A Sri Lankan Buddhist monk died Saturday
of severe burns a day after setting himself on fire to protest the slaughter of
cattle, an official said.
Bowatte Indaratna, 30, succumbed to his injuries at the
National Hospital in Colombo where he was rushed Friday after his
self-immolation bid in front of the highly venerated Temple of the Tooth in the
central town of Kandy.
“He died of severe burns. He had 95 percent burns and was
fighting for his life,” hospital spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa told AFP. He becomes
the first Sri Lankan Buddhist monk to self-immolate.
A local television channel showed dramatic images of the
monk using a cigarette lighter to set himself ablaze and bystanders, including
police throwing buckets of water to put out the flames.
“This is a sacrifice of a life. This is not a suicide,”
the monk told the local Swarnavahini television cameraman minutes before the
self-immolation bid. “There are over 5,000 cattle slaughtered in Sri Lanka each
morning and it must stop.”
In a leaflet distributed to devotees outside the Temple of
the Tooth in Kandy, 72 miles (115 kilometres) east of the capital Colombo, the
monk said he was also against proselytising by Christian groups.
His unannounced protest came as the country celebrated
Wesak, the commemoration of the birth, enlightenment and the death of the
Buddha, in the Buddhist-majority country which marks the occasion with two days
of holidays.
Eating meat is common in Buddhist Sri Lanka, although
according to the religion killing animals is a sin.
Animal rights groups have tried unsuccessfully to secure a
ban on meat eating in Sri Lanka.
An animal rights activist said she did not condone the monk’s
action, but she added that the unprecedented move demonstrated the anger
towards the inhuman treatment of animals.
The monk’s action came amid rising religious tensions
after Buddhist extremists campaigned to boycott halal-slaughtered meat as well
as other products that carry a halal certificate.
Credits - Trace09.com, Dailymail.co.uk
