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'Extremist Buddhist monks are taking the law into their hands': Federation of Saiva Hindu Temples (UK)

The Federation of Saiva (Hindu) Temples UK made a public appeal to the heads of all four religious faiths in Sri Lanka to take steps to address the progressing extremism, citing the case of Buddhist monks destroying a Hindu temple in Kanniya, Trincomalee.

"We note with considerable concern that extremist Buddhist monks are taking the law into their hands and undermining the very constitutional safeguards to illegally construct a Buddhist shrine by destroying a popular Hindu temple for Ganesha in the land owned by Hindus in Kanniya in Trincomalee with the backing of the exclusively Buddhist Archaeological Department," said the statement released on Sunday.

The destruction of the ancient Hindu temple by the Kanniya hot wells, a place of spiritual significance for Tamils which has become disputed due to the Sri Lankan state’s Sinhalisation of the Trincomalee district, especially its historic and touristic sites.

See the full text of the statement here.

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