples of how to live in hrmoney but all aso hve some who call them selves one thing but in fact tey arnt all religionsare ull of hypocrits thal aoy me and as they cast bad ight on t the religion tha tey have chosen to blasfeem we all just haveto remember that the real ones will try an live as they should and remember the medier coverage is only given to items that wll make them money having said all that if the peple who thew stones are claiming to be budists then i am greatly disapointed in them i expect inapropriayte violant reactions from most but not from any who were brougt up as budists, ps the singer ( im ignorant about who he is sorry) has said he didnt realise the statue was in the video if thst is true i would sugest he go see the Dali larma and ask how he can correct his mistake he is a wonderfll man whether you follow his belife or not and is full of wisdom which is more than can be said of the head of some magor religions
akon's video
Submitted by Wayne Gafford (not verified) on Wed, 31/03/2010 - 16:02.Ladies & Gentlemen,
It has come to my attention that this entertainer has offended your
beliefs. It is a shame that you have taken the time to stone an office and
injury your fellow countryman & women because of a very small piece of film
be it film, video or live performance. I would have been put to better use
making it known that the offender is using drugs, hurting women, or causing
your country to have a alarming rate of unemployment. The Buddha was a man of
peace and you that are carrying stones and injuring you fellow countrymen &
women are not only not following his teachings but are violating them as
well. Rethink the protest and focus the energy in the right direction.
I would better to have the entertainer there helping to create jobs and
revenue hat will help than have the country lose the revenue to another
country that will enjoy the funds in places that your country needs them.
Rethink and look for the answer in the teachings instead of rocks and guns.
Maybe if Buddah had taken
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Wed, 31/03/2010 - 14:58.Maybe if Buddah had taken better care of his physical being, then he wouldn't be so offended by the sexy chicks - HA!