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Incumbent Chief Priest Of Montreal Buddhist Temple Racially Profiled And Attacked In Anti LTTE Canada !

Sunil Kumara ~Popular Front Against Global Terrorism ~ For LankaWeb

While it is admirable towards the cause of Global Terrorism that the Canadian Government has banned the LTTE in Canada there is a felt need for further follow up towards the cause in flushing out completely and eliminating all pockets of LTTE residue in Canada as they continue to linger on in the manner of an offensive odour as LTTE supportives continue to pollute the peaceful environment of Canadian cities and point in case for the Canadian Government to take much more stringent action against these pollutants ere their contentious presence regroups and threatens the well being of Canadian society and tarnishes its image globally! As it is, already the residual presence of Al Quaeda elements have also been discovered as having circulated in Canada prior to the 9/11 attacks and all Canada needs is a further terrorist presence in the form of Sri Lanka's infamous LTTE brigands to further tarnish Canada's good image as a non terrorist supportive nation after their banning!

It has hardly taken the space of a few months since the LTTE were effectively banned by the newly elected Progressive Conservative Government of Stephen Harper that LTTE supportive thuggery has reared its ugly head in a blatantly daring harrassment and subsequent physical assault of an incumbent Chief priest in a suburban Buddhist temple in Montreal. The Venerable Kadawatha Upananda thero, the chief incumbent of Lankaramaya Montreal Temple was viciously beaten up yesterday June 12, 2006, significantly being the day of the Buddhist Poson Festival, by three Tamil speaking male persons presumed to be of Tamil nationality who broke into the Temple precinct after dark.The three men who perpetrated this crime wore face masks to conceal their identities and having knocked on the the door of the temple forced their way in when the priest opened the main temple door partially and beat him up for what may be infered as a hate crime by misguided Tamil youths against a Sinhalese Buddhist priest and possible retaliation for Canada banning the LTTE. The chief monk who was alone in the temple at the time of the assault had yelled for assistance and a passer by hearing his distress calls had alerted the police but the thugs had fled by the time police arrived. The injured monk was hospitalized after the incident and a detailed investigation is being conducted by the Montreal Police and said to be in collaboration with The Sri Lankan Consulate in Ottawa Canada which is reported to have addressed grave concerns to the Canadian Government.

There is reason to believe that this monk has been targetted by anti LTTE elements in Montreal who despite having slunk into the shadows like a pack of scurrying rats still continue as isolated pockets of LTTE activity in defiance of the Candian Government's ban.This particular monk is reported to have been harassed and assaulted previously in a convenience store in Montreal carrrying a Tamil name (Dhurga Market on Rue Jean Talon in the East End of Montreal) by a gang of Tamil speaking youths a few days after Canada banned LTTE as a terrorist group in a location where undesirable LTTE elements still hang out and carry out their covert activities.The store is located close to this priest's temple. This incident appears to be a high handed act of sectarian racially motivated violence commited by irresponsible individuals who have betrayed the goodwill of the Canadian Government which has granted residence status to their families in Canada and it is upto the Canadian Government to leave no stones unturned until these vicious criminals are dealt with and measures taken in order to prevent such disgusting incidents from being repeated!!

Montreal previously has been a hotbed of LTTE activity where the LTTE emblem imprinted on vehicles and their terror motifed standard flying high together with posters, audio cassettes and mug shots of the LTTE terrorist leader Velupillai Prabhakaran were blatantly propagated and the LTTE supportive Tamil Diaspora continued their activities with impunity until the Canadian terrorist watchdog CISIS and the various provincial and national law enforcement agencies including the RCMP began to take greater notice of LTTE activity after they were banned effectively! There have been a number of raids conducted by these law enforcemrnt agencies on covert pockets of LTTE activity where the Canadian Government really means business and it is assumed that the agitations of a proscribed terror group could well be infered through attacks such as these and need to be completely stamped out!

There have however been no similar incidents previously where Sinhala or other religious institutions and their priests were targetted and Montreal in particular carries a great reputation for tolerance of cultures, religions and ethnicities and the emphasis on Montreal being a world renowned multicultural mosaic where Christians, Jews, Hindus, Moslems, Buddhists and others live peacefully and in harmony hardly needs publicity, and for pitiful individuals who have gained access into this beautiful city to propagate racial hatred and terrorist activities of this nature seems despicable and in need of immediate redress towards maintaining Montreal's image as well as that of Canada.

All good wishes go out towards the speedy recovery of the Ven.Kadawatha Upananda Thero presently in a Montreal hospital while it is aspired by all peace loving Canadians that these wretchedly sacrileginous individuals and their ilk will be rounded up and dealt with effectively.

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