{"id":91917,"date":"2019-08-03T15:21:58","date_gmt":"2019-08-03T22:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=91917"},"modified":"2019-08-03T15:21:58","modified_gmt":"2019-08-03T22:21:58","slug":"buddhists-heritage-in-jaffna-vandalised-by-tamil-extremists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/08\/03\/buddhists-heritage-in-jaffna-vandalised-by-tamil-extremists\/","title":{"rendered":"Buddhists Heritage in Jaffna Vandalised by Tamil Extremists"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Courtesy of Divaina)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The TNA MPs and some of their instigated supporters have created\na rumpus, protesting and disturbing the duties of the Archeological department\noffices who visited the ancient Buddhist vihara, that has been declared an\nArcheological site, in the proximity of the hot water wells located in Kinniya,\nin the Trincomalee district. This was done by staging a claim that this site\nbelongs to Hindus and what is there in that site is a Hindu Kovil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this, it is an accepted fact that once the Sinhalese Buddhist\nleft this area during the terrorist disturbances,  during which village\nand villages of Sinhalese were slaughtered by the LTTE with the sole intention\nof declaring a homogenous state in the North and East of the country, some\nTamils had erected an unauthorized Kovil in a makeshift hut in this premises.\nIt is also a well-known fact that during those thirty years, the LTTE issued\n\u2018tickets\u2019 to the tourist and southerners who visited this extraordinary site\nand made money which they used for the purpose of waging a war against the\nstate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the fact of the matter is, when the\nsite in which the remains of the dilapidated kovil was excavated, there emerged\nsome unmistakable items of an ancient Buddhist temple that included a\nSanadakada pahana(ancient threshold mat of a Buddhist temple)) and a base of a\npagoda. Further the inscriptions unearthed during this excavation revealed in\nno uncertain terms that there had been a Buddhist temple in this site erected\nby King Bhathika Tissa between 143 \u2013 167 AD.  This is not a myth or\npropaganda churned out by the Government or the Sinhalese but an indelible fact\nof history unearthed after 1900 years. Since this temple had been established\nparallel to the Wilgam Royal temple of the same era, located in the proximity,\nthe Government had declared this site an archeological monument by gazette\nnotification no. 1723 dated 9th<\/sup>November 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus,  it is in keeping with his duty, that the\nCommissioner General of Archeology had initiated conservation activity on this\nsite as per the Archeology act. No. 9 of 1940.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in such a contest it is ironical to note the protests,\nand the disturbances to duty, carried out by the TNA and its supporters without\na basis for such protests and also disregarding the agreements reached on this\nsubject with the government at a prior instance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This actions of the TNA and its supporters appear even more incongruous\nwhen viewed from the light that the Government had already issued permission\nfor the Hindus to erect a Kovil at this site for their religious observances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the issue at stake here is that it has become a pattern\nto construct Hindu temples and Islamic mosques on archeological sites all over\nthe Northern and the Eastern provinces. What is happening today at Mullaitivu,\nNayaru- Gurukande is another example that supports this high handed and\nunilateral activity. There, a Hindu kovil is being built on the ruins of a\nBuddhist temple, The dispute at Kuragal is another case in point. Therefore it\nis no longer possible to be silent in the face of such aggression and wonton\nactions that create religious and social antipathy in a pluralistic society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, when it was very clear that the Buddhist heritage is\nevident at Guru kande, a Kovil had been built within the premises making it\ndifficult to hold Buddhist religious rites such as Katina Pooja in the\npremises. Therefore it would be a matter of interest to inquire into the\nintentions of these persons who conduct themselves in such a way to provoke\nreligious and communal disturbances in the country. It is unfortunate that the\nHuman Rights groups are also choosing to remain silent in the face of such\ndeliberate acts of aggression as it has always been the pattern in the past to\nearn propaganda mileage by these minority groups  ( often with the help of\nHuman Right activists) when communal and religious disturbances occur as a\nresult of these provocations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another instance. it is distressing to note that these \u2018other\nreligionist\u2019 have come to control the Okanda Shrine at Panama that was\npatronized by the Buddhist in the area till recently. The Hindus in the area\nhad systematically come into occupation of this shrine which belonged in the\nMuthubanda generation, upon the death of Muthubanda, his brother and the two\nsons. Today the massive residential halls erected by the Hindu priest who have\ncome to possess the Okada shrine have even encroached on the Kumana bird\nsanctuary which is a sanctuary created under the Wildlife ordinance. Further\nthey are erecting another place of worship close to the Kumbukkan Oya without\nobtaining permission for its construction from the authorities.  It is\nalso leaned from responsible sources that in the guise of these religious\nactivity some illegal human settlements are being erected within the Kumana\nsanctuary, just as it was done in the Wilpattu sanctuary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is indeed a national calamity that the country\u2019s forest\ncover, in addition to Buddhist places of worship,  has been encroached\nupon by the Hindus and Muslims with political patronage dangling the carrot of\n\u2018votes at the next election\u2019, with absolute disregard to the country\u2019s law and\nharmony. Thus, it is no longer possible for the media to remain silent in the\nface of these unilateral, illegal and provocative activities even though some\nvested interests in the society are attempting to interpret such exposure as\n\u2018Racist\u2019.  Therefore we will make it loud and clear to those vested\ninterests that even though this paper, \u2018Divaina,\u2019 stands for national unity and\nreconciliation it\u2019s stand against encroachment, provocation and destruction of\nthe country\u2019 heritage is equally steadfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, it is not necessary to stress any further the purity\nof Nayaru, Gurukande, Kuragala and Kinnya as places of Buddhist worship. The\nTNA MPs, the \u2018Reconciliation\u2019 Ministers and other Religious dignitaries should\nrespect such factual exposures. Such comparisons and lines of understandings and\nrespect for each other is especially necessary in the present context where the\ninternational is aiming to profit from our disunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, in a situation where the international powerhouses like\nAmerica, Japan, China and India are aiming, with ulterior motives, to plant\ntheir presence in this country expressing unbridled love for the country\u2019s\npeople, it would be in the interest of every community, whether minority or\nmajority, to ensure unity and corporation among the people of this country. It\nis indeed a fallacy to believe that these internationalist will love \u2018one\ncommunity more than the other\u2019 and therefore any community that indulges in\nsuch delusions of grandeur will soon realize their mistake, albeit too late.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Courtesy of Divaina) The TNA MPs and some of their instigated supporters have created a rumpus, protesting and disturbing the duties of the Archeological department offices who visited the ancient Buddhist vihara, that has been declared an Archeological site, in the proximity of the hot water wells located in Kinniya, in the Trincomalee district. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91917","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=91917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91917\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}