Kinniya Stupa restoration work halted after protest

• GA halts work after protests, writes to Archaeology Dept. with update
• Dispute over returning Hindu statue to place where stupa is being restored 
• Protestors unhappy over Archaeology Dept. compromise of putting statue on nearby land 
• Archaeology Dept. considering legal action, more talks   

Trincomalee Government Agent (GA) and District Secretary N.A.A. Pushpakumara yesterday said work on restoring a historical site in Kinniya had been halted after protests, but the Archaeology Department had been apprised of the prevailing situation so a decision on how to move forward could be taken.

Pushpakumara explained that the protest that had arisen over preservation of the Kinniya Stupa had forced him to give a directive to halt the work by the Archaeology Department. Tensions escalated after two parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on Tuesday staged a protest at the site, demanding that ongoing restorations to a stupa be stopped.        

“We have informed the Director General of Archaeology. He should take immediate steps to discuss with both sides, explain facts to them and take a final decision,” Pushpakumara said. “For the time being I have given orders to halt the work by the Department as the clash this week almost came to serious violence and it looked as if it was going to escalate into a racial clash. So I had to stop it, but the land is gazetted under the Department of Archaeology and so the final decision is theirs.”

The protestors claim there was a Hindu kovil at the site, Pushpakumara said. However, he noted that it was a Hindu statue that was removed from the land when it was being maintained by the Local Government authorities. The land was then gazetted under the Archaeology Department before the statue could be replaced.   

“The excavation revealed remains of a Buddhist temple there, and the Archaeology Department now wants to preserve it. They have agreed to give a closeby area to place the Hindu statue, but the people want the exact same place to keep the statue as well. That is the problem,” he added. 

Archaeology Department Director General Prof. P.B. Mandawala confirmed that a Buddhist temple was discovered and the department was working to preserve it. He acknowledged there had been protests earlier forcing the GA to halt work but officials including the Director General had met on 10 June to discuss with stakeholders and find a way forward. Unfortunately the protests had started again forcing the GA to stop work, Prof. Mandawala said. 

“Today we received a letter from the GA via fax and I have sent it to the Legal Department to look at it and advise me on future action. We will see if there is a necessity to take legal action. We will also hold more discussions if necessary. We cannot fight with the people to do our work, so we will have to take formal action,” he added.  

The Director General said the department will continue to work to preserve the site as it is their responsibility. The archaeological remains are from the Anuradhapura period and includes a stupa as well as some other remains including stone tablets.