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Sainsbury’s tea shocks Lankan envoy
From Neville de Silva in London
Sri Lanka has protested at the commercial exploitation of the Buddha by a leading supermarket chain in Britain. Sainsbury's, one of Britain's main supermarkets, is selling Sri Lankan tea in cartons that carry the image of a seated Buddha carved in rock. It is being sold under the category "Teas of the World."

When the attention of the Sri Lanka High Commission was drawn to this offending use of the Buddha image for advertising, High Commissioner Faisz Musthapha promptly wrote to Sainsbury's chairman Sir Peter Davies, calling for an immediate end to this exploitation.

"As a representative of Sri Lanka where 70% of the population follow the doctrine of the Buddha, I am particularly disturbed by this exploitation of the image of the Buddha for commercial purposes.

“It no doubt hurts the religious sentiments of all Buddhists and is unacceptable to right thinking adherents of all faiths," wrote High Commissioner Musthapha.

"Your supermarkets are widely patronised in the UK and I shall be grateful if you would kindly ensure that the sale of the tea in this manner is discontinued forthwith and that there would be no commercial exploitation of the image of the Buddha in the future," he added.

If Sainsbury's wishes to promote Sri Lanka teas, it was suggested that the company use an alternative that depicts the Sri Lanka theme. The Ven. Bogoda Seelawimala Thera of the London Buddhist Vihara condemned the use of the Buddha for commercial and advertising purposes.

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