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TAMIL TIGERS FIRE AT SOMAWATHIE SACRED SITE BUT FAIL TO CAUSE ANY INJURIES TO THE SECURITY PERSONNEL GUARDING THE SITE

By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles

The Sri Lanka Army reported that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam gunmen using small arms fired at the ancient Buddhist temple of Somawathie in Polonnaruwa .Initial reports did not specify any damage to the Somawathie sacred Dagoba but it is believed the Tigers failed to cause any destruction.

An army bulletin said the Tiger terrorists were involved in this sacrilegious act June 19, about 5.50 p.m. firing small arms from three sides of the dagoba. Somawathie temple is situated in the Pollonnaruwa District and thousands of Buddhist pilgrims converge on the site from all over the island for some Buddhist festivals. No pilgrim is reported injured in this incident.
When Sri Lanka Army sentries guarding the sacred site fired back in retaliation the Tiger gun men fled, the bulletin , said.

The newly restored Somawathie has been declared a sacred area by an act of Parliament . Named after queen of King Giri Abha, Queen Somawathie , the sister of King Devanam Piyatissa nearly 2100 years ago, before the birth of Christ, the dagoba is considered one of the most ancient symbols of the Sinhala civilaztion. The dagoba belonged to the ancient Ruhuna but due to the change of course of the great Mahaveli River now falls under the Raja Rata since the river was considered the border dividing the two administrative regions of ancient Lanka.

Somawathie is considered very sacred to the Buddhists since Buddha’s right tooth relic was enshrined in the dagoba.under the guidance of Arahanth Mahinda himself.
The Sri Lanka Army said that this attempt was believed to have been committed to arouse the sentiments of the Sinhalese Buddhists and create a backlash against innocent Tamils and create communal violence.

In the past the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has attacked the sacred Sri Maha Bodhi killing 200 pilgrims, massacred a large number of Buddhist monks at Aranthalawa close to Polonnaruwa and exploded the front of the famous Temple of the Tooth in Kandy where Buddha’s tooth relic is enshrined. On those instances the Buddhists remained calm. In the firing at Somawathie no security personnel were injured the army said.

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