Sri Lanka moves against hate speech

Sri Lanka's cabinet has approved a proposal to amendment the penal code to prevent hate speech, the government said on Thursday.

The government said that in the past decades, instigation on communal basis, hate speech focusing various religious and ethnic groups and related printed material have breached communal harmony, reports Xinhua.

A commission appointed by the former government known as the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) had recommended that laws should be enacted and empowered for prevention of such behaviour.

The LLRC was appointed following the end of a 30-year-war between the Tamil Tigers and the military in 2009.

Following the end of the war, communal tensions rose, especially between hardline Buddhist groups and minority Muslims.

Clashes also broke out in a Muslim dominated town in the south of Sri Lanka last year after Buddhist groups staged a protest.

The government said that in order to prevent such incidents, a proposal made by Wijayadasa Rajapaksa, the justice minister, to make suitable amendments to the penal code to prevent hate speech was approved by the cabinet.

The proposed amendments are expected to be submitted to parliament soon.