The Federation of Saiva (Hindu) Temples UK issued a public statement against the Sri Lankan government’s seizure of Hindu Temples to build Buddhist Viharas. The statement encouraged Tamils and Hindus all over the world to unite and fight against Sri Lanka's “religious war against Tamil Hindus,” the Tamil Guardian reported.
Nigel Adams, the UK Minister for Asia at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development, has consistently raised red flags against Sri Lanka's curtailment of religious freedoms including that of forced cremations. Muslim Council of Britain has also been actively campaigning against this policy, one which has been internationally condemned as a violation of Muslim religious rites.
Now, according to Federation of Saiva (Hindu) Temples UK, by using the Department of Archaeology to siege historical Hindu temples and build Viharas in their places the Sri Lankan government has essentially declared war against Tamil Hindus. The statement referred to an incident at Kurundurmalai Adi Iyanar Temple in Mullaitivu last month where a Trident was pulled out and replaced with a Buddha statue, followed by a ceremony held by monks and State Minister Vitdura Wickramanayaka.
The federation’s statement noted, “This act has caused acute pain and consternation among the Hindu Tamils. Tamil leaders have strongly condemned this act as a blatant attempt to Buddhistise the traditional habitat of the Tamils.”
The federation linked the “Buddhistisation” to the Sinhalisation of the North-East and the government’s attempt to colonize the Tamils’ “traditional habitat.”
The excavations of another temple in Kumulamunai were described by the federation as being done “under the guise that they occupy Buddhist sites.”
The statement, signed by Mr M Gopalakrishnan of the Federation of Saiva Temples UK, further warned that the appointment of the Archaeological Heritage Management Task Force, put in place to dislodge and shut-down Hindu temples, has energized Sinhala nationalists.
Member of the Archaeological Heritage Management Task Force Ven. Ellawala Medhananda has said the team has identified 2,000 sites as being of Buddhist heritage.
The federation called this an “ominous threat not only to Hindu places of worship but also to lands belonging to Hindu Tamils.”
The federation of temples has urged for Hindus worldwide to unite and stop the large-scale Buddhistisation and colonisation in the “virtual holy way” declared by the Sri Lankan state.
