Sri Lanka on Tuesday said it would deny a visa to singer Akon, whose planned April concert in the island nation sparked rock-throwing protests by Buddhists offended by his videos song “Sexy Bitch“.

The JHU affiliated Jathika Bhikku Sansadaya today addressing a press conference said that they vehemently protested the planned concert of internationally acclaimed R&B and HipHop artist Akon claiming that his music video insulted Buddhism – Pic via adaderana.lk

AKON’s controversial  “Sexy Bitch” video song which features scantily clad women dancing in front of a statue of the Buddha.

reuters.com

“Taking into consideration the allegations leveled against the singer Akon, the government had decided not to issue him a visa to conduct the concert in Sri Lanka,” Anusha Palpita, the Government Information Department’s director-general, said.

Palpita said that the main allegation against Akon was that he was “defaming Buddhism in his music videos.”

Sri Lanka’s Buddhist clergy are hugely influential in ordinary life and politics, and in the past hardline Sinhalese nationalists have become violent against those they see as offending Buddhism.