Thirteen years ago, to the day on 14th May 1985, hundreds of Sinhala civilian pilgrims made their way to the holy city of Anuradhapura to mediate and observe sil under the sacred Bo tree. Tragically the peace and tranquillity of the sacred city of Anuradhapura was shattered with the sharp gun fire of Kaleshnikovs aimed at the pilgrims engaged in prayer, killing 120 and causing severe injuries to over 80.

Men, women, children and even infants were among these victims of the Tamil Tiger Terrorists who came in two busloads, armed with Kaleshnikovs. The killing of these pilgrims at a sacred Buddhist site in Sri Lanka can be equated to Roman Catholics engaged in Sunday Mass at the Vatican in Rome being massacred by crazed gunmen.

The sacred Sri Maha Bodhi is noted as the oldest tree in in record of the world and it is a sapling of the original Bo tree that Lord Buddha sat under and meditated over 2550 years ago. Anuradhapura is the one of Sri Lanka's ancient capitals and is famed for its unique and rich cultural heritage.

The Tamil Tiger Terrorist's blatant disregard for the Buddhist religion is amply highlighted by their actions of gunning down pilgrims engaged in prayer. Never in their wildest dreams would these innocent pilgrims ever have thought that their lives would be so viciously snuffed out by Tamil Tiger Terrorist's bullets within the safe haven of a religious area. The Tamil Tiger Terrorists who are engaged in battle in Sri Lanka are fighting for an unjustified request for a separate homeland. To attain their goal they have resorted to undemocratic means of slaughtering and massacring innocent people that stand in their way.

By killing Buddhist pilgrims in a venerated site, the Tamil Tiger Terrorist sought to introduce a new dimension to this conflict - religion. The crisis Sri Lanka is facing due to the lunacy of the Tamil Tiger Terrorists is not a conflict that has come about due to religious conflicts but due to ethnic differences that the Tamil Tiger Terrorists have blown out of proportion for their own gain.

This conflict has claimed the lives of over 75,000 people; the majority of them innocent civilians caught up in a war that they do not want. These 120 pilgrims that were gunned down under the sacred Sri Maha Bodhi must never be forgotten as this act of sacrilege committed by the pusillanimous Tamil Tiger Terrorists is utterly deplorable. Although it is thirteen years since this incident of needless massacring of civilians took place it remains fresh in the minds of all people of the Sinhala community.

They shall not be forgotten!

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