Two monks, two conversations. Soon after meeting the Dalai Lama, James Astill interviews a monk MP in Sri Lanka. He comes away feeling distressed about the country’s war and dazed by the breadth of Buddhism. From moreintelligentlife.com
When it comes to being nice, few people would enjoy comparison with the Dalai Lama. So, it is bad luck on the Venerable Athuraliye Rathana, a Sri Lankan politician known as the “war monk”, that he is the second Buddhist monk I have interviewed in recent days.
The first, the DL, seems–no kidding–little less than saintly. I visited him in Dharamsala, his refuge in northern India, with The Economist’s China correspondent, who saw more of last month’s uprising in Tibet than any other foreign journalist. The Dalai Lama wanted to hear precisely what my colleague had seen. And where it contradicted what he thought he knew–generally, where the Chinese response had been less beastly than the Dalai Lama had been told–he listened extra hard, and he tried to understand.
More:
Foreign Policy lists the world’s leading preachers of hate
Yogi Adityanath
Religion: Hinduism
Who is he?: Religious leader and member of parliament from Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous province
Country: India
Quote: “I want Muslim votes, too. But wash them in Gangajal [Ganges water] first.”
Why he matters: Adityanath is an up-and-comer in India’s growing Hindutva—Hindu nationalist—movement. In addition to his membership in the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he is the founder of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a radical Hindu youth movement that has been implicated in a number of incidents of anti-Muslim violence. In early 2007 he was arrested for his role in fomenting religious riots in the northern city of Gorakhpur. Yuva Vahini activists set fire to multiple vehicles including a train and an ambulance in response to his arrest. Adityanath has been released and remains in Parliament, where he is known for such publicity-seeking antics as breaking down in tears during speeches and making statements critical of Mahatma Gandhi. Adityanath’s extreme views put him at odds with even the BJP, and he is now looking into starting his own party with a strictly Hindutva agenda.
more
