Senaka Weeraratna

During the Dutch colonial period in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the Dutch East India Company (VOC) issued several Placaaten (decrees or edicts) designed to suppress non-Protestant religions, including Buddhism and Hinduism, with particularly severe actions taken in the 1710s and 1730s. 

• Prohibition Laws: In 1711, the Dutch implemented laws banning the practice of both Hinduism and Buddhism, labeling them as “cannibal-faiths”.
• 1732-1733 Actions: As residents frequently ignored these decrees, the Dutch intensified their measures. In 1732, an order was issued directing all village headmen to eliminate Buddhist temples within their areas.
• Legalistic Persecution: The Dutch aimed to legally compel conversions to Protestantism. This included forbidding non-converts from being witnesses in court, requiring baptism to inherit property, and demanding that marriages be registered in church.
• Policy Context: While the Dutch were more legalistic than the preceding Portuguese, who used direct violence, the Dutch policy was a structured effort to abolish the traditional Buddhist practices in their controlled coastal areas. 

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Several repressive placaarts (official proclamations) were issued during the Dutch colonial period in Sri Lanka. Records indicate a major escalation in religious repression around 1732. 

Key Dutch Placaarts and Religious Policies

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) used a legalistic approach to suppress local religions and Catholicism in favor of the Reformed Church. 

• 1732 Proclamation: Seeing that earlier orders were being ignored, the Dutch issued an order in 1732 commanding all village headmen to eliminate Buddhist temples in their areas.
• Enforcement: To ensure compliance, they enhanced punishments for those practicing non-Christian religions to massive fines (2,000 Rix dollars) or 25 years of chained labor.
• Earlier Laws (1711): As early as 1711, the Dutch framed laws specifically banning the practice of both Hinduism and Buddhism, disparagingly labeling them as “cannibal-faiths”.
• Targeting Catholicism: In 1658, a severe Placaart made it a capital offense to harbor or protect a Roman Catholic priest. 

Method of Suppression

Unlike the more direct violence often attributed to the Portuguese, the Dutch utilized administrative pressure to force conversion: 

• Property & Inheritance: Baptism was required to legally bequeath property to heirs.
• Civil Rights: The evidence of a non-convert was often not admissible in court.
• Education: Schools were established primarily to propagate the Protestant faith, with “school masters” doubling as inspectors of Christian practice. 

Despite these harsh laws, many Buddhists practiced their faith in secret or found refuge in the Kingdom of Kandy, where the Buddhist Sinhalese kings protected and even helped revive the religion. 

Courtesy :  AI Overview