SL military defies court order, erects Buddha statue in Mullaith-theevu

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 November 2018, 09:28 GMT]
Emboldened by the recent re-emergence of Rajapaksa brothers in the South, the occupying Sinhala Army has erected a Buddha statue at Neeraavi-eattam (Neeraaviyadi) on Friday. The SLA 593 Brigade was openly violating a stay order on converting Pazhaiya-Chemmalai Pi'l'liaayar temple into a Buddhist vihara, Karai-thu'raip-pattu Divisional Secretariat officials told TamilNet on Monday. The SL Army soldiers were having a Buddha statue covered in a glass box inside their camp. On Friday, they moved it to the disputed Neeraaviyadi temple, the sources said. Both the UNP regime, which was controlling the SL Archaeology Department until recently, SL President Maithiripala Sirisena and Mahinda Rajapaksa's SLPP have been competing to Sinhalicise Neeraaviyadi, the Tamil officials said.



Occupying Sinhala Army's 593 Brigade is camped its headquarters at Naayaa'aru in Mullaith-theevu, established the so-called Gurukanda Purana Raja Maha Vihara (Gurukanda RMV) in 2009.

The expansion seeks to absorb a traditional Hindu temple worshipped by Eezham Tamils at the locality, which lies sandwiched between Naayaa'ru lagoon and the sea.

It was during the times of Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime in 2013 the area was gazetted as the property of SL Archaeology Department.

The Tamil people in Chemmalai East have been protesting against the recent attempts to survey the lands for the planned expansion of the vihara establishment. Demanding access to their temple, the Tamil residents went ahead with a Pongkal feast on 10th September at the Sinhala-Buddhicised Neeraaviyadi Pi'l'laiyaar temple.

Sinhala parliamentarians belonging to Jathika Nidahas Peramuna (JNP) or National Freedom Front, an extreme Sinhala nationalist JVP-breakaway group, was also visiting the locality on 04th October. The JNP is aligned with Mahinda Rajapaksa.



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