No MoU can divide the Buddha Sasana: Resisting India’s 2030 Strategic takeover of Sri Lanka

 

We never thought a pen could undo what our war heroes achieved in May 2009. Yet, since December 2024, secret MoUs signed between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have begun dismantling Sri Lanka’s territorial and constitutional sovereignty—not with tanks, but through contracts. These agreements encroach upon lands and institutions constitutionally mandated to protect the Buddha Sasana — the island’s spiritual existence for over 2,300 years. The Buddha Sasana has been the foundation of peace, non-violence, and unity among communities. To weaken it is to weaken Sri Lanka itself.

 

Buddhist Jurisprudence remains an ancient System of Governance that cannot be replaced or erased.

Buddhist jurisprudence is not merely “religious law” but civilizational law.

• Vinaya guides monks, and Dasa Raja Dharma (Ten Duties of a Righteous King) guided rulers—this ethical framework long predates modern constitutions.
• Historically, the Sasana managed land, education, health, and local disputes through a decentralized, moral system.
• The Buddha Sasana governed justly through kings, colonialism, and into the modern state—it must remain the oldest law of the land.

Global Buddhist Solidarity

Article 9 of the Sri Lankan Constitution is not exclusivist; under Buddhist kings, Hindus, Christians, and Muslims lived peacefully—without forced conversions or religious wars—because Buddhist principles foster compassion and tolerance, protecting everyone’s religious rights.

Defending Buddhist heritage means defending freedom from foreign control.

Sri Lanka, the oldest unbroken Buddhist nation, faces a critical test: if it falls to strategic colonization, the future of Buddhist heritage worldwide is also at risk.

Constitutional Protections

Article 9 states:

“The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana.”
This is a binding obligation, not symbolic.

The Supreme Court, in rulings on the Thirteenth Amendment and Provincial Councils Bill (1987), upheld that the state’s unitary character and Buddhism’s foremost place cannot be diluted.

The Temple Lands Ordinance (1931) and Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance (1931) protect temple lands under Article 16.

Even colonial rulers respected the spiritual independence of the Sasana. No President today can override that authority.

State actions—including secret or unratified executive agreements—must not violate constitutional protections.

Yet secret deals handing over infrastructure, data, ports, religious sites, mineral resources, and coastal areas to foreign powers without public scrutiny violate Article 3’s principle that “sovereignty is in the people and is inalienable.”

India’s encroachment: Signed, Sealed, and Dangerous

As detailed in the recent article “SOLD: How AKD’s India Deals are Dismantling Sri Lanka’s Sovereignty – Countdown to a 2030 Takeover”, https://www.shenaliwaduge.com/sold-how-akds-india-deals-are-dismantling-sri-lankas-sovereignty-countdown-to-a-2030-takeover

Sri Lanka is being systematically bridged to Indian strategic, economic, and digital interests while granting India immunity from prosecution.

If you doubted such an eventuality unfolding – piece these dots together:

Defence and Foreign Policy:

• A 5-year secret MoU on defence with India, whose contents remain undisclosed, but reportedly restrict Sri Lanka’s ability to engage militarily with other nations, especially China.
• Sri Lanka joins the Colombo Security Conclave, aligning its maritime surveillance and naval strategy with India — effectively subordinating its neutrality.

Energy & Resources:

• A Trincomalee Energy Hub is being developed with Indian and UAE partnership, transferring critical energy infrastructure to foreign hands. This recalls the landmark Supreme Court ruling when a US-Japanese company attempted to take off with Sri Lanka’s phosphate & Justice Amarasinghe clearly stated the Govt’s role is only that of a temporary custodian & that resources of Sri Lanka belong not only to this generation but future generations as well.

• Justice Mark Fernando in Environmental Foundation Ltd. v. Mahaweli Authority(1993) reaffirmed that natural resources are held in trust by the State for the people, and cannot be alienated arbitrarily. This reinforces the public trustee principle — government is a caretaker, not an owner.

• India gains access to offshore wind, solar, and mineral extraction, bypassing Parliament — including phosphate and ilmenite vital to future-tech manufacturing.

Culture and Regional Fragmentation:

• Indian-backed Ramayana Trails, temple restorations, kovil funding, and scholarships disproportionately target the North, East, and Central Provinces — subtly eroding national cohesion & usurping the Buddhist ethos while a systematic effort to chase away Buddhist theroes from these areas & destroy historic Buddhist archaeological sites is taking place.
• Ferry services between Tamil Nadu and Kankesanthurai risk demographic manipulation through irregular migration and soft settlement.

Digital Colonialism:

• National systems like SL-UDI (being developed using MOSIP (Modular Open Source Identity Platform), GovPay (reportedly being aligned with the architecture of India’s UPI (Unified Payments Interface)., and DigiLocker are built on Indian digital infrastructure.
• India may gain access to Sri Lankans’ biometric, financial, and personal data — an externalization of national identity – nowhere in the world has such a scenario happened.

Strategic Assets:

• In May 2025, Colombo Dockyard signed a naval manufacturing and repair MoU with India’s Mazagon Dock Ltd — placing India inside Sri Lanka’s western defence-industrial corridor. India is also running Colombo West Terminal & is likely to align with John Keells Holdings to renew lease for SAGT while also controlling major transshipment arriving at the Jeya Container Terminal – taken together India can easily prevent inflow of goods if it so wishes as was done to Nepal during the economic embargo.

Other MoUs Violate the Buddha Sasana Doctrine

Sri Lanka’s sovereignty is threatened not only by India. MoUs with other nations also raise serious concerns:

• United States – MCC Compact: Though politically paused, land digitization and parcel valuation projects began without public consent, violating the indivisibility of Sasana land.
• Japan – Light Rail Transit MoU (Colombo): The project threatens Buddhist temples and heritage sites, with planned relocations and disturbances made without religious consultation.
• China – Hambantota Port Lease (2017): While defensive in intent, the lease has created perceptions of foreign enclaves, raising fears about long-term sovereignty and access to nearby Buddhist heritage zones.
• Singapore – Trade & Education MoUs: Full access to Sri Lanka’s data and education policy reforms by foreign consultants undermine the Buddha Sasana’s role in guiding ethical and cultural education.

Globally, courts have intervened to protect sovereignty in such cases.

In People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India (Aadhaar case), the Indian Supreme Court ruled that privacy and consent are intrinsic to dignity — a precedent relevant to Sri Lanka’s concerns about data outsourcing.

Similarly, the Singapore Court of Appeal in Papua New Guinea Sustainable Development Program v. Independent State of Papua New Guinea (2020) upheld protections against arbitrary expropriation, confirming the need to safeguard national assets even across borders.

Ironically, India has itself resisted foreign encroachment on its digital and territorial sovereignty, banning Chinese apps in 2020 citing “data sovereignty,” and opposing OBOR over territorial integrity. If these principles apply to India, they must equally apply to Sri Lanka. Sovereignty is not selective.

The ICJ’s 2010 Advisory Opinion on Kosovo reaffirmed the right of peoples to maintain their cultural and historical integrity — a principle Sri Lanka must uphold.

Article 9 states:

“The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana.”

This is a binding obligation, not symbolic.

The Supreme Court, in rulings on the Thirteenth Amendment and Provincial Councils Bill (1987), upheld that the state’s unitary character and Buddhism’s foremost place cannot be diluted.

The Temple Lands Ordinance (1931) and Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance (1931) protect temple lands under Article 16.

Even colonial rulers respected the spiritual independence of the Sasana. No President today can override that authority.

State actions—including secret or unratified executive agreements—must not violate constitutional protections.

Yet secret deals handing over infrastructure, data, ports, religious sites, mineral resources, and coastal areas to foreign powers without public scrutiny violate Article 3’s principle that “sovereignty is in the people and is inalienable.”

Sri Lanka is at a historic crossroads.

Sri Lanka is not only battling for territorial & political sovereignty but the continuance of its civilizational spiritual heritage. How far custodians of the Nation cherish this & how far they are compromising this heritage by signing MOUs & secret deals cannot be ignored further. While we question the intentions of foreign players, our criticism must first be directed at the temporary custodians from those in the public sector to the higher echelons of leadership & question their actions ceding the nation, its resources & assets, its people & its Buddha Sasana heritage.

Let this be our solemn vow: no MoU, no foreign power, no local custodians shall divide or diminish the Buddha Sasana. The spiritual heart of Sri Lanka will remain indivisible, inviolable, and eternally sovereign.

 

 

Shenali D Waduge