Cancel Khan concert, urge Lankan monks

Sri Lanka’s Buddhist clergy today marched to the Indian High Commission here, urging New Delhi to scrap a concert by Shah Rukh Khan and his troupe in Colombo, that will coincide with the first death anniversary of a popular monk.

Buddhist monks said they had no objection to Khan and his troupe performing in Sri Lanka, but they opposed it because it coincided with the first death anniversary of monk Gangodawila Soma on Saturday, which they wanted to observe as a day of mourning. ‘‘We request you to inform Shah Rukh Khan about the special two days of religious activities,’’ the monks said in a petition to Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Rao.

There was no immediate response from the organisers of ‘‘Temptation 2004’, billed as the biggest musical show in Sri Lanka this year, with tickets being snapped up for Rs 10,000 ($100). ‘‘We will stage peaceful demonstrations to block the show,’’ a spokesman for the all-clergy National Heritage Party said.