Courtesy The Daily Mirror

A protest promoting LGBTQ rights near the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple in Jaffna has drawn strong criticism from Geethanath Cassilingam, Chief Organizer of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) for the Jaffna District, who said the act goes against Tamil culture and religious values. 

In a statement, he stressed that while individuals may seek rights, they must also respect the traditions and beliefs of the Tamil community, especially in sacred spaces.

Cassilingam said, What a shocking shame to see a group of people promoting gay rights and forcing their so called beliefs in front of the sacred Nallur Kandaswamy temple in Jaffna, a sacred place for not only people of Jaffna but the whole country and worldwide devotees.”

He said the protest was against Tamil culture and added it was shocking to see them mocking this culture by promoting their beliefs in front of the most sacred place in Jaffna.

Furthermore, Cassilingam claimed that these groups have hidden agendas and are funded by secret groups who want to enforce their western beliefs on our children.

Meanwhile, he referred to another incident near the temple where many activists and individuals firmly voiced their opinion against a cafe selling meat within the Nallur Temple area and collectively changed the cafe to change their menu to vegetarian in respect of the sacred premises.

However these groups are now quiet when the Tamil culture is being mocked by these groups who are enforcing their so called rights in sacred places,” he stated.

This so called western culture must stay away from religious and holy sites and they must respect the cultures of communities as they ask for rights for themselves,” he added.