Monks lead Colombo protests over Buddhist shrine

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 April 2001, 18:26 GMT]
There was tension in the Sri Lankan capitol Colombo Wednesday morning after several unauthorized structures, including a Buddhist shrine were demolished by workers of the city's Urban Development Authority. Thousands of angry protestors led by buddhists monks blocked the traffic through Punchi Borella junction protesting against the destruction of the Buddhist Vihare.

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The destruction of the Buddhist Vihare along with the several other unauthorized structures took place Tuesday night on the orders of the Urban Development Authority Minister Mangala Samaraweera.