Family hopeful of author’s release

THE family of a Bahrain-based author arrested in Sri Lanka for allegedly offending Buddhism hope she will be released after she appears in court today.

THE family of a Bahrain-based author arrested in Sri Lanka for allegedly offending Buddhism hope she will be released after she appears in court today.

Sarah Malanie Perera, detained in the capital Colombo, had been held without charge since she was taken into custody about two weeks ago.

The authorities have yet to give precise details of her offence, but it is understood two of her recently published books allegedly offended ethnic Sinhalese Buddhists, who account for more than 70 per cent of Sri Lanka’s 20 million population.

Ms Perera’s lawyers filed a case at the Supreme Court in Colombo last Tuesday demanding her immediate release, but it stalled as police never brought her to court.

The 38-year-old, who previously converted to Islam, was detained after writing two books in Sinhalese, allegedly offensive to Lord Buddha.

She had been due to leave her homeland and return to Bahrain after a three-month holiday on the day of her arrest.

MP Ibrahim Mohammed Busandal is spearheading Ms Perera’s case with the help of other MPs and Discover Islam.

Ms Perera was allowed to talk to her 82-year-old mother Aisha for five minutes by telephone last Wednesday, but her elder sister Mariam said the mother had been unable to eat after speaking to her.

“It’s really a relief that finally she would be taken to court, where a decision will take place,” she told the GDN.

“We are hoping that she will be released after appearing in the court for the first time in 15 days,” Ms Mariam added.

Ms Perera will be represented in court by top attorney Lakshan Dias.

“Mr Dias is really a gentleman and didn’t demand any money and said he will charge us only after Sarah is released,” said Mariam.

The family maintain that police had forcibly removed the author’s headscarf and made a video, which was being played on all Sri Lankan television channels.

The London-based Times Newspaper reported that she was detained as a political strategy of winning votes from the Jathika Hela Urumaya, an extremist Buddhist Sinhalese nationalist and racist organisation, ahead of elections on Thursday.

Police reportedly asked Sri Lanka’s most senior Buddhist to read the book, who confirmed there were no offensive words against Buddha.

Ms Perera came to Manama in 1985 to assist Mariam, who owned a gifts and flowers shop in Adliya.

She then worked as a teacher at the Child Development Centre, Juffair.

Born and brought up in a Buddhist family, she embraced Islam in 1999 after studying religion at Discover Islam.

Her father Norbet, mother Soma and sisters Padma, Rasa, Padmani and Malanie, later also converted to Islam at separate times.

Ms Perera’s books From Darkness to Light and Questions and Answers focused on her conversion to Islam and the original teachings of Buddha.

She was reportedly detained after trying to send copies to Bahrain through a cargo company. aneeqa@gdn.com.bh

Gulf Daily News

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