Batticaloa District parliamentarian Gnanamuthu Srineshan of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) warned that the construction of a new Buddhist place of worship in the Tamil village of Nediyagal Malai in Vadamunai risks accelerating state-backed demographic change and further militarisation.
Speaking at a press briefing at his residence in Batticaloa on Sunday, Srineshan said that Buddhist monks from outside the area had travelled around 15 kilometres into Nediyagal Malai, a village with no Sinhala residents, to establish the shrine.
He stated that the initiative began during the tenure of former Eastern Province Governor Anuradha Yahampath and was supported with state resources channelled through two former cabinet ministers from the district. The land, which falls under the administration of the Forest Department, has now been formally approved for the Buddhist site. The structure has been completed and is functioning.
Srineshan cautioned that the creation of the shrine could serve as a pretext for the Sinhala-dominated state to justify new military deployments and pave the way for illegal Sinhala settlements in this sensitive border region of the Tamil homeland.
Tamil representatives and local residents have long warned that the construction of Buddhist shrines in areas without Sinhala populations forms part of a wider pattern of state-driven demographic engineering. Similar concerns have been raised in recent months across the North-East, where the establishment of religious sites has frequently preceded land grabs, archaeological claims and increased military presence.
