Vandalised Buddhist shrine in Mankulam: SC fixes two petitions for support on 17 March

By S.S. Selvanayagam

The Supreme Court yesterday (27) fixed for support on 17 March for granting of leave to proceed in respect of the Fundamental Rights petition lamenting of certain unidentified anti-social elements behind the incident of vandalised Buddhist shrine in Mankulam, apparently to stir religious unrest in the country and to disturb the hard-won peace at a cost of hundreds of thousands of precious lives belong to all communities.

The Bench comprising Justices Sisira de Abrew, Priyantha Jayawardane and Prasanna S. Jayawardane fixed the petition filed by lawyer Naganda Kodituwakku to be supported along with another similar petition filed by lawyer activist N. Dharshana Weraduwage who claims he has the foremost interest in the protection of the safety of the Buddha Sasanaya and its affairs.

The Attorney General, Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran, Law and Order and Southern Development Minister Sagala Ratnayake, Governor Reginold Cooray, Buddha Sasana and Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapaksha as well as the AG again for President Maithripala Sirisena are Respondents.

Petitioner Kodituwakku states the Northern Provincial Council has conveniently disregarded the simple truth that Sri Lanka is predominantly a Buddhist country where the majority Sinhalese account for 74% of the total population, whereas both Indian and Sri Lankan Tamils account only for 12.6% of the population of 21,866,445 and that the protection given to Buddhism under Article 9 is an entrenched provision, which cannot be touched even if the entire Tamil population voted against it and no Government in power wants to do away with it unless the people of Sri Lanka give a clear mandate at a referendum.

He states that the disregarding of the Constitutional obligations by the Respondents and their failure to prevent this immoral act apparently initiated by the Northern Provincial Council could have easily inflamed religious riots and blown into unimaginable proportions.

He states that a disaster was averted purely due to the high level of tolerance of the majority Sinhala-Buddhist community, which has matured since the bitter experience of 1983 ethnic violence.

Petitioner Weraduwage states that news reports revealed that: “A Buddhist shrine room erected within the premises of Special Task Force camp in Kanagarayankulam, Mankulam in the north had been vandalised. The camp, established after the war victory in 2009, does not exist in that location at present. The shrine room has been constructed at the time for religious observances of the STF personnel.”

He brings to attention of the Court a document said to be a letter addressed to Reginald Cooray, the Governor of the Northern Province, dated 27 August 2016, published on Monday, 29 August 2016 (date of the said incident) titled: ‘Defending Building of Buddhist Viharas and Erecting Buddha Statues by the Army/Navy in the North is Bad Politics – Letter to the Northern Province Governor’.

The said letter among many other facts duly states that: “This is not the first case where Buddhist viharas/statues have been erected by the Sri Lankan armed forces occupying the northeast, especially since May, 2009.

(1) At Kanagarajankulam in Kilinochchi district a Buddha statue and a stupa have been erected.

(2) At Mankulam in Vavuniya district a Buddhist vihara has been built. Electricity has been provided to this elaborate structure.

(3) At Iranaimadu in Mullaitivu District a sculpture of a meditating Buddha has been installed under a peepul (Bo) tree.

(4) A Buddhist vihara has been constructed at Vadduvaakal in the Mullaitivu District.

(5) A huge Buddhist vihara is under construction in Kokkulai in Mullaitivu District after destroying the Hindu temple Karunaaddu Pillayar.

(6) A Buddhist vihara named Mahatota Raja MahaVihara has come up within 50 meters of the famous Thirukethiswaram temple in Mannar District.”

He is asking an order from the Court that no person on the sovereign territorial soil, seas and the air space has any power or authority whatsoever to interfere negatively or act against the affairs of the Buddha Sasana except as provided for by the Constitution.

President’s Counsel K. Kanag Iswaran appears for the Chief Minister. Deputy Solicitor General Viraj Dayaratne appears for the Attorney General.