{"id":105422,"date":"2020-08-12T14:34:58","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T21:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=105422"},"modified":"2020-08-12T14:34:58","modified_gmt":"2020-08-12T21:34:58","slug":"buddhism-in-present-day-eastern-province-part-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/08\/12\/buddhism-in-present-day-eastern-province-part-5\/","title":{"rendered":"BUDDHISM IN PRESENT DAY EASTERN PROVINCE Part 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The animosity towards Buddhism in\nEastern Province is becoming confrontational. There is now an open tussle between the\nBuddhists and non Buddhists in Eastern Province. Neither side is prepared\nto give in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhists\nare determined that the Eastern Province must continue as a Buddhist province.\nThey are setting up new Buddhist temples. It was reported In January 2019 that\nconstruction work had started on the tallest Buddha statue in the Batticaloa\ndistrict at Mahindaramaya, Mayelankarachchi, Valaichchenai. The 60-foot statue\nwill be the tallest in Batticaloa said Mahindaramaya Chief Incumbent Ven. Kaddukasthodda\n(Katugastota?) Mahindalangara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Existing Buddhist temples in the Eastern\nProvince were to be enlarged .A new building for Sri Pantharma Temple in\nVellaveli was provided by the army in 2015. \nThe commemorative plaque was entirely in Sinhala, complained Tamilnet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, a Buddha statue had\nbeen vandalized in Abhayaramaya in Trincomalee. \nThe dagoba at Sudaikuda in Sampur was razed\nand   its artifacts destroyed, before the\ndagoba could be labeled an archaeological site. But\nArchaeology Department said it intended to take over the site. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attorney-at-Law\nDharshana Weraduwage filed a Fundamental Rights petition, in October 2019,\nseeking an order directing authorities to investigate the imminent danger to\nthe Buddhist religious sites and several archaeological sites situated in the\nNorthern and Eastern Provinces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Hindu-Buddhist conflict\ndeveloped in Trincomalee over a mound found near the Kinniya hot wells. Archaeological Department had gone there to do\nsome routine conservation work. In the process some bricks had got dug up.\nBuddhist and the Hindus both claimed these bricks. Bhikkhus such as Ven. Ampitiye Seelavansa of\nVelgam vihara    said they belonged to an\nAnuradhapura era stupa which has been leveled and a Hindu temple built on top.\nHindus said this was the ruins of a Pillaiyar kovil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The locals were extremely aggressive towards\nthe conservation work, said the Archaeological Department. A crowd of Tamils\nhad gathered.  Tamil politicians had also\ncome.  Television news showed two groups\nfighting. Police, riot squad and Special Task Force were called in. Police came\nwith a magistrate order, to stop the protest, that it would cause communal\ntensions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thereafter,\nKokila Ramani, a resident of Trincomalee, petitioned the Provincial High\nCourt,  saying the land where the Kinniya\n hot springs are located belonged to her\nand the Archaeology Department is trying to construct a Buddhist structure\nthere without her permission. The Department plans to construct a temple on the\nsite of a Hindu kovil and Hindu devotees are being obstructed from entering the\nsite by the Department, she said. TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran appeared\nfor her.  Provincial High Court Judge M.\nIllanchiyan issued an interim injunction suspending the conservation of the Kinniya\nhot springs which will remove the alleged ruins of a Hindu kovil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During\nBritish rule, the Muhudu Maha Viharaya in Pottuvil owned 264 acres or so.  The site had been excavated. We are not told\nwhen. Hundreds of stone columns buried under the sand had emerged, indicating a\nlarge monastery complex. About one hundred stone pillars were recovered. There\nwere extensive ruins buried in the sand. The stone columns that were unearthed\nand brought out for display were stolen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muhudu Maha\nViharaya had been listed as a protected archeological monument in 1951, by the Commissioner\nof Archeology, with an archeological reservation of 72 acres of land. In 1964 Muhudu Maha vihara was a coconut\nestate owned by a Muslim, said Ellawala Medhananda. Excavations showed a vihara.   In\n1965, the Department of Archeology re-confirmed the protected monument status\nof the Temple but with the reservation reduced to 32 acres. The reasons for the\ndrastic cut-back in the acreage is not known.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the\ntemple land was forcibly occupied and the incumbent monks compelled to abandon\nthe temple in the 1990s. This was due to political pressure. Some of the statues\nthat were there in 1990 then disappeared. 11 acres were distributed under the\nJayabhoomi scheme   of 1995-2002. Since\nthen, the temple has been continuously losing land   and now\nit has only a nominal ownership of three acres. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visitors to Muhudu\nMaha Vihara have known for years that the site was heavily encroached by Muslims. The authorities, including the Maha Sangha\nwho administered the temples of the eastern province have done nothing about\nit.  Anuradha Yahampath, Governor of the\nEastern Province, was the first to draw attention to this and ask for action. She\nwanted an inquiry into the various clashes occurring over the ownership and\nencroachment of the temple\u2019s land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Gotabaya\nsent a high level military delegation to visit the Pottuvil Muhudu Maha\nViharaya and report. The delegation included the Defence Secretary, Commanders\nof the Army and Navy and the Acting IGP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense\nSecretary, Major General (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne on the instructions of\nPresident Gotabhaya Rajapaksa ordered the Navy, to immediately establish a\nnaval contingent to protect the Pottuvil Muhudu Maha Vihara temple and its\nland,  and stop forcible acquisition by\nother parties. Navy and the Police were\nasked to work together to provide maximum security to the place and stop any\nfurther encroachment. The Defense Secretary said steps would be taken to\nreclaim all the lands belonging to the temple. Surveyor General was instructed\nto survey the 30 acres belonging to the vihara and gazette it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was an\nimmediate reaction. The People\u2019s Alliance for Right to Land (PARL) protested. PARL\nis a voluntary coalition of civil society organizations working together since\n2011 lobbying for land rights. It was\nagainst land-grabbing, and for the housing, land and property rights of poor\nand marginalized communities in Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PARL said it\nwas deeply disturbed by the military intervention in Muhudu Maha Viharaya, and\nthe move to turn this into an archaeological site. No mention is made of the Tamils\nand Muslims who have resided in the area for several centuries. Today, Muslim and Tamil populations densely\noccupy the coastal belt, whilst the Sinhala population is largely concentrated\ninland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PARL\ncontinued, the Dighavapi \u2018sacred lands\u2019, Pottuvil land and archaeology based\ndispossession are clear examples of land disputes in the Ampara area which are\nbased on discrimination, use of force, and ethnic thinking. The demarcation of Muhudu Maha Vihara land as\nan archaeological site lacks clarity, publicity, and threats of dispossession,\nsaid PARL. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PARL has\ndocumented the trend of using the Departments of Archaeology, Wildlife and\nForests, to acquire lands with vague or little justification. These arbitrary\nland acquisitions have caused dispossession of established communities, and\ncreated land disputes that affect ethnic minorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PARL calls on\nthe President to take all of the above into consideration, and to instruct the\nMinistry of Defence to withdraw the establishment of a Naval unit in the\nPottuvil area without delay. military involvement in what is essentially a\ncivil administration issue will only make this issue worse. Any law and order\nissue in this regard should be under the purview of the Police. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PARL calls on\nthe Minister of Lands to ensure that the designation and acquisition of land\nfor archaeological conservation or any other purpose is transparent based on\nclear justification and that affected individuals and communities be included\nin the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PARL calls on\nthe Minister of Land to recall instructions to acquire by gazette land\nsurrounding the Pottuvil Muhudu Maha Viharaya until this matter is properly\ninvestigated by civilians, affected parties are consulted and heard, all\ninformation made public and just and equitable solutions reached. (I have re-phrased some of the PARL\nstatement)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government\nwas not impressed with any of this. President Gotabaya appointed a Task\nForce on Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province (PTF) to conduct\na comprehensive survey of archaeological sites in the East and to take measures\nto preserve them.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PTF was headed by the Defence Secretary.\nThe others in the PTF were Ven. Ellawala Medhananda, Ven. Panamure\nThilakawansha, Chief Prelate for the Eastern and Northern Provinces, Anuradha\nYahampath, Governor Eastern Province, Senarath Bandara Dissanayake, Director\nGeneral of Archaeology, Chandra Herath, Commissioner General of Land, A.L.S.C.\nPerera, Surveyor General,  the Senior DIG\nWestern Province,  the Provincial Land\nCommissioner, Raj  Somadeva and   Kapila Gunawardena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 PTF was\ngiven the task of conserving all archaeological heritage sites in the Eastern\nProvince irrespective of religion. PTF must identify the land that should be allocated\nto each archaeological site and take necessary measures to allocate them\nproperly and legally.  A data base containing\ngeo-spatial data of The archaeological sites would be created, to help\npreservation and conservation work. PTF said it would work closely with all the\nethnic groups in the Eastern Province to restore and manage those historical\narchaeological sites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rajan Philips commented. The appointment of a\nPresidential Task Force for Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern\nProvince, with its ethnically exclusive but otherwise oddly mixed composition,\nhas created political ripples not only in Sri Lanka but also outside the\ncountry, Philips said.  When you add the\nIslamic and Muslim cultural additions over nearly a thousand years, and five\nhundred years of colonial accretions, there is much heritage to cherish and\npreserve in Lanka\u2019s East. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 There\nis also the question of whether atask\nforce on archaeology is needed at the moment in the midst of a global pandemic\nand whether aPresidential Task Force\nis a suitable cultural mechanism for preserving cultural heritage. The Task\nForce excludes not only Tamil and Muslim archaeologists but also renowned\nSinhalese archaeologists, said Philips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The matter could have been left to the\nDepartment of Archaeology, one of the oldest and well-respected government\ndepartments. It has a professional reputation that extends beyond Sri Lanka. It\nhas a well-established Exploration and Documentation Division that mandates\nArchaeological Impact Assessments to be undertaken for any development project\non a parcel of land exceeding 0.25 hectares. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the department is well funded and its\nindependence is not overridden by powerful politicians there should not be any\ndanger to Sri Lanka\u2019s heritage resources due to human action. One does not preserve heritage by bulldozing\naway living communities to create new vistas of past glories,  concluded Philips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eastern\nProvince was completely Sinhala and Buddhist when the British took over the\ncountry. The British administration deliberately killed off the Sinhala\nvillages in the east. The Government Agents in the Eastern Province pleaded\nwith their British   superiors, saying\n\u2018these villages and its inhabitants are dying. All they need is a little help\nto renovate their tanks.\u2019 The British government instead, let the Sinhala\nvillagers die. And then introduced Tamil settlers from India, into the Eastern\nProvince. The arrival of the Tamils to the Eastern Province could therefore be\ndated to mid 19th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 When the Portuguese expelled the Muslims\nliving in their territory, the Muslims ran to the Udarata kingdom and told king\nSenerat (1604-33) that they had nowhere to go. This meant that these Muslims were\nnot permanent settlers in the island. They were temporary residents in the\nKotte kingdom, who for some reason, were unable to return home.  Senerat sent them to Batticaloa. The\nBatticaloa settlement could therefore be considered the first Muslim settlement\nin Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next\nMuslim advance came in 1942, when D.S. Senanayake sent A.M.A .Azeez, then AGA\nat Kalmunai, to accelerate food production in the Eastern Province. His area of\nadministration covered the whole of present day Ampara.  Azeez distributed state land for paddy\ncultivation, also for government run goat farms and poultry farms. Azeez used\nthe opportunity to further entrench Muslims in the area by giving them land\ngrants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land was\ndistributed through land kachcheries. Land allotted in this manner exceeded\n12,000 acres, of which 4000 cares were given to farmers of Akkaraipattu,\nKokavil, Thambiluvil and Tirukovil. Some of the land distributions are: Pottanaveli\n(130 acres) and Usaraveli (50) in Irakkamam. Anaivilunthan (100) and   Mottaiyandeveli (60) in Sammanthurai.  Pooranpuri (200) in Karaivahu.   Kayattiyadi\n(100) in Nintavur. Pallaveli (50) in Ampara. (CONCLUDED)\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS The animosity towards Buddhism in Eastern Province is becoming confrontational. There is now an open tussle between the Buddhists and non Buddhists in Eastern Province. Neither side is prepared to give in. Buddhists are determined that the Eastern Province must continue as a Buddhist province. They are setting up new Buddhist temples. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105422\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}