Kinniya protesters set fire to Tamil newspaper

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2003, 15:53 GMT]
A group of Muslim protesters carrying placards at the Al Aksa college junction in Kinniya, in the Trincomalee district, set fire to copies of the Tamil daily with the largest circulation in Sri Lanka, The Virakesari, as the group considered the newspaper's coverage of Muslim-Tamil ethnic clashes in the area as unfavorable, sources in Trincomalee said.

The newspaper had reported that the Sri Lankan government had forcibly taken over a Tamil private citizen's lands for the construction of a school and a temple, and recent attempts by some elements to take over the temple lands for the construction of a school playground contributed to the Muslim-Tamil ethnic tension in the area.

The Kinniya welfare organization was behind the protest, sources said. The organization said it wanted to protest the Virakesari's coverage of the clashes, saying such coverage was intended to disrupt the Tamil-Muslim amity in the area.