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In the early morning hours of December 11th, a golden urn allegedly containing the remains
of Gautama Buddha, founder of the Buddhist religion, was stolen from its hilltop monument
in rural Cambodia. The guard assigned to protect the remains, sleeping while on duty that night,
claimed to have been awoken by a noise to find that the monument, commonly called a
stupa, had been broken into and the urn was missing.
It is unclear whether the theft was carried out for political or monetary gain. In the
past, remains of the Buddha have been stolen by those seeking the supernatural power the
relics are believed to carry, not, as may be the case this time, by profiteer grave
robbers.
The remains of the Buddha have been a focus of political conflict throughout Asia, with
more than a dozen countries claiming to have the authentic relics. The Cambodian remains
had been gifted by the government of Sri Lanka to the King of Cambodia in 1957. Cambodian
police have arrested the derelict guard in connection to the theft, but the monks remain
unsatisfied, taking to the streets by the hundreds to demand action from the Cambodian
government.
"The government must try its best to find the relics because they belong to all of us,"
said chief monk Khim Sorn to the Phnom Penh Post. The monks believe that the government's
lack of action represent a direct attack against the Buddhist religion. The monks seeking justice
for this crime join other Cambodian antigovernment protesters in the increasingly restive country.
Political unrest began last summer following a disputed election, and this unexplained
theft of the Buddha's remains serve to further erode the Cambodian people's trust in their
government.
President and founder of Rationalist International, Sanal Edamaruku, has basically been driven
out of his native India by the Catholic Church and Indian blasphemy laws prohibiting "deliberate
and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion
or religious beliefs."
Edamaruku, the child of a blended-faith family, grew up in an intellectually free environment.
"My parents wanted me to have every option and make my own decision," he remembers. He
embraced rationalism at the age of 15 after witnessing the death of a young woman when
her religious parents refused medical treatment, relying on prayer instead. "Her death shook
me deeply," he says.
In 2012, Edamaruku investigated a dripping crucifix at Our Lady of Velankanni Church
in Mumbai. The Church had called the water a miracle but it turned out to be cause by
leak from a clogged pipe in the bathroom on the other side of the wall the crucifix was
attached to. Edamaruku's televised criticism of the lack of scientific curiosity by Church
leadership enraged India's Catholic Church, which had the debunker charged with criminal
blasphemy. If convicted, Edamaruku could be sentenced to five years in prison.
The Vatican has remained silent about the its Indian representatives' involvement in
Edamaruku's criminal charges. Catholic leaders in Mumbai, however, are pleased with the charges,
and wish to see Edamaruku be meted justice for what they consider blasphemy. Meanwhile,
the man is now working to shed light on the religious politics of India, and offering
any assistance he can, exiled as he is, to his countrymen and women in their efforts
to see India's Supreme Court strike down the blasphemy law as unconstitutional.
"The government has the duty to protect religious and nonreligious citizens," says Edamaruku,
"but not religion. Religion is a private matter."
On January 15th, Egyptian voters approved a new constitution featuring, among other
things, the guarantee of religious freedom for the country's minority Christian and Jewish
citizens. The constitutional referendum, gathering 98% of the vote in 25 of Egypt's 27 provinces,
is a revision of the constitution signed by former President Mohammed Morsi prior to his
ouster in 2012.
The new constitution not only guarantees religious freedom to Christians and Jews, but affords
both groups legal authority over their own family and religious matters, such as marriage
and the election of religious leaders. The new constitution ignores, however, people
of other or no faiths, and clearly leans in favor of Sunni Islam.
The constitution also reaffirms Islam as the state religion and supports the authority
of Sharia law in Egypt. While the vote was clear enough to be called a mandate from the
people, the new constitution is very clear about maintaining military control and restricting
civilian influence over the government. This may open the door for Egypt's current Minister
of Defense, General Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, to mount a presidential bid, as the country
looks to stabilize its leadership.
Egypt has been operating under an interim government since the overthrow of the Morsi
administration. Despite the popular vote and an openly sympathetic government, Islamic
supporters of the former Morsi administration are against the adoption of the new constitution.
Reports of voter intimidation and suppression of those in opposition to the constitution
have been widespread, but no formal accusations of fraud have been made.