Hundreds of people gathered in Vavuniya to protest the destruction and vandalism of the Athi Sivan Kovil on the Vedukkunaari mountain.
Today’s protest began yesterday morning at the Vavuniya Kandasamy temple and protestors marched up to the Vavuniya District Secretariat, where they spoke to the Secretariat on the issue.
Many MPs, activists, representatives from various organisations joined the protest to condemn the destruction of the temple.
Over the last week, the Athi Lingam dedicated to Lord Shiva and other consecrated items were destroyed and vandalised. Following this, the temple administrators lodged a complaint against the Archeological Department, whom they alleged were involved in the incident, at the Nedunkeni Police Station and the Vavuniya Human Rights Council.
Following the complaint, the Vavuniya Magistrate court ordered the Vavuniya Police to conduct investigations, take appropriate action to arrest those involved in the incident and submit a report to the court on the issue on April 30.
This incident closely follows similar incidents of Sinhalisation of traditionally Tamil land across the North-East with the oversight of Sri Lanka’s Archeological department.
