Eezham Tamils set to mobilise against heritage genocide in Kanniyaa, Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 July 2019, 19:03 GMT]
Following the call from the Saiva priest of Thenkayilai Aadheenam at Kanniyaa, Trincomalee, the grassroots of the Eezham Tamils are mobilising for a unified protest against the heritage genocide at Kanniyaa Hot Wells. Former Chief Minister of Northern Province Justice CV Wigneswaran expressing his solidarity named the joint activity against Tamils at Kanniyaa as an “open act of genocide”. The pattern of the cultural and heritage destruction as well as the landgrab by the various SL Departments has become a widespread phenomenon especially after the Easter Sunday attacks, he said in a statement issued in Tamil on Monday. In the meantime, the District Organiser of the Tamil National People's Front in Trincomalee Dr Ra Shrignaneswaran urged the UN agencies such as the UNICEF and UNESCO as well as the foreign governments that fund the SL State not to back the heritage genocide.





The rally, coordinated by Kanniyaa Heritage Organisation, is scheduled to take place at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday.



The Saivaist priest, Akaththiyar Adika'laar, who witnessed the SL Archaeology Department resuming the dismantling of the destroyed Pi'l'laiyaar temple at the lands that belonged to a private Tamil landowner had called for all the parties and the movements among Tamils to mobilise to protect the Tamil heritage site on Thursday last week.



The move comes after the SL Presidential Secretariat, the Speaker of SL Parliament Karu Jayasuriya and the SL Government Agent of Trincomalee, a Sinhalese, were openly violating the promise extended to SL Minister of Hindu Religious Affairs and National Integration Mr Mano Ganesan on 10th June 2019. The SL Minister and those who were present at the meeting had earlier said that the SL Archaeology Department and the monks were not to proceed with the dismantling of the basement of the Hindu temple.



The SL Police in Trincomalee was referring to four documents in Sinhala as evidence for allowing the work to proceed.

One of these letters was from the SL Presidential Secretariat.

The letter says that Ampitiye Seelawansa Tissa Thero [of Velgam Vihara] had written to the SL President. In his letter to the president, the monk had informed that the excavation work at the ‘Unu Diya Ling Raja Maha Vihara’ site was disturbed due to the interventions made by Mr R Sampanthan [TNA Leader] and that the monk had requested to ensure any such political interference would not hinder the ongoing excavations. The letter from the SL Presidential Secretariat requests the SL Archaeological Commissioner to look into the matter and do “whatever that is necessary”.

Another letter issued by the SL Archaeology Department maintained that there was a Buddhist Chaithya at the locality in the ancient times of the early Anuradhapura period.

In the meantime, the land-owner and the principal trustee of Pi'l'laiyaar temple, Mrs Ganesh Kokilaramany said she was all set to proceed with a legal case against the move by the SL State.





Chronology: