Police aggression on Tamils protesting illegal Buddhist temple condemned

By Ramanan Veerasingham

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Jaffna University students on Monday (22) staged a protest rally vehemently condemning the police aggression on local government councillors who protested the illegal construction of Buddhist temple at private lands at Thaiyiddi in the Northern Jaffna peninsula.

Speaking at the rally held opposite the University main Building entrance, the Students’ Union President D Lagirthar said that the police “have brutally dealt with the elected local government councillors and a Hindu religious leader, while protecting the illegal construction of Buddhist temple”.

“Five people including a Hindu religious dignitary were arrested yesterday. They were brutally handled. This shows this government’s readiness to rely on authoritarian measures if necessary. The ruling party (National People’s Power -NPP) has long lost their eligibility to be called as the Leftists,” Lagirthar said while addressing the fellow students who gathered there.

“We understand that they are going to instal another Buddha statue there on the full moon day of January 03, 2026. We will protest against it outright. There is no option. We make this clear as the Jaffna University Students’ Union”.

Protest, the only weapon

“This is a democratic protest, and this is the only weapon we have,” the Union President said.

The controversial Tissa Maha Vihara had been ruled as an illegal structure by the judiciary and the Valikamam East Pradeshiya Sabha recently passed a unanimous resolution to plant a hording board within the temple premises identifying it an illegal construction.

The councillors, the rightful landowners and few activists on Sunday (21) went on a rally to plant this hoarding board when the police confronted them and produced a court order banning the rally.

Heated arguments and counter arguments triggered a tension in the area. At the end, the police arrested five of them including the council chairman Thiyagarajah Niroshan and Hindu dignitary Velan Swami.

They were seen bundled into a police vehicle by force and produced before a magistrate who later released them on bail.

More land grabs

President Anura Kumara Dissayanake and his government have been claiming that it would not allow anyone to use racism and religious supremacy to incite communal disharmony and to further divide the communities and that all citizens would be treated equally before law regardless their political, racial and religious affiliations.

“Where is justice? Who is it working for? These is a systematic campaign of encroachment to alter the demography of the Tamil homeland. How many Sinhalese are living in Thaiyiddi? Why do they need such a big Buddhist temple,” the Student Union President questioned.

He said the plans are afoot to illegally acquire 40 more acres of private land around this temple to build more Buddhist structures there.

“One thing is very clear. The Sinhalisation and Buddisization and the close surveillances of state intelligence will continue to take place in our homeland regardless of who comes to power. We see that the government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka has also deceived the Tamil people,” he said.

“The Sinhala people should understand clearly that we are not your enemies, and we also respect Lord Buddha. We also listen to the preaching of Lord Buddha. But this is an occupation and we are against it,” Lagirthar said.

“When we protest against such activities democratically, we are accused of causing disharmony. Who is actually causing disharmony? If you don’t fight for yourself and for own rights, you will continue be ruled by the politics you hate,” he said, urging the people to take part in the protest.

Chairman of Valigamam East Pradeshiya Sabha, Thiyagarajah Niroshan has accused the police of treating them as criminals.

“These arrests were made pre-planned. We were threatened by the police not to blame the arrest on the government,” he told media.

© JDS